Update: James Gunn has responded to this Hollywood Reporter story on Twitter, confirming what’s true and what isn’t, but the main takeaway is this is going to be a long journey with up-and-downs, and fans need to be patient.
After the announcement of the Guardians of the Galaxy trilogy director James Gunn and movie producer Peter Safran were the new co-chairmen of DC movies. It was revealed they were spearheading the brand-new DC Studios.
A move that only came about once David Zaslav became CEO of the merged Warner Bros Discovery. Honestly, something like this should’ve happened when Zack Snyder was the defacto leader or defiantly once AT&T bought WB and had Walter Hamada in charge.
However, since Gunn and Safran were confirmed as shepherds of this new DC farm, their first job was to set the path for the next 10 years of the DC Universe replacing the DCEU.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, we’ve got a clearer idea of the initial plans, and it’s the clearest insight that a hard reboot is coming.
Before I continue, I saw this blowing up on Twitter when I woke up this morning (Thursday, December 8) and having read the story myself; people need to relax and take a breath.
Because this report (even for THR) had too many open-air theories for my liking, the article even states Zaslav hasn’t seen these plans. So until the co-chairmen make an official announcement – and if I was part of the DC Studios team suggest a YouTube video from the WB lot – then I’m going to follow the advice from Shaun of the Dead.
So what is THR reporting?
Well, Wonder Woman 3 in its current state is dead, and that director Patty Jenkins was recently told this by the duo as it simply didn’t fit their new plans.
As even the trade states no decision has been made about if Gal Gadot is getting replaced or Jenkins is out as the director, it could simply be WW3 wasn’t going to work and a new writer is going to come in and make it fit into the new DCU.
I will say it’d be a shame if filmmaker Jenkins isn’t able to complete her trilogy – even if I consider Wonder Woman 1984 a bad movie – but they might want to bring her for something else.
It does bring into question this tweet from Gadot saying she “can’t wait to share her [Wonder Woman] next chapter with you”, so she might not have known of the red light, or she did and been given insurance that she’ll be Wonder Woman in the DCU.
Meanwhile, the biggest surprise is Man of Steel 2 returning to the back-burner even though we’ve just got Henry Cavill back. Plus, Aquaman and the Lost City might be Jason Momoa’s last appearance as Aquaman when it’s released in Xmas 2023 and will also be the final film in the DCEU.
This is a bigger shock than MoS2, considering that Momoa and director James Wan helped make the first Aquaman a billion-dollar success.
Despite Dwayne Johnson’s biggest hopes, the release of Black Adam isn’t why the hierarchy of power changed at DC and is now considered a flop (I will say I had a fun time watching) it’s unlikely we’ll see a sequel.
The same can be said of Shazam! Fury of the Gods (out in March) and The Flash, but then again, we’ll never see Ezra Miller back in the role once the Scarlet Speedsters solo film is released in June.
Besides Miller getting replaced, this is speculation, but it does feel that Gunn-Safran will scrap everything connected to DC’s Snyderverse and start afresh.
Even though Snyder fans are losing their shit (it’s just embarrassing), they need to see it’s for the best because keeping them keeps all the drama and baggage of the past. It’s time to let go and remember the historic achievement of Justice League with pride that will likely never happen again.
We got Zack Snyder back to release his incredible epic version of the DC superhero team-up (with help from HBO Max), and he got much-needed closure. His die-hard fans need to follow his lead moving on with their lives as they continue to get excited about the new franchises he’s building at Netflix.
Also, continuing with the current DCEU would’ve been easy, but Gunn-Safran have gone with the more complicated move to go with a clean slate with the backdrop of the reaction that exploded Wednesday night.
I do see only five characters surviving this reboot: Margot Robbie’s Harley Quinn, Peacemaker played by John Cena, Viola Davis’ Amanda Waller and Xolo Maridueña, who is playing Blue Beetle in the upcoming August 2023 release.
It could be a way for the new DCU to begin.
The fifth person is Superman with Cavill still attached because even if a Man of Steel sequel doesn’t happen, they could move to something new with the British actor.
The only other character(s) I’d personally like to see make the jump is Asher Angel and Zachary Levi as Billy Batson/Shazam! with the whole Shazam family.
One person we could see is Momoa staying in DC, but instead of playing Arthur Curry, he plays the foul-mouthed cigar-smoking alien anti-hero bounty hunter Lobo. Gunn will likely be directing it if this happens because it’s simply a perfect fit for the filmmaker.
Finally, to stress again, this is just speculation from both myself and THR, but to end on a happy note, they’re not touching anything to do with The Batman and just let Matt Reeves do this thing.
The Bear Cave 