James Gunn Does Not Get the Benefit of the Doubt
The only reason DC fans were excited about James Gunn taking the helm at DC was that it seemed to coincide with Henry Cavill’s announced return to his signature role as Superman. When he wasn’t being weighed down by Zach Snyder’s grim dark visuals, Cavill could deliver the warm-hearted, aspirational boy scout that everyone on Earth wants Superman to be.
Now that the scales have been kicked from my eyes, I can see a lot more clearly what James Gunn will bring to the DC universe.
Quirky, edgy comedy.
That is fucking it.
That is all that James Gunn has ever brought to the table anywhere he has gone. Guardians of the Galaxy, The Suicide Squad, Dolphinman Battles the Sex Lobsters, PG Porn, and Lollipop Chainsaw (god, I feel so bad for the guys at Monolith Games). His track record bears not the slightest of indications that he can do anything else.
Quirky comedy works fine with Marvel characters, and it could sort of work with a few DC characters like Harley Quinn, and blank slates like Peacemaker. It doesn’t work at all with Superman.
Looking at the fan reaction across social media, I would say that James Gunn has torched all of the unearned goodwill he had been getting since taking over DC. There was a kind of willful blind eye being cast upon James Gunn. After all he kind of got Harley Quinn in The Suicide Squad. He sort of, maybe a little bit got Flash and Aquaman in Peacemaker. There were some good moments of drama in those shows, right? Give him a chance at DC, after all Henry Cavill’s back on board as Superman, isn’t he?
Isn’t he?
No, he isn’t. Gunn’s announcement threw some pablum to Cavill’s fans about his in involvement in future plans. What, like playing Jor-El in twenty years? Nope, that won’t happen either, James’ brother Sean wants that part.
For his part Cavill is taking it like a perfect gentleman. He’s been in the business long enough to know the one thing no actor wants any part of is working with a director that doesn’t want him for the role. It’s hard not to feel bad for the guy, he wanted to do Superman right even if nobody else did. Certainly no one in current year Hollywood.
There is a big difference between the Advocate fans of DC and Marvel, I speak as someone who has been connected to comics culture for better than (sigh) forty years, DC fans are more passionate. Marvel fans are loyal and engaged but DC fans are more passionate about their heroes.
But the DC well has been dry for too long now. DC Comics is still publishing (somehow) and it’s still a complete heap of Woke shit. The youngest DC Advocate fans are now all in their forties, the torch was never be passed to the Zoomers. At this point it’s too late, the generational firebreak is now firmly in place.
I usually try to end these pieces on an optimistic note but I’m really not feeling one as a DC fan.
Other than to say on January 1, 2034, Superman goes into the public domain. And I don’t think the studios are going to have the bribe money to change that date again. American studios are now simply too incompetent in every facet of their existence.
Oh, and Amber Heard is staying in the Aquaman franchise.
Okay, I’m done here.
