James Gunn’s DC Universe Is Already A Mess

Alternate title: Scrappy-Doo and Guess Who.

It’s the closest thing to a James Gunn image in my library. It still makes me happy. Sometimes I remember why I make a weekly comic strip.

However, it’s not Gunn’s treatment of my childhood nostalgia that is bugging me right now, unless you want to get technical. I did grow up with the DC Universe and their now abandoned takes on the aspirational hero with fun stories and adventures that could be done in one issue but still have ramifications in later issues. Of course I also loved the DC shows I grew up with because they followed the same formula. Sadly this is no longer the case.

That’s not what we’re here to talk about though. I’m not trying to trash Zac Snyder when I say it was a mistake for Warner Brothers to use him as their “Kevin Feige”, the only who was supposed to create their own DC Cinematic Universe. Snyder is good for the stories he tells but the stories he tells are not in line with the DC superheroes or why so many fans like those characters. His more cynical perspective on superheroes worked to adapt Watchmen but that book ran counter to the DC heroes as well so it was in good company. The “DC Extended Universe” bombed for the most part, and that included stuff he partly or entirely wasn’t part of with the exception of the first Wonder Woman movies. Even that film did stuff wrong, while the first Shazam movie was based on Geoff Johns’ re-imagining of the original Captain Marvel so I don’t even care if it was good or not. At any rate Warner Brothers was forced to end his “Snyderverse”, though some of the ways they did so wasn’t really fair to him no matter how happy I am he’s no longer ruining my favorite heroes.

Unfortunately James Gunn comes with his own issues, and right now he seems to be making the same mistake as the New 52. (By the way, someone next week remind me to go over the current Dan DiDio situation.) While Snyder kind of borrowed from that with his darker tone, Gunn is following one of their other mistakes: he isn’t committing to the reboot fully enough. Some of his statements are really confusing considering the direction he’s going, and what’s coming with him FROM the Snyderverse to the Gunnverse.

Due to WordPress’s embedding format I can’t currently embed from Threads, the Facebook/Instagram owned alternative to TwitterX so here’s a link. Or Bounding Into Comics has collected the important data. In the thread I first linked to, Gunn says that Creature Commandos is going to be the first movie in his DC Movieverse continuity followed by Superman: Legacy. (I’m not sure what we’re calling it yet. The Snyderverse and connected films were known as the DC Extended Universe after their own Flashpoint reboot I’m not sure what it is now.) However, he must mean the first ones in the new timeline because he’s also stated that HIS Suicide Squad movie, titled The Suicide Squad to separate it from the first movie not many liked, and the (HBO) Max spinoffs featuring Peacemaker and Amanda Waller from that movie are still going to be canon to his movieverse despite originally being part of the DCEU. So when does Legacy take place?

Their first mistake was bringing swords to a batarang fight.

It gets weirder. Any future uses of Blue Beetle will feature Xolo Maridueña in the role for both the live-action and animated works as well as other actors like Viola Davis and John Cena but at least in Xolo’s case it’s not clear how much of his movie is now canon in the new DC Movieverse. Apparently Warner Brothers and Gal Gadot can’t even agree that she’s coming back as Wonder Woman. She says yes, they keep saying no. Meanwhile the next Aquaman movie is being treated like an Elseworlds as is parts of Blue Beetle. There’s also questions about why Henry Cavill is being replaced by David Corenswet. Corenswet kind of reminds me of Tom Welling in pictures I’ve seen. Corenswet is 30 years old while Cavill is 40. The reason we’ve been giving is that this supposed to be a younger Clark, but early into his superhero life except when it isn’t. It’s also the THIRD installment of the “Gods & Monsters” storyline, with Creature Commandos and the Amanda Waller series being first and second respectively according to the DCEU fandom wiki but who knows when that is in the timeline. Plus Jason Momoa is in talks to return not as Aquaman but playing Lobo.

If you’re here you clearly think about all of this stuff as a fellow superhero geek, or at least I’m not sure why you’re here otherwise. Maybe you like me or something. Whatever the reason you’re following all this. The casual audience that the studios and publishers are interested in? They aren’t going to follow any of this. They’ll be wondering why some actors are playing the same roles, others playing different roles, and why there are new actors altogether playing previously established characters. If John Cena is still Peacemaker why is Aquaman suddenly white faced and smoking a cigar while calling people “bastich”? Did the Blue Beetle movie still happen and if not why is everyone still there? To quote another DC movie, it just raises too many questions.

This was the same problem with The New 52, except for example Grant Morrison wasn’t in charge. Yet he still got to keep Batman Incorporated in continuity during the change over, as Geoff Johns got to continue some of his stories despite the old continuity supposedly being gone. Batman, Inc still gets made but it’s only been five years and Bruce somehow still had the same amount of Robins, The Killing Joke still happened, there’s a host of other concepts that still made it here in one form or another. They didn’t fully commit to the new hard reboot and that was only a minor reason for the New 52 failing.

We aren’t even done with the questions. Marvel’s Cinematic Universe was done in phases. None of them really had a tight knit viewing order outside of a few elements that led to that phase’s Avengers movie and events in one movie might affect portrayals in another. You didn’t have to see every movie and Disney+ (I didn’t, plus I’m not sure if Agents Of SHIELD is still canon despite Agent Colson and Nick Fury showing up with their movie actors) to follow what happened in the next Avengers movie when a proper recap was done, but Marvel made it look like you did so they could get you to watch. Even then it was Phase 1, Phase 2, etcetera. With the Gunniverse you have a full on title, making it look even more like you have to see everything even though some people aren’t going to watch the animated shows and movies due to tastes, media snobbery, or both. So what does have to be watched and what can be summarized for what you need to know? Also, what is going to be the Gunniverse version of the Avengers, what each of the MCU movies and show’s subplots lead up to? A new Justice League? Suicide Squad? None of them are in the current God & Monsters listing.

“I feel a breeze in my…where are my shorts?”

There’s also concern about James Gunn’s style. He does the quirkier movies, and “quirky” has become a slow death plague to superhero comics and movies, applauded even by people who hate campy stories so much that they haven’t noticed quirky IS the new campy. I’m waiting for some villain to shoot someone and quip “anyone else feeling ‘quirky’ today?” when someone starts doing a bad Spider-Man interpretation, including currently written Spider-Man himself. If Taika Waititi is going overboard with Thor imagine if Waititi replaced Feige as the new runner of the MCU. That’s James Gunn. Look at the movies he’s done for the Snyderverse/Gunniverse, like his Suicide Squad and the Guardians Of The Galaxy movies. Gunn may not be as bad but his history may be too far the other way from Snyder. Don’t forget, his Scooby-Doo included Shaggy and Scooby being druggies and Velma being a lesbian because he was following the message boards declaring both, and that was dropped. His Fred was still a jerk and his hatred of Scrappy led to making him the villain because mocking is easier than improving. Gunn has a style that works for him but is it a match for the DC Universe? I’m not convinced.

So without the first show or movie even started already everything is confusing for DC fans, movie fans, and superhero fans. The poor casuals who barely follow entertainment news and just go to the theater if they like the trailer or TV footage (or more and more just waiting for it to hit streaming and home video to watch in the comfort of their homes with cheaper popcorn, comfier seating, and less jerks on their phones) are going to be even more confused and I really feel sorry for them. I thought the casual audience was the one they really cared about as they trash the fans for not liking their re-interpretations of beloved franchises? I have no idea what they’re thinking, and I’m not sure they do, either.