Why James Gunn leading DC Studios is a great news for fans

In an unexpected piece of news, James Gunn and producer Peter Safran were made the heads of DC Studios, a rebranded DC Films. The news was first reported by The Hollywood Reporter. Gunn, Safran, and Warner Bros Discovery's chief David Zaslav later confirmed the news. Zaslav had been looking for a suitable person to lead the next phase of DC film universe. For almost a decade now, DC films have tried to catch up with the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and have failed. There have been individual successes, sure, but as a unified cinematic universe, DC movies have failed. Analysts have said that the biggest reason for that is absence of a figure like Kevin Feige (Marvel Studios boss) at DC -- somebody who knows comics intimately and is also familiar with the business side of things.

Gunn and Safran were called "complementary" talents by Zaslav and indeed while Gunn grew up reading comics, Safran has a knack for financing projects with box office potential. But it is Gunn in particular that can usher in a creative turning point in DC Extended Universe. I explain. Let's begin with the basics.

How did James Gunn become such a big name in superhero cinema?

Gunn has been in the 'big 2' (Marvel and DC) superhero business since he helmed 2014's 'Guardians of the Galaxy'. it is a credit to his writing and filmmaking that some of the obscure characters in the comics populated the cast of one of that year's best superhero movie. The film featured a found family of the galaxy's biggest rejects, two of whom were not even human, and and one of them was a robot. And yet infused with his unique brand of humour, solid writing, and a talented cast of actors and voice-actors, the film became a huge hit and also impressed critics.

His next for Marvel Studios, 'Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2' was an even bigger commercial success.

But in 2018, when the third 'Guardians of the Galaxy' film was in development, Disney, the parent company of Marvel Studios. The reason for the ban was his old tweets in which he appeared to joke about paedophilia and rape. The tweets resurfaced after US conservatives shared them after he became vocal in his criticism of the Donald J Trump presidency. Hours after the tweets appeared, Disney ended any association with him, including the 'Guardians of the Galaxy' franchise in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. This allowed Warner Bros to recruit him for a DC movie. He chose a soft reboot of the 2016 movie 'Suicide Squad'.

The film, called 'The Suicide Squad' marked Gunn's return to films with a bang. It released in 2021 and starred a huge cast of actors Margot Robbie, Idris Elba, John Cena, Joel Kinnaman, Sylvester Stallone, Viola Davis, David Dastmalchian, Daniela Melchior, Michael Rooker, Jai Courtney, Peter Capaldi, Alice Braga, and Pete Davidson.

The film scored 90 per cent on the review aggregation site Rotten Tomatoes. The critical consensus reads, "Enlivened by writer-director James Gunn's singularly skewed vision, The Suicide Squad marks a funny, fast-paced rebound that plays to the source material's violent, anarchic strengths."

Apart from 'The Suicide Squad', Gunn also wrote and directed a John Cena-fronted spinoff series called 'Peacemaker' for HBO Max, which was also received well.

How Gunn's association with DC for foreseeable future is a great news for DC fans

As we have established, Gunn is a really good superhero movie director. He grew up on a steady diet of comics, and has repeated shown an uncanny knack of crafting moving stories with multiple, varied characters forgetting their differences and coming together for a common goal. With 'Peacemaker', he proved that he is good with sole characters as well if it allows him to dismantle the character in his own way and instil his irreverent humour.

DC has suffered for a long time without any lasting skipper to direct things. There have been competing visions, execs who have disagreed over the direction the properties should go in, and so on. What the company needed at this time is somebody exactly like Gunn: who has a proven track record in the genre and is a geek and knows these characters well. Under Gunn and Safran, the future of DC films is bright.