DC Studios co-CEO James Gunn has addressed a recent article from The Hollywood Reporter that stated several legacy DC Extended Universe projects — like Wonder Woman 3 and Man of Steel 2 — had been scrapped for not aligning with his new vision for the shared universe.
In a tweet, Gunn wrote:
“So. As for the story yesterday in the Hollywood Reporter, some of it is true, some of it is half-true, some of it is not true, & some of it we haven’t decided yet whether it’s true or not.”
So. As for the story yesterday in the Hollywood Reporter, some of it is true, some of it is half-true, some of it is not true, & some of it we haven’t decided yet whether it’s true or not.
— James Gunn (@JamesGunn) December 8, 2022
He continued:
“But, in the end, the drawbacks of that transitional period were dwarfed by the creative possibilities & the opportunity to build upon what has worked in DC so far & to help rectify what has not. We know we are not going to make every single person happy every step of the way, but we can promise everything we do is done in the service of the STORY & in the service of the DC CHARACTERS we know you cherish and we have cherished our whole lives. As for more answers about the future of the DCU, I will sadly have to ask you to wait. We are giving these characters & the stories the time & attention they deserve & we ourselves still have a lot more questions to ask & answer.”
The Hollywood Reporter had previously stated Gunn and his DC Studios partner Peter Safran were cleaning house and that they had heard from multiple sources that Patty Jenkins’ Wonder Woman 3 would not be moving forward and was considered dead in its current incarnation since “it did not fit in with the new (but still unfolding) plans.”
THR also stated that Gunn would be “closing [the] curtain of the Snyderverse, and the heroes cast by filmmaker Zack Snyder for his Justice League,” including scrapping plans for Man of Steel 2 and — more bizarrely — ending Jason Momoa‘s tenure as Aquaman so he can plan Lobo instead.
Oh, and Black Adam 2? More like Black Adam No More as a sequel is reportedly unlikely at this time. A Hawkman spinoff film is also up in the air. Apparently, DC might be pissed at Johnson’s “playing up of a returning Cavill and his own involvement with DC.”
By the way, want to know more about the supposedly scrapped Man of Steel 2? Well, The Flash director Andy Muschietti had apparently expressed interest in helming the sequel, which “would have brought a tone similar to the hopeful and heroic colors of the 1978 movie directed by Richard Donner.”
However, do not worry about the fate of Matt Reeves’ The Batman Universe. Gunn and Safran will reportedly not touch those films, allowing Reeves to continue to build out his own corner of the DC Universe.
But like Gunn said in his tweet, some of what I just wrote is true and some of it is bullshit. I guess it’s up to us to figure out which goes where.
What do you think Gunn is planning for the DC Extended Universe? Do you think he’ll do a hard reboot and recast Wonder Woman, Superman, and Aquaman? Or is everything being blown out of proportion right now?
