Director James Gunn loves how varied the DC movies are. Launched in earnest in 2013, the DCEU has faced some challenges on its way to becoming Marvel's biggest competitor. Zack Snyder's Man of Steel kicked off the franchise and the director followed that up with Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice three years later with the intention of beginning the story of the Justice League. Before that team-up, though, the DCEU released 2016's Suicide Squad and 2017's Wonder Woman, the latter of which was DC's most critically well-received film at that point.
Subsequent releases weren't as well-received, with Justice League earning ire from both critics and fans and becoming a major disappointment for the studio. Aquaman was released over a year later in 2018 and grossed over $1 billion, the highest box office take for any DCEU film. Since then, the franchise has released films like Birds of Prey and Shazam!, which only appeared to be tangentially connected to the main arm of the DCEU. This all culminated in the release of Zack Snyder's Justice League after a years-long fan campaign that called for the director's original vision to be released.
Gunn, who will release The Suicide Squad next month, revealed to NYT that he loves how varied all of the DCEU's films are, seeing this as how the franchise sets itself apart from the MCU. Gunn cites directors like Peyton Reed (Ant-Man), Jon Favreau (Iron Man), and Taika Waititi (Thor: Ragnarok and Love and Thunder) as being able to do things differently in the MCU. Still, Gunn says that those films aren't as different as Suicide Squad and Shazam! The director then revealed that he believes the folks over at DC and Warner Bros. are really interested in catering to filmmakers and their specific visions rather than tailoring their films to an overall aesthetic.
I think it’s great. That is the one of the ways in which DC can distinguish itself from Marvel. What I do is very different from what [the Ant-Man director] Peyton Reed does, it’s very different from what [the Iron Man director Jon] Favreau did, it’s different from Taika [Waititi, the director of Thor: Ragnarok]. But not as different as Shazam! and Suicide Squad, however. I think the current batch of folks over at Warner Bros. are really interested in building out a world and creating something that’s unique to the filmmakers. We’re in a strange time, so anything can happen.
While DC has faced its fair share of criticism, the MCU is no stranger to detractors. Many have criticized the franchise for what has been deemed the Marvel Formula - a pattern that many of the franchise's films share. There's clearly no DC Formula, as each film has had its own unique aesthetic and action. Marvel is making an effort to move away from this formula, as evidenced by shows like WandaVision and Loki and films like Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings and Eternals.
Looking to the future, it's clear that the DCEU is invested in keeping their projects as varied as possible while bringing them all together for a more cohesive franchise. Films like Shazam: Fury of the Gods and Black Adam will seemingly connect and The Flash will likely serve as a new foundation for the franchise once it establishes the Multiverse. Aquaman 2 is also slated for release next year, as is Robert Pattinson's The Batman, a film that will take place outside of the main continuity of the DCEU. Luckily for Gunn, the franchise seems as varied as ever as it looks to the future.
Source: NY Times
