Latest DC News: A DC Classic proves that great acting beats unpopular casting every time and James Gunn swears this pre-DCU show isn’t history

It’s hard to believe now but this trailblazing DC icon was once universally despised. Also, is James Gunn just wasting the Green Lantern corps on an Earthbound storyline? And finally, some good news about that other project James Gunn used to work on.

You either die a character actor, or you live long enough to see yourself become a comic book movie icon

Every DC fan is practically on the edge of their seats right now eagerly awaiting the return of the granddaddy of all Batmen, Michael Keaton, to return to the screen as the caped crusader for the first time since 1992’s Batman Returns. Given all the hype, and the fact that nearly every casting choice for a big-screen superhero is often immediately savaged by the fans, this might be a great time to remind everyone that when Keaton was first announced as Batman, he was almost universally despised.

Keaton, known primarily as a comedic actor in 1989, was thought to be too lightweight to play the brooding Dark Knight, especially just five years after the character’s grimdark reimagining in Frank miller’s The Dark knight Returns graphic novel. But director Tim Burton, who had worked with Keaton on Beetlejuice, was determined to give the actor his chance. Warner Bros even cobbled together a rushed teaser trailer to allay fan fears. Now, of course, Keaton is considered to be one of the best actors to have played the role — proof that great talent can trump the complaints of legions of fans.

In brightest day, in blackest night, did James Gunn get this setting right?

While everyone is certainly glad that at long last we’ll be seeing a Green Lantern onscreen again, that doesn’t mean everybody is universally embracing the “Buddy Cops Fight Ancient Horror” on Earth pitch described in James Gunn’s “Gods and Monsters” outline. By Gunn’s and co-CEO Peter Safran’s admission, the series will take place on Earth, which may mean that the DCU is squandering its easiest opportunity to move the new universe’s action up to the galactic level. The Green Lantern Corps is a huge justice-enforcing entity that has Lantern agents across the Galaxy.

So why ground it here on terra firma? Gunn and Safran want to do a hard-bitten cop drama along the lines of True Detective, but why does it have to take place on the same planet where Batman and Superman set up shop? Perhaps season 2 of the show, if it succeeds, will expand its horizons.

And finally … oh c’mon guys, we all knew Gunn wasn’t going to throw John Cena out with the DCEU bathwater

In a bit of news that won’t exactly be received as a newsflash, James Gunn has reached out to fans to let them know that Peacemaker — and its surprisingly lovable, but desperately-in-need-of-therapy main character — will not be banished from the DCU continuity, despite all of those DCEU characters “appearing” in the season finale.

While Gunn and Safran’s DCU “Gods and Monsters” announcement covered a lot of material, including a new series featuring Peacemaker guest star Amanda Waller, a second season of Gunn’s first DC TV series was conspicuously absent, leaving many to believe the show had fallen victim to the DCU vs. DCEU character whack-a-mole that’s been going on since Gunn and Safran slipped into the CEO offices at DC. Not so, says Gunn; he responded to a Tweet with the news that Peacemaker season 2 will follow behind the newly announced Waller series. It may be Gunn’s smartest announcement yet. Because if Eagley gets cancelled, we all riot.