Henry Cavill replaced by a younger superman, not an origin story, and Ben Affleck is in talks to direct future projects.
The Changing of the Guard
The DCEU is at a turning point, and it seems that James Gunn’s solution to fix the DCEU past sins is to simply erase them. The DCEU has been divisive, to say the least, helmed by writer/director Zack Synder, the DCEU adopted a darker tone in comparison to Marvel’s MCU, a tactic that proved to be unsuccessful in pulling in mass audiences. The tone was not the only issue with these films though, one of the biggest issues stemmed from the fact that they were desperately trying to catch up to Marvel. With the attempt to rush out their own Avengers, Justice League entered production with only two of the main members having solo films. During production, Zack Synder was struck with tragedy and unfortunately had to leave the project, with Joss Whedon taking over directorial duties. This made for a muddled mess of a film that even die-hard DC fans could not support, leading to a fan campaign requesting a release of the “Synder Cut.” This was eventually released through HBO Max and while it fixed some of the problems with the film, issues were bubbling up elsewhere that seem to threaten the continuation of this DCEU.
The first issue was the fact that Ben Affleck did not want to stay on as Batman stating that the filming of Justice League was a, “really nadir experience,” and that, “he didn’t like being there.” Another issue is the volatility and legal status of Ezra Miller, with a whole host of offenses on his rap sheet, and an increasing amount of fans requesting The Flash be recast. Currently, it seems that The Flash movie is too far into production for Ezra Miller to be recast, but I imagine this will be his last foray as the crimson speedster. If rumors are to be believed, then The Flash film will be inspired by the Flashpoint storyline, one that reset the entire continuity of DC comics, the perfect jumping-off point for James Gunn’s new DCEU.
DCEU 2.0
While we do not know the exact plan for James Gunn’s DCEU, today he revealed some major details relating to the beginning of his DCEU slate of films. “Peter & I have a DC slate ready to go… we’ll be able to share some exciting information about our first projects at the beginning of the new year.” He then announced that one of the first films in this new slate will be a Superman film, focused on a younger Superman, not played by Henry Cavill. This is especially devastating for Cavill, as he recently announced that he left Netflix’s The Witcher to focus more on his role as Superman. James Gunn did hint at the possibility that they work together in the future, but was unclear as to whether it would be a DC project. While this is a younger Superman, according to Gunn it is definitively not an origin film. James Gunn is penning with a director yet to be chosen.
When asked if Ben Affleck could direct, Gunn responded, “Met with Ben yesterday precisely because he wants to direct & we want him to direct; we just have to find the right project.” With the recast of Superman and the likely recast of other characters, fans are wondering who will take up the helm of the caped crusader. Variety reported the rumor that Matt Reeves’ The Batman played by Robert Pattison may be incorporated into this new universe, but James Gunn vehemently denied claiming, “this is entirely untrue.”
There are still many unanswered questions relating to this new DCEU, and it seems that many DC fans are not satisfied with these decisions by James Gunn. Many threads were set up in Justice League Synder Cut, from the introduction of Darkseid and Martian Manhunter to the future dystopia of Batman’s visions, and it seems some DC fans are worried that these plot points will be forgotten. There are a few DC films that went into production before James Gunns was appointed CEO of DC Films, but it is unlikely that any of them tackle these threads. Unfortunately, I find it unlikely that the Synder storyline will be continued or finished but it is probably the best course of action for the DCEU to move forward.
Gunn confirmed last month that the DCEU will be connected across film, television, and animation, but we do not know if any past projects will be part of this connected universe. I imagine that both James Gunn’s The Suicide Squad and Peacemaker will be incorporated, but past that we really don’t have a clearer idea of James Gunns DCEU until the whole slate is announced next year. There is no way these changes are going to satisfy everyone, but I believe that James Gunn can make a cohesive and engaging DCEU, even if some characters and plotlines are sacrificed on the way.
Thank you for reading.
Do you think James Gunn will be able to take the DCEU in a good direction, comment below.
