Superhero movies are getting complicated. It was one thing to deal with a shared universe of characters like the MCU or the DCEU, but the introduction of multiverses in films like Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021) and The Flash (2023) have made it difficult for the average moviegoer to understand what’s going on.
James Gunn wants to change that. The filmmaker, who was recently appointed as head of DC Studios along with Peter Safran, has been vocal about his desire to tell stories that will satisfy die-hards while still being appealing to the casual fan.
Safran recently sat down for an interview with Vanity Fair, where he laid out the game plan that he and Gunn created. “The good news is, if you’ve seen nothing that we’ve done before, you can watch Superman: Legacy, you can watch Creature Commandos, you can watch Peacemaker season two, and you can watch Blue Beetle. All of that,” he explained. “We are trying to minimize audience confusion and maximize their enjoyment.”
Safran understands the importance of interconnected films that stand up on their own. As a producer, he co-created the Conjuring Universe, which consists of eight films and three sub-franchises: The Conjuring films, the Annabelle films, and the Nun films. It’s become the highest-grossing horror franchise of all time, and Safran is set to produce the next two installments: The Nun II and The Conjuring: Last Rites.
Safran has also had success in the superhero genre. He’s been a producer on Aquaman (2018), Shazam! (2019), and The Suicide Squad (2021), which was Gunn’s first collaboration with DC. Safran is attached to produce The Brave and the Bold, which will see him reunite with Flash director Andy Muschietti.
Gunn, who is much more plugged into social media than the average filmmaker, has also spoken at length about the perils of superhero fatigue, and how that might affect the genre over the next few years. He told Rolling Stone that he believes superhero fatigue is a legitimate concept, and that people like him have to keep striving to make sure that things don’t fall flat.
“I think there is such a thing as superhero fatigue,” he admitted to the outlet. “I think it doesn’t have anything to do with superheroes. It has to do with the kind of stories that get to be told, and if you lose your eye on the ball, which is character. And if it becomes just a bunch of nonsense onscreen, it gets really boring.”
Gunn and Safran have a focused slate of films scheduled over the next few years. Superman: Legacy will be the official introduction to the new DC Universe, which is being billed as “Chapter One: Gods and Monsters”, and it will be followed by The Authority, Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow, Swamp-Thing and the aforementioned Batman film, The Brave and the Bold.
While the implementation of video games and shows may complicate matters at some point, as it did for the MCU, we hope that Gunn and Safran will be able to learn from the mistakes of their peers and avoid watering down their vision.