“Marvel 2.0”?
DC Studios has finally released its production schedule, marking the first serious attempt by Warner Brothers to rival the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Co-heads James Gunn and Peter Safran unveiled the slate of projects, and made it clear that the DC Universe is not a copy of the Marvel Studios.
James Gunn, the director of Guardians of the Galaxy, stated that he wants to use his experience as a studio filmmaker to establish a sustainable DC Universe. He stated, “A lot of people think is going to be Marvel 2.0 and definitely, I learned a lot of stuff at Marvel. I think that we have a lot of differences. I think that one of the reasons why I love DC is that it really is another universe. It’s an alternate world.”
Gunn also mentioned that the DC Universe is much more planned out than the MCU, with a single story being told across the entire Chapter. Unlike the Marvel Cinematic Universe that began at the dawn of the superhero era, the DC Universe is in the thick of it when viewers first tune in. He stated, “We’re coming into a world where superheroes exist and have existed for some time in one form or another, and that’s the universe. We are telling a big huge central story that is like Marvel Studios, except for I think that we’re a lot more planned out than Marvel did from the beginning, because we’ve gotten a group of writers together to work that story out completely.”
However, the concept of a shared universe is still a work in progress for DC, with some roles being recast and others not, and films carrying on stories outside the shared universe. Gunn stated, “We have a lot to prove. It’s going to be up to us to show the audience what our universe is, how this is connected, to clearly demarcate what is the DCU and what is Elseworlds, and to move like that going forward.”
Gunn also spoke about his experience at Marvel Studios and the lessons he learned. He stated, “I started [Guardians of the Galaxy] with a story of what that trilogy was, where it started and where it ended. That story is just the smaller version of doing this. I’ve been inside a company that did very well. It’s very different than us. Marvel didn’t have everything completely worked out ahead of time, but they did a lot of things really well — one of which is not giving up. I really love that about Kevin [Feige] and Lou [D’Esposito] and the old gang — that I’ve seen them turn bad movies into okay movies, okay movies into good movies, and good movies into great movies as because they do not f—ing stop.”
DC Studios has a promising future ahead, with James Gunn’s experience and creative vision, and a planned out universe that will bring a fresh take to the superhero genre. The DC Universe is not a copy of the Marvel Studios, but a unique and complex world that will captivate audiences.
Stay tuned for the latest updates on DCU’s upcoming projects, and subscribe to DC Updates’ YouTube channel.
