Over the weekend, we told you about one SnyderVerse loyalist's dastardly plan to ruin Superman's opening weekend. However, that level of negativity is nothing new for those unhappy they're getting the DCU rather than Zack Snyder's Justice League sequels.
DC Studios co-CEO James Gunn has no intention of giving the #RestoreTheSnyderVerse movement what it wants, and addressed the continued backlash from that sect of fans in an interview with Rolling Stone.
"I’m trying to think of how to say this best. I don’t mind it. I think it’s good," he revealed. "I think you don’t wanna have everybody root for you. And I have an actor who reads everything online."
"I won’t say who it is, but he’ll read this article, and he’ll know who it is. It’s one of the top five in Superman. And this actor gets so upset over things that people say," Gunn continued. "I said, 'First of all, you realize that the trailer came out and [reaction] was 97, 98 percent positive. These people help us, because you don’t want everything to seem 100 percent positive.'"
"It’s all right to have an opposing force every once in a while. Some of the things get ridiculous — I just know that every time something comes out, it doesn’t matter how positively received, there’s gonna be something that is of great controversy," he said, addressing complaints from the wider fanbase as well as those from Snyder's supporters. "It was great controversy that the sun caused Superman pain."
The site wondered if Superman was screaming in that scene, simply because his bones are snapping back together after a brutal fight. "It’s like when a doctor resets your bone, you scream, but it doesn’t f***ing matter," Gunn argued. "Because is that really a controversy? Is that really something that you’re upset about? Or did you have a hard time finding something to be upset about?"
"There’s always going to be that. There’s going to be something that people are upset about, and it’s OK ... [There are people] who make their livings by hating us. That’s how they make all their money. But you don’t have to watch their videos where they’re talking about how you’re awful. You can’t be reading it all the time. It’ll f***ing murder you. It’s a terrible thing to do to your soul."
While Warner Bros. eventually gave in to the #ReleaseTheSnyderCut movement with the 2021 release of Zack Snyder's Justice League, the intention was to end things there so the focus could shift to future DC releases. However, Snyder included several sequel teases with reshoots that ultimately added further fuel to the fire.
Moving away from the SnyderVerse for a moment, much has been said that the DCU's future hinges on Superman's success. While projects already in development like Supergirl and Lanterns will come to fruition no matter what happens, we've repeatedly heard that the wider franchise rests on Clark Kent's shoulders.
No so, according to the man calling the shots with Peter Safran at DC Studios.
"That’s not the truth for me. My truth is this is the first movie out of DC Studios. Other people may say, 'It’s gotta be a home run, nothing else.' I’m like, 'No, I’d be very happy with a double,'" Gunn admitted. "F***ing Iron Man wasn’t the be-all and end-all. It wasn’t Avatar. We are doing something that’s a piece of the puzzle. It’s not the puzzle itself. It’s just this one movie. It’s not everything."
"I hate it when there’s a f***ing article and it’s going on about all the problems and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, and 'that means even more pressure on James Gunn and Superman.' I’m like, 'Guys, I’m not responsible for all that. I’m responsible for my piece of the pie. I’ve gotta make my budget back. I’ll be very happy with that.'"
Elaborating on how DC Studios' approach to filmmaking differs from other studios, Gunn pointed to Sgt. Rock (without ever naming the movie) as a project he pulled the plug on when it became clear it wouldn't live up to the high standards he's setting for the DCU.
"We just killed a project. Everybody wanted to make the movie. It was greenlit, ready to go. The screenplay wasn’t ready. And I couldn’t do a movie where the screenplay’s not good," Gunn reaffirmed. "And we’ve been really lucky so far, because Supergirl’s script was so f***ing good off the bat. And then Lanterns came in, and the script was so f***ing good. Clayface, same thing. So f***ing good."
Superman arrives in theaters on July 11, 2025.