Filmmaker James Gunn has outlined his long-term vision for the DC brand.
James Gunn believes “people are looking for heroes right now”.
The 58-year-old filmmaker – who is the current CEO of DC Studios – has written and directed the new ‘Superman’ movie, and James is feeling optimistic about the David Corenswet-led film.
Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter at a DC press event, he explained: “I think he’s the right Superman because he is a character that stands for something that is solid, stands for basic human morals, basic human integrity, basic belief in protecting others and protecting the weak being good to people and being honest.
“People are looking for heroes right now. They are looking for values of goodness, looking for people who are good and decent human beings. And Superman is that.”
James and Warner Bros plan to throw their full weight behind the promotional campaign for the upcoming film.
The director said: “DZ [David Zaslav, the CEO of Warner Bros. Discovery] loves what we’re doing, loves the movie, and has really rallied the entire company behind ‘Superman’ for this summer.
“You’ve seen what can happen when Warner Bros. Discover gets together behind a ‘Barbie’ or a ‘Beetlejuice’ or a ‘Wonka’ or ‘Kong’. And that’s how its being treated right now for ‘Superman’. Everything that DZ has promised us two years ago when we got the job, it’s all been a reality.”
James and Peter Safran became the co-chairmen and co-CEOs of DC Studios back in 2022.
And the duo remain committed to bringing popular comic book characters to life in the coming months and years.
James shared: “We don’t want these characters to die out.
“We want to bring new stories and new life, we want to introduce these characters to new generations. And I think we are doing that, slowly but surely.”
James and Peter have overseen an overhaul at DC, and Peter is convinced that the division has a bright future.
The 59-year-old studio executive explained: “The DC brand was being defined by different creative teams at the company, each was pursuing their own distinct vision of the characters, the story … the result was not one DCU but many.
“This fracture proved very challenging to consumers and it chipped away at the identity of the brand.”
James has been focused on ‘Superman’ in recent times – but DC has lots of other projects in the works, too.
Peter said: “We’ve unified the brand, we’ve greenlit five theatrical films, made three live action series, and are producing five animated series.”
Despite this, James and Peter are determined to remain open-minded about the future direction of DC.
Peter admitted: “We’ve laid out internally a plan but we’re happy to pivot as we discover things in the making of ‘Superman’ or ‘Supergirl’ or scripts being written. There’s a flexibility built into it even though we know where the larger story is headed.”
James Gunn: People are looking for heroes right now
