In news that many fans had been calling for but never seemed all that likely to genuinely happen, James Gunn will oversee the creative side of the rebranded DC Studios alongside producer and longtime collaborator Peter Safran, with the filmmaker officially assuming his duties at the beginning of next month.
Ever since the one-two punch of The Suicide Squad and Peacemaker scored some of the best reviews the DCEU has ever seen, a lot of Gunn’s supporters had pegged him as the ideal candidate to take the reins drag the superhero series into a new era. However, there’s already a sweeping sentiment that a lot of people are beginning to get a little too carried away with the Guardians of the Galaxy architect’s new leadership position.
It’s only been a few hours since the news first broke, and the DC diehards of social media are already hedging substantial bets that may or may not pay off. Naturally, it only took a few minutes for Zack Snyder to start trending now that the person who scripted his Dawn of the Dead remake has the top job, while his thanking of the first film’s director in the credits of The Suicide Squad has also led to renewed calls for the Ayer Cut to emerge from the wilderness of wishful thinking.
Not only that, but Reddit threads have emerged revolving around Joel Schumacher’s mythical 150-minute cut of Batman Forever and the full-time return of Ben Affleck’s Dark Knight to coincide with Henry Cavill’s comeback, so it’s clear that there’s a massive surge of optimism sweeping through the ranks.
Truth be told, we’ve got no idea what Gunn and Safran have planned beyond the slate of already-announced projects, but looking to far into the future to demand the restoration of the SnyderVerse, the Ayer Cut of Suicide Squad, the Director’s Cut of Batman Forever, and a permanent residency for Batfleck seems more than a little premature.