DC fans are used to disappointment. The last decade has seen Marvel Studios go from strength to strength while the DCEU wallowed in disappointment, mismanagement, and controversy. We’ve seen the Justice League debacle, the last-minute cancellation of Batgirl, and various projects trapped in development hell for extended periods.
But now, finally, there may be some light on the horizon. The old executives have gotten the boot, with Guardians of the Galaxy and The Suicide Squad‘s James Gunn brought in to act as DC’s equivalent of Kevin Feige.
Now Asher Angel, who played Billy Batson in Shazam! and will reprise the role in Shazam! Fury of the Gods next year, has spoken to ComicBook.com and given an idea of how the new boss is going down:
“I remember meeting James. I went to the Suicide Squad stages in Atlanta. I met with him and he’s just a super nice, genuine, humble guy. Super passionate. Obviously, he’s super freaking talented, but for him to team up with Peter Safran, who I think is so incredibly gifted at what he does is, it’s a dream team. To pair the two it totally makes sense. It was bound to happen.”
Gunn has promised that the new DCU will be a much more cohesive entity than what’s come before, combining movies, TV, animation, and video games to tell a single story. That’s much more in line with Marvel Studios’ strategy, with DC currently having the DCEU, the Arrowverse, Matt Reeves’ The Batman, the Gotham Knights TV show and multiple video games and cartoons all doing their own thing.
Apparently, there will still be room for standalone stories like Harley Quinn, but the focus will be on wrangling everything into moving in the same direction. Along the way, Gunn will write and direct his own DC projects, but expect some major changes coming down the pipeline soon, including some projects canceled, some altered, and some exciting new outings for more obscure heroes.
As DC fans who have often winced at the bad decisions coming from Warner Bros. management, we say it’s about darn time.