Films & Fiction Weekly

Superman has come to the end of its domestic run, with a total gross of $354M. I don’t know if it’s worth trying to argue that this movie is, at best, a middling success, as since the claim that it made $125M profit, people just seem to be running with that number. Does it actually matter, though, because I’m not sure that this DCU is off to the best of starts.

Now, you can draw comparison to Iron Man, which was a minor success in 2008 and led the way to billion dollar hits, but surely Superman is a more famous character and should have been an even bigger hit. But so far this year, it’s been beaten worldwide by How to Train Your Dragon, F1, the Demon Slayer movie, Jurassic World: Rebirth, A Minecraft Movie, and Lilo & Stitch.

It’s not a huge vote of confidence in James Gunn’s vision, but even if I were to be generous, and say that this is the groundwork for great things to follow, what exactly are those great things?

Well, apparently it’s Peacemaker, a show so important to the DCU that James Gunn even put Supergunn on digital early, damaging its theatrical profits, so the biggest number of fans could see it before the show premiered. That could well be a case of Gunn just saying something stupid, but if we take him at his word (and as the head of DC studios now, he should be careful with his words) just how smart is it to go straight from a 12-rated, bright, happy Superman movie to an 18-rated, gory, profane show about an anti-hero?

I’m not joining the dots here. I thought Superman was a fun enough movie, but I have no desire to see Nicholas Hoult’s Lex Luthor making jokes about prison rape, and it would be hard to see how you can fit both into the same universe neatly.

Maybe you could do that in a few years, once your brand’s established. I’d argue that a violent, gory Blade horror movie could do the MCU some good right now, but surely the right way to go about this is to set up your core universe, characters, and plot first, then after fans are onboard, start to branch out a bit with some different ideas.

I don’t see how literally within a couple of months you can lurch your fans between the extremes of Superman and Peacemaker, and expect them to stick with you. For any kids who went to see Superman, there’s nothing for them in Peacemaker.

I get the feeling that Gunn saved Peacemaker simply because it was his show, which he started before he was brought on to lead DC. Though it would have been the best choice, he couldn’t bring himself to scrap it, or keep it separate from the new timeline.

Even aside from this show, the whole new DCU seems to be stumbling over the starting line. It technically began last year with Creature Commandos, a mature animated show that no one watched, though officially the first movie was 2023’s Blue Beetle, a flop that was tied to the old DCEU. It might have seemed best to just cut all ties completely, but Gunn’s mentioned Blue Beetle being featured in future projects, maybe even cameoing in Peacemaker. Those future projects don’t look too promising though, with Booster Gold and Supergirl on the horizon.

I’m not convinced they will be hits. They seem too niche, to unknown to appeal broadly. It’s true that if you give them good stories, that’s all you need to get an audience in, but is that audience there at all? If Superman can’t make even $700M, what chance Supergirl? I’m seeing more interest in The Batman (2022) sequel than in what James Gunn’s microwaving.

True, Gunn’s said that his universe will be less connected than the MCU. That’s not a bad idea, but then, why bother with the universe at all? Why not just do what they did in the past: make a good movie, if it succeeds, make a sequel. That worked for Raimi and Nolan. There’s no need for this intrinsic connectivity. Maybe if things go well, you could make a team-up movie in a few years, but if feels like James Gunn is taking the weak middle ground. It’s neither the strong, expansive universe of the early MCU, nor the traditional franchise model of Nolan’s Batman. It’s some sort of hybrid, where you probably don’t have to watch all the movies, but Gunn will tell you need to, while throwing all kinds of tones and age ratings at you.

I’m beginning to think that Warner Bros. could have made a big mistake by hiring Gunn. He’s a PR nightmare with his constant posts on Threads, arguing with fans, and contradicting himself. But he’s also something of a creative dead-end. If there’s to be any hope for the DCU, it will be in the independent writers and directors who are attached to DC projects, but I’m not sure Gunn is ready to leave his Kevin Feige era yet, and just let them get on with it.