James Gunn turns the tide with DC Films 

By: J.A. Aleman

Superhero fatigue has been mentioned among movie goers when it comes to the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). The characters taken from the page of comic books and placed on the silver screen have either hit or missed with audiences. 

This leaves fans entering movie theatres with a fear of being disappointed and left with a sour taste. 

Movies are special and still should be seen as a unique experience and art form, even if it seems we are being bombarded by so many releases on a weekly basis. With MCU films and television series on Disney Plus, there is no shortage of heroic action whether the film is great or not. 

However, DC didn’t help much with how they reinterpreted characters with bad storytelling. “Man of Steel” was released in 2013, introducing us to a brooding Superman. While the darker tones can make the character feel more relatable at times, that’s just not who he is. 

There’s no talk about superhero films without mentioning CGI, which has been terrible for both DC and Marvel films, despite high budgets ranging between $495 million to $250 million. This is saying a lot because Godzilla Minus One had a budget of $15 million dollars and won the Oscar for best visual effects in 2024. This goes to show big budgets aren’t what make great movies, it’s the director. 

This brings in James Gunn, director of Marvel’s “Guardians of the Galaxy” to lead the renewal of the crumbled DC Universe. The film was a total palate cleanser for fans everywhere because of its originality. Yes, it was a superhero movie, but the characters were fresh and new and had a new story to tell. 

Gunn’s take on the “Guardians of the Galaxy” films gave us a glimpse of the respect he has for the characters and the understanding that they are loved prior to them being portrayed in a movie. 

“I have extremely high hopes,” said Asa Ramsey, a DC Comics fan at Emerald City Comic Con. “I think James Gunn is a really passionate person about DC and comic books in general. You can see how he can make these no names characters really popular. I think if anyone is the person to tackle this, its him.” 

It’s because of Gunn that characters from the “Guardians of the Galaxy” became more mainstream, when before they only had a smaller fan base for their comic books. 

At comic con, there were many people wearing costumes of their favorite DC Characters. I started pointing toward people in costumes and yelled James Gunn. They yelled back, “we’ll see,” or “I’m optimistic,” or “I’m excited.” There was a mix of emotions, but the love for these characters was there regardless. 

One thing I have always said is that DC has gotten their animated movies and animated series right every time. “Batman the Animated Series” gave us the late Kevin Conroy’s phenomenal take on Batman and Bruce Wayne and it’s still one of the most popular series today. 

Amazon Studios released “Batman: Caped Crusader” recently and tried to reawaken some of the magic those animated titles had in the 90s. The series had some nostalgic feels but didn’t completely match the energy of its predecessor. 

We might be expecting too much from Gunn. Either way, fans know there’s something that’s just not clicking for us. 

Gunn is being honest and upfront about what he wants to do, as he announced his position of running DC Studios in January 2023. He told fans how he would work to rebuild the universe in a decade long plan, by making more films and television series in live action or animation. 

He further explained that these weren’t just superhero movies, but they would all be different genres such as horror, actions or comedy. He also stated that any DC films made prior to his arrival, such as Matt Reeves’ Batman, will be considered other worlds meaning they are not part of the bigger narrative canon. 

“I think that what’s happened is people have gotten really lazy with their superhero stories,” said Gunn, as a guest on the Inside of You Clips podcast. “They aren’t thinking about why is this story special? I’m watching third acts of superhero films where I don’t feel there’s a rhyme or reason to what’s happening. They’ve gotten too generic.” 

The way Gunn speaks about films is from the standpoint of a fan. There is something about superheroes that draws the attention of people, but they aren’t all the same. They have unique stories, motivations and that’s what makes them compelling. He is about telling great stories with superhero characters in them. 

“Creature Commandoes” is an animated series on HBO Max and if you haven’t seen it, you should watch it. These are more obscure characters not many have seen or heard about but by the end you care about each and every one of them because of the story telling. This is what’s been missing in superhero movies. 

We’ve seen money grab after money grab from studios. I stopped going to movie theatres to watch these movies because the stories being told were not worth telling the majority of the time. The latest example is “Captain America: Brave New World,” which was labeled a throwaway movie by fans at Comic Con. 

Fans can look forward to Gunn’s Superman film, releasing in July 2025 because there is someone that understands the responsibility it takes to honor the creators of these characters and the characters themselves. 

I am looking forward to the upcoming “Swamp Thing” horror movie and the “Bane vs Deathstroke” movie and others which Gunn mentioned in his announcement video. 

If “Creature Commandos” is any indication as to what to expect from Gunn, then my DC friends, these projects are definitely in great hands.