After Firing Henry Cavill, Ben Affleck, WB Discovery Might Face Budget Crisis for James Gunn’s DCU Reboot after Continuous Flops from Franchise

Ever since James Gunn and Peter Safran, the new co-CEOs of DC Studios took charge of the franchise, many things drastically changed. From Henry Cavill’s exit as Superman to Ben Affleck saying adios to Batman, both of them faced a similar fate. With such massive figures gone from the franchise, will the DC reboot really come to fruition?

Also Read: Plot of James Gunn’s Superman: Legacy, Which Replaces Henry Cavill, Sounds Suspiciously Similar To Dwayne Johnson’s Black Adam

Given that WB Discovery is under some hefty debt, it could become quite an issue for The Suicide Squad filmmaker to complete his decade plan. The recently launched films are surely not helping to alleviate worries.

DCU’s Recent Films’ Box-Office Numbers are Unimpressive

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In a turn of events, DC Studios brought James Gunn and Peter Safran as their new leaders who brought a new vision for the DCU. However, the unfavorable box office performance of recent films has brought in new worries for WB Discovery instead of the profits they were expecting.

The ultimate failure of The Flash starring Ezra Miller was something that was quite hinted at previously but it eventually ended up grossing $263 million. While it was under fire for its leading cast, the film’s VFX and third act surely made it worse.

Not to mention, the marketing and fans’ expectations played a major factor in its fall. Due to its catastrophic box-office performance, it became one of the biggest box-office bombs in history with WB estimated to suffer up to $200 million loss.

The film was expected to gross up to $800 million but we all know by now how it became a disappointment. Before that, Black Adam and Shazam! Fury of the Gods also generated a lackluster box office which highly affected the studio.

The failure of Andy Muschietti’s project is a massive sign that could dispose of the entire decade-long plan that the new DC leaders are keen to execute.

James Gunn’s DCU Might Face Budget Crisis After Ben Affleck & Henry Cavill’s Exit

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As DCU prepares for its reboot, many still are wondering about the franchise’s biggest characters’ future since Henry Cavill and Ben Affleck have already left.

Cavill left the franchise since James Gunn wanted a younger character to play the role of Superman in the reboot. Due to being old, he was not fit to continue playing the iconic character thus exiting the franchise.

As for Affleck who portrayed Batman, he revealed he was dissatisfied with the fun element which he sought from the project. While the latter was recently seen reprising his role in Miller’s film, Cavill is out of the game as of now. Meanwhile, David Corenswet has been announced to portray Superman in Gunn’s DCU.

With the exit of two powerful figures with a massive fanbase, it is surely going to impact the sales of the upcoming movies. Not to forget, WB Discovery was already going through a rough patch as plans for CNN didn’t work out, and the relaunch of Max was not appreciated especially because the title of HBO was removed from the streaming service.

While the series was able to entice the audience, WB being a movie studio lost in its expertise. Their mismanagement is one of the many reasons why Gunn could face a budget crisis which obviously would limit his creativity thus affecting the entire project.

Source: CBR