James Gunn And Peter Safran To Lead DC Studios Into The Future

[JayC]

It is being reported by THR that filmmaker James Gunn and producer Peter Safran have been put in charge of leading DC's film, TV and animation projects as co-chairs and co-CEO's of DC Studios which will be replacing DC Films. It is being reported the Gunn will focus on the creative side of things while Safran will take charge of the business side. The two will report directly to Discovery CEO David Zaslav.

One DC movie that will not fall under the two's purview will be the Todd Phillips Joker sequel movie. It's also not clear if they will have any dealings with the Matt Reeves Batman sequel. Both of those movies take place in separate Universe's from most of the other current DC films.

Gunn is best known for his work on Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy films as well as the most recent DC Suicide Squad movie and Peacemaker HBO Max series. Safran has been a producer on the first Aquaman movie as well as the coming sequel. He was also a producer on the Gunn directed Suicide Squad movie and Peacmaker series as well as Shazam.

[Satam]

Good.

[memocromatico]

Let's hope Gunn is let loose and be able to be creative and tell stories... and let's hope he doesn't go off the rails with goofiness 

[LordVenger]

40 minutes ago, memocromatico said:

Let's hope Gunn is let loose and be able to be creative and tell stories... and let's hope he doesn't go off the rails with goofiness 

I second the goofiness comment. I don’t need more slapstick or attempted “humor” in my super hero stories. 

[memocromatico]

54 minutes ago, LordVenger said:

I second the goofiness comment. I don’t need more slapstick or attempted “humor” in my super hero stories. 

I like some goofiness. I enjoy it even. Yet, when it oversteps on an emotional moment over and over... well I didn't love Love and Thunder's pacing.

[Zerzar999]

The goofiness is just a trademark of Gunn's particular writing style. The best thing about this is these guys actually know what they're doing in terms of continuity and relativity of characters and storylines. Up till now WB has hired a buncha nobody's that may have been good writers (big maybe), but couldn't create one cohesive universe to save their lives. Every show or movie was doing it's own thing. They had to sell everything as they all took place in different universes. Kinda like a lot of stuff they do in the comics. If the intent in the future is to follow in the MCU's successful formula then they need to make one universe where all or most of the movies have some significance to each other and the characters can intermingle. I don't expect that they expect Gunn to write every show/movie and put his own particular spin on it, they're still gonna have writers and directors for every project he's there to make sure everything makes sense and fits together and has a direction and destination for the future. Basically, they're DC's version of Kevin Feige. If anyone can do it these guys can.

In the inverse, Marvel has gone into this weird zone of hiring all these no-name writers and director with little to no experience in the industry and have absolutely no attachment to the characters and source material they are being put in charge of, nor do they have any desire to familiarize themselves with it, and just end up writing a buncha fan fiction shows with the character's names attached. So if the DC Universe has any chance of unseating the MCU as the premier Super Hero universe, that time is now.

[ucsf]

Still unsure about this, bit it's a big plus that the execs tried something new. Let's see the outcome.

[JayC]

If you have a bunch of DC fans getting mad at you with recent actions like doing away with Henry Cavill as Superman, what better way to get them back on your side again than invoke memories of everyone's favorite DC animated shows from the 90s such as Justice League Unlimited and Young Justice as a roadmap for your new DCU. Well that is what DC Studios Co-Head James Gunn did last week. When asked by a fan on Twitter if any of the animated DC Shows like Justice League Unlimited and Young Justice were an inspiration for planning out this new movie universe, Gunn responded by saying Definitely.

Of course in all honesty that could really mean anything, but it's certainly something that if Gunn really pulled off would make most DC fans happy. I don't think you would find to many folks claiming those shows or their predecessors like Batman: The Animated Series and Superman: The Animated series sucked.

[Satam]

It'd be nice if they would renew Young Justice for it's intended final season.

[Atlantis]

On 10/26/2022 at 11:12 AM, Zerzar999 said:

".... So if the DC Universe has any chance of unseating the MCU as the premier Super Hero universe, that time is now...."

They should concentrate less on trying to unseat or even match the MCU, and more on just writing good, well-paced and cohesive stories. 

Also, Gunn needs to get off twitter. Every other day there's some comment or "plan" and its all nonsense, because they're years out before they ever get one of these movies done, and you can bet your bottom dollar the end result wont resemble whatever he said on twitter years before. Just one more thing he'll get bashed for. Just go off, do the research, do the writing, do the movie....it'll all come together.

[memocromatico]

Having a live-action Young Justice is an incredibly clever way to go... actors are allowed to grow out of their roles and have a revolving door of stories and heroes without chaining anyone for years on end... with the way YJ treats time jumps without even really explaining what happened inbetween and trusts us to figure it out between seasons. I love that and think this would open up the world a lot.

[McYote]

The animated show was great, so this seems like a good way to go. I agree that Gunn needs to do his own thing instead of trying to compete with Marvel

[Batfreak87]

Animated show was great, but the way to go would be to use the comic book material, without comics and these characters, there wouldn't be movies and shows based on them. I'd say he's a bit ridiculous to go this route. It's not bad enough he feels he needs to reboot the whole thing, instead of continuing on with the actors he has and making it better. 

[Zerzar999]

On 12/26/2022 at 3:50 PM, Atlantis said:

They should concentrate less on trying to unseat or even match the MCU, and more on just writing good, well-paced and cohesive stories. 

Also, Gunn needs to get off twitter. Every other day there's some comment or "plan" and its all nonsense, because they're years out before they ever get one of these movies done, and you can bet your bottom dollar the end result wont resemble whatever he said on twitter years before. Just one more thing he'll get bashed for. Just go off, do the research, do the writing, do the movie....it'll all come together.

Facts. I feel like he lets himself get drawn in too easy with petty arguments and with disagreements with "the help" or the former help, stuff that should be taking place behind closed doors. Just shut up, do what you're gonna do and let your work speak for itself. Then again, if you've ever followed Gunn, and I assume you do, you know that Twitter is probably his biggest weakness, like a lot of celebrities, and he isn't likely to shut that soapbox down anytime soon.