James Gunn is now the new co-CEO of DC Studios. After the franchise was coming apart at the seams with various dramas happening behind the scenes, there was hope that this would finally push the project forward. The long-established actor has also built up a network of actors he tends to work with on various projects, which has led to some concern that he’ll primarily rely on familiar characters.
Luckily, Gunn has been no stranger to openly reacting to statements on Twitter to offer some insight into how he is approaching this daunting task. When people shared their concern about simply recasting Guardians of the Galaxy actors, Gunn pointed out that his true focus is to ensure that “the actor fits the role and they’re easy to work with” when he’ll cast someone new or familiar in the DC Studios project.
We have hundreds of roles to cast. As I’ve always done, some will be brand new faces, some will be actors I’ve worked with before, & some will be actors you know who I’ve never worked with. What matters most is the actor fits the role & they’re easy to work with. https://t.co/akXKoj70AS
It’s not surprising that a director would also want to bring on actors he has a past with to join a franchise he’s supervising. He’s worked with a variety of actors throughout his career and very likely has an idea of who might be perfect for a specific role. Plus, it’s not like he hasn’t already brought in new actors like with John Cena taking on the role of Peacemaker.
There’s also the aspect that once they find directors to tackle the various projects they are working on. Once more creatives join the franchise, they’ll have more opinions exploring how their take on a classic DC character may require a different type of talent. So, once things truly take shape, we’ll get a better picture of what the future has in store.
Let’s be frank, DC Extended Universe had its ups and downs. It wasn’t an easy ride for everyone involved, especially surrounding the Justice League film. What seems like a sure-fire billion dollar blockbuster project it just ended up sizzling out before it got going. Then a subsection of the internet started an entire campaign to revive the original vision by director Zack Snyder, which led to a four-hour epic that gave an existing film a newly formatted paint.
Our choices for the DCU are based upon what we believe is best for the story & best for the DC characters who have been around for nearly 85 years. Perhaps these choices are great, perhaps not, but they are made with sincere hearts & integrity & always with the story in mind.
Gunn has always been quite outspoken on his feelings towards this new job and also used the opportunity of his Social Media to swiftly take down any rumors or statements that weren’t verified in any way. It’s never an easy task to become the new leader of an entire cinematic universe, but it does seem like we have nothing to worry about. It’s also great to see him be so upfront about this and share his love for what he’s about to create. No matter how one feels about the current developments, Gunn isn’t taking this lightly and is dedicated.
DC Studios will shape the future of an entire franchise with James Gunn and producer Peter Safran at the steering wheel. It’s an exciting prospect to see what the future has in store for the franchise, even as they leave behind some of the landmarks that defined the franchise throughout the last few years. Yet, it seems that they almost weren’t in the leading position as Warner Bros. Discovery had their eyes set on someone else.
As it turns out, their big hope was for Todd Phillips, the director behind the surprise billion dollar box office hit, Joker, and The Hangover trilogy. An insider shared just how far they went in trying to get him involved with the project, after “the whole town turned the job down. It was almost Todd Phillips. They begged him.”
Everyone was aware of the impossible task set upon them taking over a role that Kevin Feige managed to master against all odds. Gunn was a fitting choice considering he’s worked under Marvel Studios’ leadership to get a glimpse at what it means to run a cinematic franchise. Still, there does seem to be some concern, especially with him not having been in such a position before.
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].
Though it should be noted that the same issue also would’ve been with Phillips if he was given the position. He only has the additional caveat of having no real interest in the DC universe or any understanding of what makes it tick. Yes, Joker was a success but that doesn’t mean every film he touches would have the same effect. Plus, he has openly mocked the genre in the past and who knows how the DC Cinematic Universe would look like under his leadership.
As fans continue to move past the chaotic week of news within the world of DC Studios, questions are beginning to arise about what direction the studio will take with its DC heroes on film. The news of Wonder Woman 3 not moving forward and rumors of various sequels to old-guard projects being canceled has led to the thought from some that there’d be a distinct lack of these characters in the future. However, new Co-CEO of DC Studios James Gunn has confirmed at least one of the characters will remain a priority. In a tweet today, Gunn has made the point that Superman will be a marquee part of the relaunch of DC Studios.
Yes of course. Superman is a huge priority, if not the biggest priority.
This shouldn’t come as any bit of a surprise. Superman is one the most recognizable characters in fictional media and it’d be wildly foolish to not have him as a centerpiece. The big question will be whether or not it will be the Henry Cavill take on Clark Kent. After his return for the post-credits of Black Adam, many assumed him to be a lock for a probable sequel to Man of Steel. However, it seems that it may not yet be that far in the works. And with the turnover at the WarnerMedia subsidiary, it’s not out of the realm of possibilities that James Gunn and Peter Safran take the character of Superman in a different direction.
Ultimately, it will come down to a decision of prioritizing a true fresh start for DC in the cinematic landscape or holding onto at least one (fairly well received) remnant of the under-utilized previous generation. Either way it certainly will be an interesting story to follow.
The start of the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s Phase 5 will finally give us the third and final James Gunn-directed entry of Guardians of the Galaxy. It’ll be the end of an era for one of Marvel’s most popular teams. The film is bound to have an emotional resolution for various characters, one of which will be the Bradley Cooper-voiced Rocket Raccoon. While in an interview with the Phase Zero podcast, James Gunn confirmed this to be the case. The director discussed how Vol. 3 will focus on the origins of the animal and how that plays into the end of this saga.
It tells this story about Rocket and where he came from and where he’s going, and how that ties into everybody else, and the end of this iteration of The Guardians.
James Gunn
After being a seminal part of this universe, it’s fitting that the Guardians of the Galaxy would take a turn for the emotional heading into the ending of their trilogy. And the story of Rocket Raccoon appears in line to be the main arc of Guardians of the Galaxy vol. 3, especially with the casting of Chukwudi Iwuji as the main antagonist in the High Evolutionary. And having seen the initial trailer for the film at San Diego Comic Con this year, this author can confirm the film will be leaning heavily into more serious themes while wrapping up the stories of these characters.
The concept of weight-filled emotional themes was prevalent on the mind of James Gunn while in production for Vol. 3. And it’s why he found special solace in producing the more light-hearted Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special in tandem with the Marvel Studios feature film. This is what the director had to say about balancing the two tonally different projects at the same time.
Doing this goofy thing like once every four days, and then going and shooting four days of Guardians Vol. 3, and then going back, it almost created a lot of whiplash. But it was also almost like TheGuardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special days were like snow days, you know? Those were the… that was recess. That was fun!
James Gunn
In addition, James Gunn confirmed that he considers The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special to be “required watching” in order to best experience Guardians of the Galaxy vol. 3 this coming May. Gunn elaborates on concepts that will be introduced for the team and how the short film allowed him to spend less time on exposition in the first act of the feature film.
People should see the Holiday Special. You’re obviously gonna learn a lot about where the Guardians have been in the past few years. You know, you’re gonna see how they now inhabit Knowhere. They’ve got a new ship called the Bowie. They’ve got a dog [who] is part of their crew now who has telekinesis named Cosmo. So where you get to learn all that, and then there’s a couple of bigger pieces of spoiler-y lore. You’re gonna learn all of those things. In a way, the Holiday Special was a Trojan Horse for me to sneak in stuff that becomes important in Volume 3, so I don’t have to spend a lot of time at the beginning of that movie explaining it.
James Gunn
The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special releases on Disney+ on November 25. Guardians of the Galaxy vol. 3 releases exclusively in theaters of May 5, 2023.
Next week will bring the final Marvel Studios project of 2022, The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special. It will be the second Special Presentation created by Marvel, and while there aren’t any others announced, it would seem unlikely that it’ll be the last. It’s a new concept for the Disney+ platform, but it seems that the origins of The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special date back to around 2016. According to director James Gunn, the initial idea for the holiday special was pitched to Kevin Feige during the production of Guardians of the Galaxy vol. 2 in 2016.
It’s certainly interesting to follow the history of how this unique project for the MCU came to be. Much like Werewolf by Night in October, the Special Presentation format is a natural evolution of the One-Shots that used to exist and are a unique way to continue narratives for Marvel. Fans have already thought up a large number of ideas that could work well in this short-film format.
Assuming Guardians was the first Special Presentation to be pitched, James Gunn deserves credit for this new creative direction. And it could certainly bode well for the creativity Gunn can bring to the table as the new head of DC Studios (on top of the strong showings he’s already had there with The Suicide Squad and Peacemaker).
The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special premieres exclusively on Disney+ on Friday, November 25.
Peter Safran and James Gunn have only recently taken on the role of DC Studios’ co-CEOs. Warner Bros. Discovery gave them the daunting task of creating a future timeline for how they envision a united DC Comics-based cinematic universe. CEO David Zaslav wants his Marvel Cinematic Universe and he found the perfect guys for the job. Yet, they only joined three weeks ago and it seemed like we’ll have to wait a while before we get any news.
A new post by The Wrap’s Umberto Gonzalez on Twitter has seemingly hinted that we could find out about their plans sooner rather than later. He not only teased that a Superman revival starring Henry Cavill is potentially on ice until this long-term plan is finalized but also they may unveil it in the coming months. It’s unclear though if he is referencing a presentation within Warner Bros. or even plans to share it publicly.
No one knows what the long range plan is, except for Gunn and Safran who have been at their new posts for less than three weeks. However, according to the insider, Gunn and Safran’s long range plan should be revealed in the next two months.
While Marvel Studios knows how to get a crowd riled up with their San Diego Comic-Con showcase, it would be a first for them to fully showcase a roadmap like this. It could be a way to stand out even from the monster that is Marvel Studios, but it would seem unwise to show all your cards if they will have to change either way. Of course, there is a possibility that they simply tease projects that are set to arrive as of 2025 to set the groundwork for what exactly they are planning. For now, we’ll have to wait and see.
James Gunn and Peter Safran officially took over DC Studios at the beginning of the month, and while they’ve been in charge for less than two weeks, the duo seem to have big plans for DC Studios. On Thursday, the duo joined David Zaslav on a Zoom call to formally introduce Gunn and Safran to their Warner Bros. Discovery cohorts in a virtual town hall.
Safran noted that, like with the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the hope is for DC Studios to tell an overarching story. “This was such a unique opportunity to tell one great overarching story. One beautiful big story across film, television gaming, live-action, and animation.”
Safran is perhaps best known for producing the Aquaman films and the Shazam! movies. He’ll now work with Gunn in order to craft an overarching story that’ll span across theater, television, and animation. For Gunn, he was thrilled to help build the newly founded DC Studios in order to make DC great. “The opportunity to make DC as great as it can be and as it should be — that is the reason why I’m doing this job because I know that Peter and I can do that.”
Gunn also noted that, he’s been working with some of the best “thinkers” in the industry recently along with Safran, although no names were noted. He also revealed that they’re mapping out a massive story to be told over eight to ten years. “We spent the past couple days with a group of some of the best thinkers in the industry, the best writers in the industry starting to map out that eight to 10 year plan of what it’s going to look like in theater, in TV, in animation, across the board for these characters.”
Up next for DC on the big screen is Shazam! Fury of the Gods which hits theaters on March 17th, 2023.
If there ever is one thing that stands out on Twitter (ignoring current events), it was the fact that the director and now co-CEO of the newly formed DC Studios, James Gunn, has always been quite vocal about stories that would end up trending online. He’d often shoot down rumors before they would start getting too much traction.
In his new position, he can no longer be as vocal as possible with every little project he’s involved with, but with a sudden influx of #SaveLegendsofTomorrow and #ReleaseTheAyerCut hashtags on Twitter, he took to his personal account to share some insights into what fans may expect from the franchise.
As the new (& first ever) CEOs of DC Studios, Peter & I think it’s important we acknowledge you, the fans, & let you know we hear your different desires for the pathways forward for DC.
He goes on to highlight that their core focus remains on exploring the future storylines for the franchise and not just retelling stories that already existed. He highlights “telling the biggest story ever told across multiple films, television shows & animated projects,” which hints at the new DC Universe won’t just rely on live-action adaptations, as even Marvel moved away a bit from having direct influences from their new animated series.
But all our initial focus is on the story going forward, hammering out the new DCU, & telling the Biggest Story Ever Told across multiple films, television shows, & animated projects.
It’s definitely great to see James Gunn react to what is being discussed online, especially with the way the Ayer Cut discussions have spun out of the long-battled Snyder Cut. We likely will have to wait at least until next year or even 2024 to get a clear vision of what the future looks like for DC Studios’ line-up, especially with Gunn‘s work on Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 going on until the films May release. So, we’ll have to be patient.
In 2020, before the onslaught of Marvel Studios’ fourth Phase truly began, the idea of minor side characters getting their own spin-offs was still a little absurd. Major supporting players had already been confirmed for semi-solo projects on Disney+ – mostly paired with related names – in the form of series like WandaVision and The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, but there had yet to be any announcements for shows like Agatha: Coven of Chaos that would indicate just how loose Marvel was willing to play it. This is why, at the time, it seemed like such a longshot when Dave Bautista revealed James Gunn had pitched a Guardians of the Galaxy spin-off film starring Drax and Pom Klementieff‘s Mantis to Kevin Feige and the folks at Marvel.
Speaking with Collider in support of his movie My Spy, the former wrestler stated that he was interested in teaming with Gunn and Klementieff for a side project on top of the upcoming Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3. His character and Klementieff‘s shared a surprising chemistry when they met in 2017’s Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, and Bautista felt Gunn was correct in wanting to mine that relationship for more gold. The revelation came after the actor was asked if he’d be willing to star in his own Disney+ series:
I wouldn’t do a series because Drax as a series would be really rough with the make-up and everything, it would just be too tough. What I would like to do is, honestly, and this is not my idea, I’m stealing this idea, James Gunn had the idea to do a Drax/Mantis movie, and that’s what I’d be up for because there’s just too much fun there.
True. But this was never ruled out. I still think it could be amazing.
James Gunn, in March of 2020
For a year following the news, not much was heard in the way of Drax and Mantis movie. However, there was movement on an entirely different Guardians of the Galaxy spin-off. At the 2020 Disney Investor’s Day presentation, only nine months after Bautista and Gunn had voiced their Drax-based desires, The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special was unveiled. Marvel pulled the curtain back on a short film, a new type of project they would later dub a ‘Special Presentation,’ that would be written and directed by Gunn for a holiday release, with Bautista, Klementieff, and the rest of the Guardians line-up returning for more intergalactic antics.
The mini-movie seemed to be a completely separate idea at first, something reinforced by more comments made by Bautista in 2021. In an interview with Digital Spy, after once again being asked about the status of a Drax/Mantis film, the Army of the Dead lead was far more pessimistic about the project’s chances of seeing the light of day:
There were talks for a while about a Drax and Mantis film. It was really because it was James Gunn’s idea. He really wanted to do a Drax and Mantis film. He laid it out to me. I thought it was such a brilliant idea, but I haven’t heard any follow-up from the studio. I don’t think they’re very interested, or it doesn’t fit into the way they have things mapped out…
Dave Bautista, in May of 2021
Bautista‘s remark about the studio not fitting the project into their schedule, once again, felt correct at the time. Marvel’s Multiverse Saga is jam-packed with new series, films, and special presentations, and a Drax/Mantis story falling by the wayside in the midst of it all was fully believable. After all, the Holiday Special had been in the works for a good while at that point, and it seemed logical that Bautista would know the extent of his character’s future by then. Furthermore, when the Holiday Special was first announced, Gunn had specifically stated on his social media that it was an idea he had in the tank for a very long while, making it appear as though the short and any other Guardians-related concept pitched in the year prior weren’t one-in-the-same:
One of my favorite stories ever, which I have bugged Kevin Feige endlessly about over the years. I can’t believe we’re actually doing this. And, yes, I unironically loved the Star Wars Holiday Special as a kid.
James Gunn, in December of 2020
In another tweet, posted months later, Gunn stated that he had outlined a treatment for the Holiday Special “years ago,” but had only just finished the actual script in April of 2021. Again, this felt completely innocuous and raised no suspicion among fans who might have been trying to speculate the special’s plot. With the script done, Gunn moved to work on Vol. 3, and the Holiday Special would not begin filming until February of 2022.
Then, just this month, the Holiday Special dropped its first round of marketing. The trailer, a hit with fans, showcased the short film’s plot – with Peter Quill sunk into a depression, Drax and Mantis decide they can brighten his Christmas by heading to Earth and kidnapping his childhood hero, Kevin Bacon. While the released footage features nearly every member of the Guardians, Drax and Mantis seem to get the most screen time, haplessly wreaking havoc across Los Angeles in their quest to bring home the Bacon. Additionally, the poster dropped by Marvel to accompany the teaser featured only two members of the titular team:
Drax and Mantis on the Holiday Special poster
Marvel Studios has a long history of repurposing unused ideas and concepts. It seems plausible that, with Marvel unwilling to play ball on a full-blown Drax/Mantis film, Gunn was able to combine the idea with his long-brewing Holiday Special. Although the creative has seemingly had the Special Presentation in mind for years, he did not actually develop its final script until after conceptualizing the Bautista/Klementieff vehicle. In theory, Gunn might have been able to increase Drax and Mantis’ roles in the special after seeing their spark in Vol. 2 and realizing they would not get another opportunity to star in a project together following Vol. 3. Bautista‘s 2021 claims that a Drax/Mantis movie was not happening predate filming by nearly a year and could have simply come from the fact the actor had yet to see the short’s script and was unaware it had largely become focused on himself and Klementieff. Or the Stuber star simply doesn’t consider the Holiday Special a true Drax/Mantis spin-off.
Of course, it’s also possible that none of this is true. It could just be that the Holiday Special organically shifted towards focusing on the featured duo as the story came together, or that the other Guardians play a much bigger role than the trailer suggests. Still, it’s fun to imagine that the Holiday Special is secretly the Drax/Mantis movie that Gunn has spent years asking for. Perhaps when he said he’d been bugging Feige about the Special for a long time, he didn’t mean the Holiday part specifically. Only time, and pure unwarranted speculation, will tell.
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