It was just last month when it was announced that James Gunn and Peter Safran had been appointed as Co-Chairmen and Chief Executive Officers of DC Studios and would oversee the creative direction of the DC Universe across all platforms. Now that they’ve had a little time to settle into their new roles, Gunn and Safran took part in a virtual town hall in which Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav introduced them to studio employees and to hear their plan for the DC Universe.
James Gunn and Peter Safran said that their plan is to tell one single story stretching across all aspects of the DC Universe. “This was such a unique opportunity to tell one great overarching story,” Safran said. “One beautiful big story across film, television gaming, live-action, and animation.” Gunn added that they’ve already begun work on what will be an eight-to-ten-year plan for the story. “The opportunity to make DC as great as it can be and as it should be — that is the reason why I’m doing this job because I know that Peter and I can do that,” Gunn said. “We spent the past couple days with a group of some of the best thinkers in the industry, the best writers in the industry starting to map out that eight to 10 year plan of what it’s going to look like in theater, in TV, in animation, across the board for these characters.” Gunn also expressed his love for more obscure DC characters, such as The Metal Men and Bat-Mite, but he’s clearly a fan of the big heroes as well.
I love Superman, and I love Batman. I love their interaction. I love the ways in which they’re the same and the ways in which they are completely different.
Addressing David Zaslav, Jame Gunn said, “I know that you are doing all this because you love these characters too, and you love the possibility, and the hope that they represent and that has been clear to us from the beginning. We would have never considered this if that wasn’t the case, so, thank you.” Gunn will be taking the lead on the creative side of things for the DC Universe, while Peter Safran will focus on the business and production aspects. With such a sprawling plan in store for the DC Universe, what massive story are you hoping they’ll tell?