What James Gunn’s DCU Needs to Succeed

A few months ago DC announced its plans for a new cinematic universe. It’s no secret that many of their films have never quite hit the mark, especially when compared to their direct competitor Marvel. After spending two hours of my life questioning my choices by watching Black Adam, I certainly agree that a new direction could be worthwhile. However, I was surprised to see this new attempt at building a universe would be helmed by James Gunn of all people.

There has been much recent debate and controversy around superhero cinema, most of which trends toward negativity. While this may be a critical piece, I’d like to state from the beginning that my intent is not to simply bash people for enjoying comic book movies or discredit the people involved in their production. I am in my heart a fan of superheroes. I grew up reading the comics and want to see these films succeed. However, I don’t want to see them sacrificing telling a good story or becoming unfaithful to the characters just for success.

James Gunn is a solid director and I’ve enjoyed most of the superhero films he’s worked on. The Guardians of the Galaxy movies are decent popcorn adventures. I also definitely enjoyed his reboot of The Suicide Squad. It’s certainly a standout film, especially amongst the other DC movies at this point. Neither of his two big films has really delivered truly groundbreaking narratives, but nonetheless, they are entertaining. They deliver on capturing the fun aspect of superhero stories. His work in Marvel captures the overall tone of that comic universe quite well.

However, I believe Gunn’s preferred style of action-adventure comedy works only for specific characters. It’s not something I want bleeding into the tone of every new DC film from here on out. Black Adam, while not directed by Gunn and not part of the new universe, is a great example of what I mean. The film is filled with the same quippy dialogue typical of most Marvel films and delivers a generally lighthearted action-adventure story. This contrasts horribly with the actual character of Black Adam who is one of DC’s most stoic anti-heroes or villains depending on the comic. That is one of the many issues with this movie, but it has me worried about the future.

Superhero cinema in general has only grown increasingly homogenized in recent years. The lighthearted, comedic tone that has become the industry standard is not something I really want governing the direction of the new DCU. It goes against a lot of the major ideas that have defined the universe within the comics. DC as a whole generally favors big epic narratives with serious stakes and repercussions.

Characters are more akin to figures of myth and legend rather than just everyday people thrust into heroism. These themes are something I think Zack Snyder captured quite well with his films. While many criticized them for being too grim, I found them to be well done apart from a few missteps. Snyder’s films at least stood out as being unique in style rather than simply trying to copy successful elements.

With all that being said, Gunn’s actual lineup seems quite promising to me. It contains a variety of characters and each project seems to hone in on a specific tone that remains true to the lore of each character. There is a Swamp Thing horror film, a drama series starring Amanda Waller from The Suicide Squad, and a Green Lantern detective show amongst many other unique titles. Of course, there are also new Superman and Batman films, but both promise to focus on different parts of each character that haven’t been explored competently through cinema.

The Batman film is built around the relationship between him and Robin. Superman focuses on more traditional ideas but is not an origin story and is rather a character study. Considering Matt Reeves’ The Batman film was essentially a character study with a special emphasis on the detective element of Batman’s character, it’s clear that these types of films can still provide a fresh take on overused heroes.

This distinct tonal variety is really what the new DC universe needs in order to be successful and they should deliver new kinds of stories that are compelling even when standing on their own. Additionally, they should adapt the proper tone for each character and the type of story being told. I’d like to see this universe take time building towards an event. This was something that made the first few phases of the MCU exciting. Knowing the universe was building towards something big is fun, but that eventuality came after years of setup.

Rather than blasting through the biggest storylines like the formation of the Justice League, Flashpoint, or Crisis on Infinite Earths, take time setting up all the key players. It was so awkward to me that the Justice League film had only given two of the five core members their own solo films beforehand. I connected less with each hero, and I say that as someone already familiar with the heroes. It must be a nightmare it must be to watch those films without that prior knowledge. That is yet another reason the original universe failed. Hopefully, Gunn can turn that around and give us a truly special comic book universe once again.