Having only been in his new job for a couple of days, James Gunn is no doubt trying to whittle down what must have been a sizeable in-tray when he and Peter Safran assumed control as co-CEOs of DC Studios.
The filmmaker had previously claimed that he wouldn’t even be interested in replacing former chief Walter Hamada at the helm when he was first floated as a potential candidate, but something drastic must have changed for the writer and director to make his first step onto the Hollywood corporate ladder a monumental one.
There’s no point in trying to sugarcoat it; Gunn inherited something close to a shambles. The Batgirl cancellation, the announcement and scrapping of countless film and television projects, splinter universes hailing from Matt Reeves and Todd Phillips, the confusion over which Batman is the canonical Caped Crusader, the ongoing Ezra Miller situation, and plenty more needs to be attended to and overseen, but he’s helpfully offered how boardroom disputes will be resolved via Twitter.
Rock ‘Em Sock ‘Em Robots being used to settle disagreements at the top level of a multi-billion dollar Hollywood franchise is nothing if not unusual, but completely on-brand with Gunn’s offbeat and eccentric stylings. Of course, his tongue is planted firmly in cheek, but don’t be surprised if the mood becomes a lot more enthusiastic when the new bosses are fully integrated into the madness of trying to wrangle a multi-pronged monster like the DCU.
If you cross the boss, then expect to be both rocked and socked in short order.