“Iron Man outed himself at the end of the first Iron Man”: James Gunn Refuses to Make DCU Movies Similar to Marvel Movies Despite Their Billion Dollar Success
After completing his tenure of more than a decade at the billion-dollar movie franchise, James Gunn is the co-head of one of the biggest competitors of the Marvel Cinematic Universe- DC. During his stint with Marvel, he has been the brain behind three Guardians Of the Galaxy movies. He was introduced to the DC universe with the 2021 released movie, The Suicide Squad. After taking over DC along with Peter Safran, the duo has been making headlines concerning the reinvention of storytelling and execution from the House of DC.
Recently, the American filmmaker spoke about the major differences between the biggest superhero franchise MCU and DC during an interview. He mentioned revamping DC concerning the storytelling method. The Suicide Squad director is busy working on his upcoming DC project Chapter 1: Gods and Monsters.
James Gunn On The Future Of DCU Movies In Comparison To MCU
Fans around the world are excited and are looking forward to something new concerning DC with the most awaited project Superman: Legacy which is expected to release in 2025. During an interview at Inside of You with Michael Rosenbaum, James Gunn spoke about both MCU and DC and even pointed out the major differences between the two reputed superhero universes. He mentioned-
“…The biggest, if you look, at the MCU… there are very few traditional superheroes… There was never a guy with a secret identity until Spider-Man in the MCU. Their Cap was turned into a soldier, even though he wears a mask… Iron Man outed himself at the end of the first Iron Man, because they don’t want to deal with the secret identity stuff.”
He even spoke about how DC is better than the MCU and has a bit more of a fantasy element with these larger-than-life superheroes. The director added-
“So there is a bit more of a fantasy element to DCU, because there are these larger-than-life superheroes and… you’re not going to make– I mean, people are going to do whatever they’re going to do in the future. But for me, there’s Superman and Clark Kent. They’re two different characters and you have to find a way to deal with them that’s as grounded as possible within this world of DC.”
James Gunn also spoke about what he loves the most about the DC universe and even compared the basic storylines of both superhero franchises. He said-
“One of the things I love about DC and excites me about DC is that in a way, it’s another alternate history. It is Gotham City, and Metropolis, and Star City, and Bludhaven, and all these different places in this other reality. And it makes it a little bit like Westeros in some ways. I love that about it. I love that we get to create true world-building in DC. It isn’t just, ‘We’re throwing some superheroes on Earth.’ So I think that, right now, that’s one of the key differences.”
The major difference between the MCU and DC is the world-building. As MCU movies take place in real-life locations like London, and New York City, the DC characters belong to fictional places on Earth. This clearly points out the daunting task of blending creativity with a pinch of reality together, to come up with a world of DC superheroes the audience can relate to.
Why James Gunn Is Frustrated With The Recent DCU Movies?
James Gunn appeared on the podcast, Inside of You with Michael Rosenbaum recently. He spoke about the positives and negatives of the previously released movies from the DC universe. While talking about how he looks forward to DC standing out in the crowd of superheroes, the director clarified- “We’re not going to overextend ourselves at DC.” The co-head of the DCU mentioned how all the major superhero franchises are busy with sequels instead of coming up with fresh stories.
He said-
“But I think that what’s happened is, people have gotten really lazy with their superhero stories. And they have gotten to the place where-
Ezra Miller in The Flash
James Gunn further continued-
‘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?’”
The currently released DCU movie, The Flash is the seventh movie from the franchise in a row. It failed to create magic at the box office. According to the famous media outlet, The Hollywood Reporter, The Flash could manage to secure the third position with Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse and Elemental being in the top two spots at the box office.
Source: Deadline
