It looks like the hunt is finally over. For those that may not know, Warner Brothers Discover (owners of DC comics and head over all things DC comic movie related) has been in a bit of…rut. Okay, I’ll say it, it’s been a dumpster fire over there for a while now. At one time DC was thinking it could compete with the MCU in terms of story and scope. But that’s a big ship to steer when there’s no captain at the helm. And, with WBD (Warner Brothers Discovery) having just completely cancelled Batgirl among several other behind the scene catastrophes, one feared the end was near. But in recent news not one, but two Fieges have been hired to point this ship toward land. Hope springs eternal!
Warner Brothers Discovery announced they hired James Gunn (Guardians of the Galaxy, The Suicide Squad) and Peter Safran (Shazam, Aquaman) as co-chairs and co-CEO’s of the newly formed DC Studios which was once DC Films. Mind. Blown. What onlookers call a “shocker” actually makes a lot of sense. Gunn’s no stranger to DC, having directed The Suicide Squad. He also wrote and directed HBO Max’s Peacemaker, to rave reviews. And having proven his metal before by taking a rag-tag little known comic called The Guardians of the Galaxy and making them house hold names. Gunn is definitely up to the challenge.
While Gunn will head up the creative side of things, Safran will deal with the business end. Safran has experience as a producer and has worked with Gunn before. They teamed up on The Suicide Squad and that movie was pretty good, huh? They will both report directly to WBD head David Zaslav while working closely with studio heads Michael De Luca and Pam Abdy.
The question now is, will these two really equal Fiege in vision and direction? Maybe they don’t have to. DC’s got several separate universes going on right now.
Unlike Marvel Studios, DC has multiple films set in separate creative universes, and according to sources, Joker filmmaker Todd Phillips’ work on the upcoming sequel, which goes into production later this year, will not fall under Gunn and Safran’s purview and instead will be overseen by De Luca and Abdy. Matt Reeves, who worked under Hamada, has a budding universe based on his The Batman movie. It is unclear under whose purview Reeves’ future projects would fall, but everything else moving forward would be under Gunn and Safran’s.
Comicsbeat.com
With Todd Phillips and Matt Reeves, it looks like they’ve both got momentum on their side. They both already know where they’re taking these separate DC characters. Also, it’s good to know that James Gunn is a huge fan of comics. In contrast, Fiege-who likes to stay close to the comics-didn’t grow up reading them, Gunn did. Plus-as Comicsbeat.com reports he gets ALL of the DC universe. Not just Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman.
So, for this moderate DC fan, Gunn and Safran are a good fit. Do they need to be equal to Fiege? Not necessarily, all they need to do is stand behind the wheel and steer the ship away from the rocks. Once they’re in the clear we’ll pray for calm weather and smooth sailing from then on out. It maybe be later than sooner, but there’s hope DC’s cinematic reputation will soon be on the rise.
Power Rangers in Space Reunion Event!
On November 19th and 20th Fanboys Marketplace is hosting a Power Rangers in Space Reunion Event. VIP passes and photo tickets are available now for purchase ahead of time. Click the link here, and we’ll see you in November!
