James Gunn’s career-defining move happened in two stages – with Kevin Feige choosing him to lead the Guardians of the Galaxy franchise from the get-go to the forever sky and when David Zaslav nominated him as the co-CEO of the newly formed DC Studios and as such the Chief of every IP that falls under it.
And now that Gunn’s plans for the properties under new management are starting to take off, the writer and director can hardly conceal the anticipatory enthusiasm that comes along with ushering in the new era of DC in film, television, and animation. At the same time, however, he also recognizes the over-saturated field of comic book movies and the redundancy of the films that now populate modern popular culture.
Also read: Despite 15-Year Rivalry, James Gunn and Zack Snyder’s DC Universe Yet to Beat MCU’s Rare Record
James Gunn Speaks Out Against Overcrowding of MCU Films
The Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige and his team of production and legal executives are currently knee-deep in trouble – not only because of the “Marvel fatigue” that has overwrought the fans but its casting woes regarding two particularly promising actors. Now, as Feige begins charting out a plan for the best step forward, James Gunn, who recently bid adieu to the Marvel Cinematic Universe just as it came crashing down, chips in an opinion or two about the current state of the CBM franchise. Speaking about the deteriorating quality of projects, Gunn claimed:
I think that what’s happened is, people have gotten really lazy with their superhero stories. And they have gotten to the place where, ‘Oh, it’s a superhero, let’s make a movie about it.’ And they make, ‘Oh, let’s make a sequel, because the first one did pretty well,’ and they aren’t thinking about, ‘Why is this story special? What makes this story stand apart from other stories? What is the story at the heart of it all? Why is this character important? What makes this story different that it fills a need for people in theaters to go see? Or on television?
And I think that it’s just that… people have gotten a little lazy and there’s a lot of biff, pow, bam stuff happening in movies and I’m watching third acts of superhero films where I really just don’t feel like there’s a rhyme or reason to what’s happening… I don’t care about the characters. And they’ve gotten too generic.
Marvel’s recent turn for the worse with the studio’s latest Phase Four and Five productions and the casting of promising actors with a potentially long-term stay in the MCU makes it an easy opponent and victim of the emerging, fresh-faced, and full-of-potential DCU. And as such, with its billion-dollar business, and the industry’s reputation and future at stake, Marvel can hardly let the chips fall where they may – most urgently, beginning with addressing and acknowledging the status of Jonathan Majors in the MCU and resolving the over-saturated state of its Phase Five and Six line-ups.
James Gunn Stakes His Future on the Failed Ending of DCEU
Before he can usher in a new era of hope and growth for the sustainable future of DCU, James Gunn has to put his weight behind the remainder of the DCEU productions that are still waiting to go on and perform the last show of their lives. The last DCEU film, The Flash, was already hyped up by the grand sentiments of its creators and the DCU Chief who decidedly dubbed it as “one of the greatest superhero movies ever made.”
On the other hand, the audience’s expectation was tampered down, either because the end product could not live up to the hype or due to the shoddy quality of the movie’s VFX. The few who did find the film interesting in its plot and subjectivity without going too much into the technicalities of its production cannot make up for the margin that clearly and decisively rules out The Flash as a failure at the box office.
The Flash is currently playing in theatres worldwide.
Source: Inside of You with Michael Rosenbaum
