DC Shakeup

Peter Safran and James Gunn are no longer running DC movies at the new Skydance. Here’s a Variety summary. And interesting comments from Scriptshadow.

My policy is never to put something in writing that could get me fired from a job one day before I’ve even been considered.

So, that said... I never really understood the DC universe.

I understand the Marvel universe: superheroes with “feet of clay,” which was Stan Lee’s main innovation. They have fantastic powers, but are preoccupied with real-world problems. Genius!

I understand Superman. What makes him so interesting isn’t that he has all those fantastic powers—it’s that he has god-like powers and is still a good person. That is what stirs our hearts. (Why does he love Lois? The Donner movie had it best: she makes him laugh.)

I understand Batman. He’s a billionaire, but he’s so messed up in the head that he likes to put on a bat costume and beat up bad guys at night. Got it.

But beyond that, I don’t understand it. I can visualize Wonder Woman, the Green Lantern, and some of the others (thanks, Super Friends cartoons), but I don’t know who they are.

Spider-Man is a kid trying to do the right thing but frustrated because he can’t get the girl, and his actions are constantly misunderstood and demonized. And he cares about his sweet aunt. Got it.

The X-Men are mutants who want to save the world, but the world hates them because they’re different. Got it!

The Hulk is Jekyll and Hyde. Got it!

Thor and Iron Man weren’t particularly character-ful in the comics but they became that way in the movies (perfect casting always helps).

I just don’t know who the DC characters are outside of the costumes. And because most of them were created earlier than the Marvel ones, they have some rather weird and dated lore to lug around.

When I saw the Gunn Superman movie, I thought right away—uh-oh. Not because anything was bad. It was beautifully made. But because, unlike the Donner film, or even the Snyder film, it was dropping us into the middle of 600 issues of comic lore.

I don’t have a problem with a movie that has a ton of backstory. But when so much of that backstory was created ad hoc, over decades, and not necessarily for an adult audience, it removes us from reality.

There needs to be as little remove as possible. Find the spine, find the heart, and stay with it.

And I will say I’m tired of the action montages to pop songs, but that’s just a style thing.