There’s a new man running everything in WB Discovery’s house and that’s David Zaslav. Ever since he took the charge, there has been some bold decision making especially on DC’s front. And due to his efforts, the DC division became “DC Studios” under new leaders, James Gunn and Peter Safran. Gunn and Safran got the job after the deal with Dan Lin fell through. But it seems that there was someone else who was also gunning to spearhead the future of DCU, and that’s none other than Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson! And now that Gunn got the reigns, the Black Adam star does seem to be salty about it.
The Brewing Fued Between James Gunn and The Rock
On top of Dwayne Johnson and James Gunn ignoring each other on social media, David Zaslav’s latest interview with Deadline gives us an even bigger hint that they aren’t on the same page. While speaking about how DC Studios will take up the same formula as Marvel to build a connected universe, here’s what the head of WB Discovery said:
“[DC is] a hugely undervalued asset. Disney did a wonderful job with Marvel. But if you looked at Marvel and DC ten years ago, you would have said DC is as good or better. But Marvel is a connected universe. It has a ‘bible.’ The key was having one person following everything. All of Marvel is one place. You don’t wake up and find that there has been a Batman TV show someplace.”
A producer like Kevin Feige was always a hard find. So, Zaslav hired two people to steer his ship.
James Gunn & Peter Safran Were The Right Picks
James Gunn is the face and has the comic book knowledge to get things right, and Peter Safran is a seasoned Studio executive with more technical knowledge about producing DC films. So, David Zaslav and even the fans agree that these two were the right people for the job. Zaslav continued:
“DC is one of the biggest opportunities [for] this company. Our company is a creative company and so we found two great guys. You will see a lot of growth around DC. We haven’t done a Superman movie in 13 years.”
But the problem that stands now is James Gunn and the Rock are not seeing eye to eye. It has been stated in the past that Dwayne Johnson had a specific vision for the DCEU. And now that vision could likely be tossed aside for James Gunn’s decade-long DCU plans. So, the Black Adam franchise might find itself in troubled waters.
What the Future Holds
Being a producer himself, Dwayne Johnson usually has a lot of say in everything he does. But now with him having to check in with two new men in charge, Black Adam’s future does look bleak. Despite promises, he may not want to return. The fact that Black Adam also didn’t perform as well at the Box Office would give Dwayne Johnson an even smaller ground to stand on for the sequel. So, it’d be interesting to see how Dwayne Johnson and Gunn would work together to make future Black Adam and Shazam! movies possible because they were produced by Johnson’s production company, Seven Bucks Productions.
Maybe from here on, Black Adam could just continue to feature in crossover events with Johnson picking up huge paychecks out of those projects (instead of producing them himself). We’ll have to wait and see whether he settles for that. Although, it’d be nice if Hollywood doesn’t have another Dwayne Johnson feud. Won’t you agree?
Source: Deadline
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