James Gunn is set to helm the new DC Universe for DC Studios with Peter Safran. While Gunn is best known for his work as the writer and director of Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy films, it seems as though he may have had a bigger hand in the MCU than many fans may have realized.
The choice to appoint James Gunn and Peter Safran as co-chairs of DC Studios came as a shock to many fans. While Gunn has had an undeniably good track record with the superhero genre with films such as Guardians of the Galaxy and The Suicide Squad, it seemed as though he didn’t have the experience of producing multiple different projects that one would need to take up the mantle of DC’s Kevin Feige. However, in a recent interview, Gunn has revealed that he actually consulted on multiple Marvel Studios projects for the MCU, including the likes of Doctor Strange and Spider-Man:
“I was consulting on everything,” the filmmaker told The Wrap. “I was consulting on all the Marvel movies. Kevin [Feige] would send me the script for Spider-Man and I’d give my notes. He’d send me the script for Doctor Strange, Captain Marvel, and I’d give notes on all of those scripts. It was really as a friend and as somebody who was a part of the team and a team player. And then the cosmic universe, I mean, there’s a lot of things that I was creating and setting up for the rest of the cosmic universe.”
Giving notes on scripts isn’t anything out of the ordinary for a screenwriter to do. Even if fans don’t realize it, every script goes through dozens of rounds of coverage from trusted writers. Given James Gunn was one of the few directors at Marvel Studios who was able to helm an entire trilogy he also wrote, it’s no wonder he was the one to turn to to give notes.
What makes the quote all the more notable is that it appears as though James Gunn had larger plans for the cosmic universe than many fans were able to see. While the Infinity Stones were first set up in his Guardians of the Galaxy films, his wording implies that he was planning more things on the cosmic side than may be obvious at first glance. Regardless of if the Infinity Stones truly were the extent of his planning in the MCU, it seems as though Gunn has more experience in crafting a shared universe than fans may have first thought. While nothing is ever certain, this interview does spell good news for the DCU he’s crafting with Peter Safran.
The future of the DC Universe
James Gunn and Peter Safran told journalists that their vision for the DC Universe includes locked scripts, wiggle room and a unified storyline across film, television, animation and video game projects. The two explained that the DC Universe could bring back elements from previous DC regimes, meaning that their eight-to-year plan is not a full reboot.
Shazam! Fury of the Gods, The Flash, Blue Beetle and Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom are currently in various stages of post-production at Warner Bros. Discovery, with all four DC Universe movies slated to hit theaters in 2023. Will the characters from those movies make appearances in the new DCU? Only Gunn and Safran know.
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