Ever since Peter Safran and James Gunn took over as the co-heads of DC Studios, expectations have been through the roof not just for the films he is personally directing, but also for DC Studios as a whole. It’s not a secret that Gunn helmed one of the most successful Marvel franchises of the Infinity Saga era — some might even say he helmed the trilogy with the best content and consistency, as well — and the fact that he did it with a bunch of throwaway characters that almost nobody thought could be made interesting is also not much of a secret either. In fact, it’s because of both of those things that Gunn finds himself in a position to have Kevin Feige levels of control over at DC Studios.
Gunn immediately sparked controversy by releasing some of the bigger names from their roles while simultaneously keeping others in some of the lesser roles. Still, people seem to forget that he had a role in helping those people land those parts while he was at Marvel. It’s sensible that he would retain the people he suggested for the part in the first place. One of the bigger names he replaced was Henry Cavill, and the man who replaced him is David Corenswet, whose version of Superman is releasing next month, on July 11th.
Fans are very much hoping that this film is a completely different version of Superman than they previously had, and represents a fresh start for the DCEU. While everything we’ve seen from the trailers and hype reels released on media tours indicates the film will deliver on both fronts, there is still a bit of time for people to change their minds, and all it takes is the wrong reviewer not vibing with the film and starting a discourse that follows the film. The DCEU has been on borrowed time with many film-going audiences, and if Gunn et al. can’t even get Superman right, what hope does the rest of the roster have outside of, maybe at that point, Batman?
For these reasons, Superman can largely be thought of like Iron Man in 2008. It was the first chance for Robert Downey Jr. to win over a new audience after he had rebuilt his image. Comic book movies had been incredibly mid then, and nobody was expecting much of anything. That’s why Iron Man being an incredibly solid film with larger potential implications, worked well and didn’t need to rake in one billion dollars or even anything close to it. People left that film talking about how Marvel Studios was the first film to take a comic origin and do it really well in a long time, and the CGI they used to pull it off was incredible. Those two things, combined with RDJ’s incredible portrayal of Tony Stark, were enough for people to demand more in the same universe.
This is where Superman can be most beneficial. If the film is really good, the name alone will get people in the theater to check it out. If the film is really good and completely different from anything they’ve seen before, then people are going to want to see more from the character and the surrounding characters. Then there’s the small fact that, if the film has hit all those marks I’ve previously mentioned, then the name of the character is going to be enough to bring in a solid chunk of change, regardless.
Superman has enough of a quality cast to stand on its own, and the character has zero issues being the sole focus or being part of a team. James Gunn is great with modesty in his fan service. As the head of the studio, he can seed things that take longer to develop knowing that he chooses the upcoming slate of films and can request different overarching themes or important items will make their appearance in due time. Nicholas Hoult is a fantastic actor and understands how to play a character with two different sides and aspects to them in a comic book film. Lex Luthor should be well within his acting wheelhouse and other actors can be sure he won’t try to make it about him unless the scene requires that.
I’m not too familiar with Rachel Brosnahan, but fans seem certain she will excel in the role of Lois Lane. She has every bit looked the part in the little I have seen of her. Nathan Fillion is a sci-fi and comic movie mainstay at this point. I’m genuinely interested to see how he handles the role of Guy Gardner’s Green Lantern. I think it’s a chance for Fillion to show a different side of himself to an eager audience. Gunn is more than capable of subverting expectations with a character, so it won’t come as a shock if he does the same with the Green Lantern.
However Gunn approaches this film, fans can be sure that he has thought about it from every angle. Gunn is a talented storyteller and knows how to work an emotional story that keeps an upbeat attitude throughout. Not only is he more than capable of using innovative story-telling techniques while retaining the heart of the product. As long as the film is capable of setting forth a workable universe based on characters people want to see, it shouldn’t require a one billion dollar return on investment for Gunn and DC to consider it a success.
