DC Fans Are Loving James Gunn's Transparency
The DC Universe has gone through a series of ups and downs over the last few years, with many creative minds coming and going and an arguable lack of clear creative direction. That changed earlier this year when James Gunn came aboard alongside Peter Safran to lead the direction of DC's TV and film efforts going forward at Warner Bros. This move has brought DC under a more unified mission statement, with Gunn and Safran working together to develop a roadmap for how the DC Universe will operate going forward. How exactly the pair will evolve the silver screen DC characters remains somewhat unclear, but it's apparent that big changes are on the horizon when compared to what fans had previously seen in this big-screen superhero universe.
However, one thing that sets Gunn apart from many studio heads is his knack for being active online. He seldom shies away from engaging with fans or news stories about his work. In fact, he even recently took to Twitter to formally debunk a news story suggesting that "The Batman" may serve as the launching point for the new iteration of the DC Universe. Gunn's statement has caused a stir among DC fans, with many noting that they love how transparent he is choosing to be with them regarding which rumors are or are not true.
Many fans are praising James Gunn's ability to shut down rumors before they get out of control
James Gunn's decision to debunk the rumors that "The Batman" version of Bruce Wayne will become the primary DC Universe Batman has caused a stir in the fan community. Specifically, many fans (via Reddit) are thrilled by his high level of transparency. In the Reddit thread discussing the movie, u/TheLionsBlood noted, "LMAO. Gotta admire the guy's quick and brutal honesty." The fact that this is uncommon for studio bigwigs has not gone unnoticed by fans. Many of them clearly understand that studio heads only sometimes open up to them this willingly. As u/Spengler_0902 wrote, "It's so refreshing to have someone like Gunn who will just... shoot down stuff like this immediately. He's extremely transparent, which is very rare."
As is often the case, this new development within the DC landscape has inevitably drawn comparisons to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Specifically, u/ABCofCBD noted that Gunn's transparency is helping to avoid some of the issues that Marvel head Kevin Feige has faced when rumors around MCU films don't pan out. They wrote, "It's interesting given that speculation is a big driver in keeping viewer interest in projects tho But then again stuff like Feige letting speculation around MoM and a number of other projects did come back to bite him too." With characters like Superman high on Gunn's priority list, he may want to avoid any confusion among fans by letting them speculate.
Some fans still think he could do more by showing the entire DCU plan
While many fans are very excited about James Gunn's transparency in his online engagement with the DC fan community, some still feel that he could do more to communicate with them. Specifically, some fans have expressed a desire for Gunn to actually come out with the formal plan for the new DC Universe and lay out the timeline that will play out over the next few years, similar to how Kevin Feige often lays the Phase model for the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
This was specifically called out by u/TheLionsBlood, who noted that false scoops could be automatically invalidated if fans had an outline of where the DCU is going to refer to. They wrote, "honestly I think Gunn simply needs to present the actual outline of the DCU and then immediately stop responding to these scoopers. No matter how bad their scoops are. As long as he has presented his own definitive plan, he can let everyone else make up whatever they want."
By doing this, Gunn could effectively let fans know what the plan is and avoid debunking every false rumor that surfaces online. Whether or not this will actually happen remains to be seen, but for now, it seems that a major portion of the DC fan community is happy to see how Gunn is approaching his engagement with the fandom.