Ever since James Gunn started co-running DC Studios with Peter Safran in late 2022, he’s frequently been open with commenting on upcoming DC movies and upcoming DC TV shows. And that doesn’t include just confirming news, like when he made it official that Nicholas Hoult will play Lex Luthor in his Superman movie coming out next year. Gunn also isn’t shy about debunking rumors, like when he shot down the rumor that David Corenswet will also play Ultraman. But needless to say the filmmaker hasn’t commented every DC-related rumor since his tenure began, and now he’s explained why he’ll debunk some rumors concerning the DC Universe and let others circulate around the internet.
Gunn chimed in on this shortly after sharing with the world that Damon Lindelof and Tom King wrote the pilot for Lanterns alongside showrunner Chris Mundy, who was announced last October. Over on the Threads post for this news, a fan asked Gunn why he doesn’t debunk or confirm “some breaking news” from outlets like Variety and Deadline, and the director who made his DC filmmaking debut in 2021 with The Suicide Squad responded:
Often times news sources break things while we’re in talks and the deal may not work out - sometimes it doesn’t. Sometimes I don’t want to or it’s sensitive stuff. A lot of times it’s wrong and not worth dealing with. And a lot of times I don’t see stuff. In this case our publicist told me about it and that Chris and Damon were credited in the trades but not Tom which didn’t seem fair. So I posted this.
So in this instance, James Gunn was just making sure that Tom King, who’s written DC Comics titles like Batman, Wonder Woman and Mister Miracle, was getting his proper due for Lanterns, which is part of the “Gods and Monsters” slate of DCU projects and will follow Green Lanterns Hal Jordan and John Stewart investigating a “terrestrial-based mystery.” Although the DC movie Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow is based off the same-named story that King worked on with artist Bilquis Evely, Lanterns will mark his first contribution to onscreen DC media. He had been co-writing the script for a New Gods movie with director Ava DuVernay, but that got scrapped.
Overall, there are a variety of factors at play when it comes to James Gunn deciding whether or not it’s worth debunking a rumor, and I can especially understand him not wanting to interfere with deals or simply not seeing a certain amount of incorrect information. Particularly with the latter, even though Gunn’s fairly active on social media, the man’s busy enough that he can’t come across every rumor while scrolling through his feeds. It’s also worth mentioning that last November, he told fans that when it comes specifically to casting rumors, the “blanket rule” they should keep in mind when assessing whether there’s “any truth” to them is that roles won’t be cast without scripts.
Like the other TV shows set in the DC Universe, Lanterns will be available to stream to with a Max subscription, and we’ll pass along any other major details about the Green Lantern-centric project once they come in. Meanwhile, the DCU will kick off later this year with the animated series Creature Commandos, and then Superman will hit theaters on June 11, 2025.
