James Gunn was already a major player on the DC block through delivering The Suicide Squad and the spinoff show Peacemaker (both of which can be streamed with an HBO Max subscription), but now one of the people calling the shots in this corner of the superhero media realm. As was announced last week, Gunn and Peter Safran are the co-chairs and co-CEOS of the newly-formed DC Studios division. With November 1 being his first day on this job, Gunn sent out the perfect response to kick off this chapter of his entertainment career.
The DC universe as we know it essentially kicked off with Superman’s debut in the pages of Action Comics #1 in 1938. So it’s only fitting that James Gunn commemorated his first day of work at DC Studios on Instagram with a panel from one of the Man of Steel’s earliest comic book appearances.
Just substitute a typewriter with a computer/laptop, and you could easily recreate this moment in the DCEU, especially now that Henry Cavill is back as Superman. So does this mean that James Gunn will share a Batman panel for his second day of work since Gotham City’s Caped Crusader followed in 1939? Joking aside, a little over a year after The Suicide Squad was released to critical acclaim, followed by Peacemaker enjoying a similar reception earlier this year, now Gunn has begun his four-year run of working exclusively for DC. This is a big deal no matter which way you cut it, and as is commonly done nowadays, you mark such occasions with a social media post!
So what does running DC Studios entail? Well, James Gunn and Peter Safran will oversee DC’s film, TV and animation efforts, with the former focusing on the creative side of things and the latter handling the business and production work. Although Gunn and Safran aren’t involved with Joker 2 and it’s unclear if they’ll have a hand in the crafting of Matt Reeves’ The Batman universe, generally speaking, these two will be guiding the course of DC media for the foreseeable future, reporting directly to Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav and working closely with Warner executives Michael de Luca and Pamela Abdy.
Those of you who enjoy James Gunn’s filmmaking work don’t need to worry about him pressing pause on that now that he’s co-running DC Studios. In addition to writing and directing all of Peacemaker Season 2’s episodes, Gunn is also developing a series focused on Viola Davis’ Amanda Waller and is reportedly putting together a mystery DC movie. As far as the public reaction to Gunn’s new job goes, for the most part, DC fans seem to hyped about it, and Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige said he’d be “the first in line” to see anything DC-related the writer/director does.
There’s a lot to look forward to from DC in the coming years, including movies like Shazam! Fury of the Gods and Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom arriving in 2023, Henry Cavill officially returning as Superman and HBO Max’s Green Lantern series now being centered on John Stewart. CinemaBlend will continue passing along updates on anything new that James Gunn and Peter Safran are leading the charge on at DC.
