Big changes are being made to the DC brand, with Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav hiring James Gunn and Peter Safran to take charge of DC Studios and the new DCU.
There's a lot of excitement surrounding the 8-10 year plan they're putting together, though we know others were considered to take charge of the DCEU before them. Dan Lin passed on the opportunity, and a report from the New York Post suggests Joker director Todd Phillips was also among the contenders.
"The whole town turned the job down," an insider tells them, showing just how damaged the brand had become. "It was almost Todd Phillips. They begged him."
Gunn, who directed the Guardians of the Galaxy trilogy for Marvel Studios along with The Suicide Squad and Peacemaker for Warner Bros., is no stranger to making comic book fans happy. However, some of his and Safran's early decisions have caused controversy, including Henry Cavill no longer being needed to play Superman in the DCU.
"Gunn has never run anything," one source tells the site. "I wonder if big filmmakers will work for another director with zero experience guiding movies through a huge grinder of a system. He’s not Kevin Feige [of Marvel]."
Another potential issue for DC Studios is the rumor that NBCUniversal is eyeing a purchase of Warner Bros. Discovery. While Zaslav has denied the company is for sale, this report states that "they are a cash-poor company being stripped to be sold."
Remember, Shazam! Fury of the Gods and Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom were delayed until next year, at least partially because the studio didn't have enough money to market them!
There have previously been rumours about the DC brand being sold off, so perhaps Disney could step in, acquire the characters, and give Feige another comic book universe to take charge of? For now, we're definitely keen to see what Zaslav and Safran are able to come up with together.