YouTube personality Grace Randolph has positioned a large portion of DC fans against James Gunn after pushing Logan Lerman’s name as a potential Superman. The DC director made an unintentional jab at the actor after the rumor surfaced, and Lerman’s fans are not about to let the disrespect slide. While Warner Bros. hammers out the details of the new DCU, it should probably take a moment to review a list of tropes that fans are getting tired of. Luckily for the company and its filmmakers, over-produced CGI shots are not very high on the list. While some people are busy arguing on Twitter, Lady Gaga and Joaquin Phoenix are hard at work filming the upcoming Joker: Folie à Deux, and though we still don’t have much information about the project, the excitement is starting to build.
James Gunn unintentionally makes enemies of Gen Z
Fans of the Percy Jackson series are out for James Gunn’s blood after the director debunked a rumor that the star of the series, Logan Lerman, isn’t on the list for the next Man of Steel. The director didn’t intend to bring Lerman’s army of fans after him with his shutdown of the rumor — Gunn has tried to be as forthright as possible with news about the future of the DCU — but his outright rebuke made Lerman stans flock to Twitter to let the director know what a talent he had missed.
But wait, there’s more!
Beyond pissing off Logan Lerman’s fans by denying the actor had even been on his radar, Gunn twisted the knife into their hearts one more time. Fans of the actor believe that the filmmaker may have glossed over the 31-year-old actor due to Gunn’s long-running feud with YouTube personality Grace Randolph. Randolph has been incredibly vocal about her displeasure surrounding Gunn’s projects, and fans are flying to conclusions that the YouTuber’s endorsement of Lerman is the main reason Gunn was so quick to dismiss the idea of the actor donning the iconic Superman cape. While it’s hard to believe Gunn would discount a potential Clark Kent simply due to one dissident’s backing, Gunn may have reached a point of having zero f**ks to give when it comes to Randolph, with the YouTuber consistently giving hot takes that have little basis in reality, or any concrete backing.
After 10 years of superhero movies, fans are tiring of the tropes
It’s no secret that Hollywood reuses ideas in excess. Certain aspects of films come along so often, it’s almost impossible not to see where a movie is headed. This problem is exacerbated in the superhero genre, which has been flooding cinema for more than a decade. Redditors recently took it upon themselves to categorize all of the ways that cinema has ouroboros-ed itself into a never-ending cycle of pop culture references jammed between a smorgasbord of CGI. Between prequels, sequels, and the best superhero titles failing to be renewed, it’s not hard to understand why.
With Warner Bros. revamping itself, Sony trying to join the game, and Marvel continuing to beat a dead horse for as long as it’s financially viable, it doesn’t seem like movie lovers have a chance at seeing anything new in the near future. Hopefully, whatever James Gunn has in store for the DC universe lives up to the hype fans have felt over the unexpected hero lineup Gunn has decided to land on.
J-J-J-Joker face, J-J-Joker face
2019’s Joker managed to avoid all of the classic superhero movie tropes listed above. The film plays like a psychological thriller rather than a Batman installment, and the change of pace had fans dying for more. We’re still an achingly long way from release, but that doesn’t mean we can’t daydream about what the sequel has in store. The movie is currently being filmed in New York City and is rumored to be a musical starring Lady Gaga as Joker’s on-again-off-again love interest, Harley Quinn. One fascinating theory has attempted to explain what a brilliant idea the concept is, and we’ve got to admit, it’s a story that’s worth telling. If the sequel turns out to be anything like the first, Joker: Folie à Deux would mark a fantastic start to the new DCU; unfortunately, the more artistic approach to superhero tales isn’t considered a canonical part of the DC universe. Joker: Folie à Deux is set to release in October of 2024.
