Hiya!

So, in somewhat of a shocker, James Gunn is stepping down as the CEO of DC Studios. Oh, this also means Peter Safran is also stepping down from his post as well. However, while that is big news for movie insiders, the focus is more on James Gunn as a lot of fans did celebrate when Warner Bros. elevated him to the post. After all, he is the genius behind a lot of successful superhero live-action projects such as the Guardians of the Galaxy trilogy, The Suicide Squad and Peacemaker. Of course, there was also the highly successful Superman reboot as well.

James Gunn was obviously a huge comic book fan so having him be the head of DC Studios was supposed to be fantastic, right? Well, his tenure as DC Studios CEO has been tumultuous at best. His projects under his tenure have been rather hit-or-miss, if I’m putting it kindly. Supergirl wasn’t terrible but really wasn’t anything special. Lanterns was great at the start but lost a lot of steam in the middle. The only real highlight would be the recent Clayface as it’s getting really good reviews and box-office returns.

There really isn’t much information on the shakeup. I’m sure a big part of why James Gunn was told the step down was because of Skydance buyout of Warner Bros. and the Skydance people had their own ideas on what to do. I also am sure that DC Studios middling success under James Gunn’s leadership was also a factor. Although I was one of the fans who applauded DC appointing James Gunn as head honcho, in retrospect, it does seem like he wasn’t the right man for the job. The weird thing is, in my opinion, it’s because he’s just too creative to be a CEO of anything.

First, let me just defend my statement regarding why I do think James Gunn has a creative mind. Now, I’m not sure if that’s the exact word to be using to describe him. However, I do have to say he seems like a guy who like to think outside of the box. Before Guardians of the Galaxy became a huge hit, I don’t think anyone would have given the movie a chance. After all, no one knew who the Guardians of the Galaxy were. Also, this was a movie with a talking raccoon and a sentient tree! Yet, when James Gunn took the reins of the project, he managed to elevate it to becoming one of Marvel‘s most successful films! He did it by leaning into the silliness and making characters you can identify with and laugh with.

The same thing can also be said with his Superman movie. For the longest time, a lot of people have thought of Superman to be boring. He’s too powerful and/or he’s too much of a boy scout. Well, once again, James Gunn did a masterful job of tweaking Superman to make him more identifiable. Is he too powerful in the movie? Maybe not as much because he does get his butt kicked often throughout it all. The thing is, James Gunn made it so the threat is also understandably powerful so seeing Superman get beat down was understandable. There’s also the idea Superman has to generally restrain himself because he knows he can pretty much kill someone with a single punch.

James Gunn also did a great job of turning the “Superman is too nice” complaint by actually showing how being nice can be endearing. He never swears and, in general, he does try to end fights without severely hurting anyone if he can help it. He even saves a little squirrel when that monster starts wrecking the city. It’s all encapsulated when he talks to Lois Lane. She can’t really fathom as to why he’s still doing all of these things when he’s so powerful he can essentially do whatever he wants but he still chooses to see the good in everyone. Superman just replies that in a world where people are cruel and cynical, maybe his way is the way people should behave.

Now, the problem with having a creative mind like James Gunn is he’s willing to take risks when he does see potential in something. A perfect example of this would be the Supergirl movie. I bet, when they were pitching the Supergirl movie and they were basing it on the Woman of Tomorrow storyline, James Gunn was ecstatic. Woman of Tomorrow is actually a really good comic story. It’s also told masterfully with great and imaginative art as well as really unique look. It’s honestly a fantastic comic and, if you have the chance, you should read it.

The biggest problem, though, is Woman of Tomorrow shouldn’t have been the story to fully introduce Supergirl to the DC movie universe. The gorgeous artstyle used throughout the comic would’ve been incredibly difficult to adapt to live-action. So, they didn’t even bother to try, giving us a drab and brown looking movie. They also had to make some significant changes to the overall plot because of how non-mainstream the story is. The movie still has the same characters but they’re very different from the comic. There was no way they could’ve told the more nomadic storyline of Supergirl and her companion travelling from planet to planet and witnessing the destruction and pain the villain has caused. In the end, the Supergirl didn’t please anyone. The fans who loved the comic complained it didn’t follow the source material. The moviegoers who didn’t read the comic found the film bland and boring. Basically, everyone lost, including James Gunn who greenlit the project.

You know who really don’t like to lose, though? Movie studios who are paying for these movies to be made. In this particular case, that would be Warner Bros. Supergirl was a box office bomb. From most estimates, Warner Bros. were only able to recoup around half of its budget. I bet James Gunn had an earful from the studio executives after that!

Another issue of having someone willing to take risks when they hear a good idea has to deal with tone and cohesiveness. Take a look at the Superman movie and then the Lanterns television series. The former is bright, colorful and filled with positivity. The latter is drab, gray and depressing. These two things are supposed to fit in the same universe but they feel so disparate from each other. Say what you will about the “Marvel formula” but, not only has it worked out like gangbusters for them (for a good while), it also serves to give all of their movies and television shows a certain feel to them. Still, I can see someone pitching their idea of Lanterns being a gritty cop procedural using the Green Lanterns Corps based of Earth and James Gunn giving it the go ahead. Once again, it’s a good idea on paper.

Of course, the thing about taking risks is, while there is a chance of failure, there’s also the chance it’ll work out. Clayface is going to be the last project done under James Gunn’s leadership and it seems to be doing pretty well. He did take a huge risk with it as Clayface wasn’t going to have any connection to Batman and it was going to be a horror film and not a campy one like Marvel’s Werewolf by Night. Clayface might have paid off but, after the couple of failures under James Gunn as leader, in hindsight, the writing was indeed on the wall and Warner Bros. did have to make the executive decision to remove him

This may seem like a demotion and I know most regular people who experience getting fired from a high position job would feel a lot of negative emotions. I do think, however, James Gunn might feel a little more relieved than anything after this. Having a creative mind means you need a creative outlet. I don’t think being a CEO of a movie studio is going to satisfy that itch. James Gunn is good at making movies and television shows, not managing the making of movies and television shows. There’s a big difference.

Now that he’s not CEO of DC Studios, that means James Gunn can do what he does best: making movies and television shows. He’s free to let his creative juices flow into project he can actually control or work within the constraints given to him and then find solutions for those constraints. He was never someone who should have been putting those constraints on anyone in the first place.

In a way, I actually believe James Gunn is in a happier place now that he’s not a studio bigwig. It’s what he deserves.

Byee!

What do you think is going to happen with James Gunn after stepping down? Let me know in the comments section below!