Back in 2018, James Gunn, the director of the Guardians of the Galaxy movies, was hired to write a soft reboot of the Suicide Squad movie titled, simply, The Suicide Squad. The film underperformed financially but jived well with critics and audiences. My feelings about the film can be summed up as such: meh. It was fine. In 2020, Gunn began work on Peacemaker, a spin off TV series, which was released in 2022. It also received solid reviews from critics and audiences, but I was not a fan, personally. There were elements to be enjoyed like some fast paced action, but the overall silliness was not for me.
Then, about eleven months later, in November of 2022, DC Studios and Warner Brothers hired Gunn and Peter Safran to oversee the entire DC universe of films. I thought Gunn was an interesting choice and was definitely willing to give him a chance.
The DCEU certainly needed some direction. It had that with Snyder, but not everyone was on board with his style and overall plan. Of course, excessive studio intervention didn’t help either. At first, when the new plan was announced, it was said that the DCEU would only be getting a soft reboot and the elements that simply weren’t working would be removed and replaced. It seemed like an intriguing plan especially when it was said that The Flash would provide an explanation for all this. Of course, it didn’t and made everything all the more confusing. Then, slowly, more and more actors, characters, and stories were chopped away until it was clear that the DCEU was being entirely rebooted.
Except for a select few characters that the studio, Gunn, and Safran agreed upon. There’s a probably not coincidental trend that is definitely concerning as a lifelong DC fan.
So far, we know a few events and characters are canon to the DCU. The entirety of The Suicide Squad is apparently canon according to Frank Grillo, the Peacemaker series, Blue Beetle, and… that’s it. Notice a trend there? I sure do.
With the exception of Blue Beetle, everything that is canon to the DCU are Gunn’s projects. I do not understand why no one else is up in arms about this. It is insulting that Gunn is only choosing to keep the projects he worked on when there are other elements that fans already loved and worked well that could have stayed on. It seems as if Gal Gadot’s universally adored Wonder Woman is gone. Jason Momoa’s mostly loved Aquaman is out. The internet exploded when Henry Cavill announced he was back as Superman, but he’s out too. Wonder Woman and Aquaman both suffered from terrible sequels, and Superman definitely didn’t receive love from everyone, but I have a feeling Gunn would have kept them all if he worked on them.
Again, as a lifelong fan, it’s insulting to have a big name like Gunn “reboot” a universe only to keep the elements of it he personally crafted, then hire himself to write a new Superman movie whose premise sounds exactly like the premise of Man of Steel (albeit with many, many more characters). I don’t see any other explainable reason to keep The Suicide Squad, Peacemaker and Blue Beetle cannon. Sure, they got decent reviews, but Warner Brothers is suffering financially and none of these three made money. Warner Brothers needs a coherent superhero universe to compete with Marvel, which is still making money even though it’s recent entries have been lackluster. I certainly wouldn’t call it coherent to keep three of the least watched pieces of the DCEU. Will it even be explained or will it just be straight up ignored? Did Bloodsport really shoot David Corenswet’s Superman with a kryptonite bullet off screen in a universe that wasn’t even conceived of when that scene was being written, filmed, or watched? I thought Corenswet’s Superman is going to be a rather inexperienced hero, but he was shot many years ago? If The Suicide Squad is canon, then Margot Robbie’s Harley Quinn is cannon, but there’s been nothing official about her specifically. How, then, will Joker be explained? Has Amanda Waller interacted with whoever this new version of Batman is going to be?
To me, none of it can be explained logically in a movie, several movies, or series. Is James Gunn actually a narcissist? Is he personally going to film every DCU movie? Will the whole DC universe be shaped in over colorful, classic rock filled, Gunn-esque imagery? Is he the right man for the job or should the keys be handed over to Matt Reeves? Personally, I haven’t liked most of Gunn’s work, but there’s clearly an audience for it, and I am in the minority. Let me know what you think!