James Gunn Says DC Was ‘F—ed Up’ For a Long Time

Now that James Gunn and Peter Safran are officially at work on the first chapter of the new DC Universe, they’re speaking candidly about what has come before them — and how they plan to fix it.

During the presentation of their initial DC slate — which includes Gunn’s Superman: Legacy, The Brave and the Bold, a Green Lantern TV series and seven other movies and shows — Gunn admitted that, at least from his perspective, the history of DC [in movies] is “pretty messed up.”

“It was f—ed up,” he succinctly added (via Variety).

Gunn also claimed that “no one was minding the mint,” at Warner Bros. with regards to protecting and overseeing the DC Comics library, noting. “they were just giving away IP like they were party favors to any creators that smiled at them.” Gunn and Safran promised that moving forward, all movies and series (plus animation and games) will present a singular, unified vision and universe. The rare exceptions — like the upcoming sequel to The Batman, or the next Joker movie from Todd Phillips — will be branded as “Elseworlds” projects that are set outside the company’s primary continuity.

It is certainly true that DC and Warner Bros.’ films and television series have been far less focused than Marvel’s over the last decade. Everything Marvel makes fits together seamlessly, while DC has had an entire universe of TV shows like Arrow and The Flash that had nothing to do with the films being made at the same time, primarily by Zack Snyder, whose Justice League had a totally different version of the Flash from the one in the “Arrowverse.” If you liked either the DC shows or the DC films, then you probably didn’t care that there were two versions of some of these characters appearing at the same time. But if you’re a fan of the singular cinematic universe model, this is probably a pretty exciting time for you.

The next DC Studios release, Shazam! Fury of the Gods, is scheduled to open in theaters on March 17.