Latest DC News: Snyder fans won’t let up on James Gunn even on his birthday and ‘Shazam!’ is counting on a little help from his friends

This week, all James Gunn’s detractors want for his birthday is (surprise!) for him to “sell the snyderverse” to Netflix. If you were wondering what happened to Michael B. Jordan’s Superman project he’s the wrong guy to ask. Also, is Zachary Levi leaning on his friendships with DC‘s head honchos a bit too much?

No Happy Birthday for James Gunn just more fans demanding that he sell the Snyderverse

James Gunn just can’t seem to cut a break with the Snyderverse fans. Even though the DCEU was on the outs before he took up the reins as the new DC Studios CEO, he’s still getting yelled at (mostly online) by fans hungry to see director Zack Snyder’s vision for the DC fulfilled. The Snyder fans at least took a more subtle tack (at least subtle for a Snyder-esque value of subtlety) than they have in the past today when they took to social media en masse to wish the director a Happy Birthday and then immediately demand that he fulfill their dream of DC selling the DCEU/Snyderverse properties to Netflix.

The demand, which has had its own hashtag for months now, is fueled by Gunn’s recent announcement of the DCU reboot. A universe that will no longer be considering the DCEU canon following the release of The Flash this summer. But the die-hards are still holding on to the old-school ex-DC franchise with all their hearts and many think Gunn should take advantage of the market and let Netflix develop an alternate DC shared Universe.

If you see any logistical problems with that scenario you’re not the only one. Gunn has completely shot down the idea publicly and has added that director Snyder seems happier about moving on as well. But reality never stopped the Snyderverse fan base. For instance, they couldn’t even get Gunn’s birthday right (he was born on Aug. 5, not March 1).

Michael B. Jordan’s Superman project still might be happening but don’t ask Michael B. Jordan about it

Now that James Gunn and Peter Safran have finally announced the slate of the DC relaunch, aka the DCU Chapter 1 – Gods & Monsters, the number one question on everybody’s mind has been what if anything is going to happen to projects that the studio still has on the books. Gunn has already allowed some franchises — such as Mat Reeves’ The Batman will exist as “Elseworlds” and films using DC properties that don’t have any canonical relation to the DCU timeline. So what about Micheal B. Jordan’s Superman project? Is it going to continue as its own standalone film? Or get the axe?

If you’re looking for answers we suggest you don’t ask Jordan himself. The actor’s Outlier Society production company was developing a Superman project for HBO Max based on Val-Zod, a Kryptonian survivor in the Earth 2 continuity who takes up the mantle of Superman after the death of that world’s Kal-El. But Jordan doesn’t seem to want to divulge any info on the project’s status.

“Who said that? Who said that?” You said that! I ain’t say that! I don’t even know no rumors about that one. Bye!” Jordan told Entertainment Tonight on the Creed III red carpet. It seems whatever, if anything, is happening for Jordan in the future of DC he’s not allowed to talk about it. So get to work, detectives.

Is Zachary Levi counting on his A-list friendships to keep Shazam! in the DCU?

Zachary Levi on the other hand seems fairly confident about his place (at least for now) in the DC Universe. Or else he just likes to brag about his friendships with CEOs James Gunn and Peter Safran — which would be kind of weird if he thought he was losing his job. And make no mistake, Levi’s existence in the DCU is still very theoretical at best, especially considering his jarring series of online hot takes which have had some segments of the internet sharpening their social media pitchforks.

Levi’s recent interview with ComicBook seemed to show that the Shazam! actor isn’t exactly sweating it. Though he wouldn’t go into any details regarding his character or the rest of the “Shazamily” making the grade for the new DCU, he was quick to trot out his awesome relationship with his bosses. “James stumped for me, fought for me when Peter asked him about me. ‘Hey, what do you think of Zach because we’re thinking about him for Shazam?’ James was like, ‘Yes, go get that guy, he could really go crush that,” Levi stated.

Whether it guarantees job security is another thing though. If not it’s going to make that next vacation together really weird.