Summary
- The Superman reboot marks a new era in the DC Universe, steering away from the dark style of the past.
- James Gunn met Zack Snyder for advice on Superman and was recently pictured with him, sparking speculation and conversation among fans.
- Snyder’s involvement in DCU has been ruled out, ensuring Gunn crafts the new direction independently.
With Superman just months out from rebooting the iconic character and the entirety of DC’s live-action franchise following the failure of the last creative leader, James Gunn has cleared the air on the purpose behind his recent meeting with that same filmmaker.
Superman is the first major project in the new DCU envisioned and executed by Gunn and co-head of DC Studios Peter Safran following the failure and dissolution of the previous DCEU headed by filmmaker Zack Snyder. That past ‘Snyderverse’ was defined by a distinctly dark and gritty approach to the DC universe and Superman specifically, a stylistic choice that was evident all the way from 2013’s Man of Steel down to Snyder’s cut of Justice League and radically deviated from what had been done with the character on the big screen prior. While unique, this approach was ultimately unsuccessful, and other factors would join in to lead to the eventual demise of the franchise. The filmmaker would move on to another badly received project in Rebel Moon, with Snyder only recently netting a critical win with Twilight of the Gods, a TV-MA animated project for Netflix.
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Gunn has admitted to turning to Snyder for advice while working on Superman, and so fans were quick to jump to conclusions when the two were seen posing in a photo together late last week. While speculation ranged from a super team-up on Superman and at the head of the new DCU to rumors of Snyder being brought in to develop a different project in the new franchise, fans have been going back and forth on the possibilities over the weekend. Fortunately, the need for guesswork is now gone, thanks to Comicbook. The publication posed the question to Gunn at a recent DC industry event, and the filmmaker set things straight once and for all. “I was just talking to Zack as a friend,” Gunn revealed. “So, you know, we were just hanging out, and then we’re like, ‘Let’s take a picture together.’ We knew full well what we were doing….He thought it was funny. I thought it was funny. And that’s that.” When asked if the Rebel Moon filmmaker at least got to see an early cut of the upcoming Superman while he was with him, Gunn further revealed that the two met so briefly that it wasn’t possible.
Filmmakers meet up all the time and are usually on good terms with one another, but there’s an obvious reason why this particular friendly interaction launched such a large conversation over the weekend. It’s clear that Gunn’s stylistic choice for Superman is the right one and should set the tone for the new franchise, so it makes sense for fans to be wary of Snyder and his approach to filmmaking being brought back into the new DCU. While his unique and very visually impressive approach to filmmaking has worked to great effect in projects like 300, Snyder’s style has proven to be unappealing for the superhero and related science fiction genre, irrespective of how much backing or creative freedom he has for the execution. After being buried by the competition when the Marvel Cinematic Universe was at its peak, DC Studios can’t even afford to put out one project that fails to connect in the way much of the Snydeverse did. While the whole thing was clearly overblown, there will still be some genuine sighs of relief now that Snyder’s involvement has been ruled out.
Whatever fans might think of Gunn or Snyder’s different approaches to Superman and the DC universe in general, it’s best that the former crafts the DCU’s new direction on his own and on his own terms. As the release window for the film inches closer, these sorts of issues will have to take a back seat to the work at hand. Even now, Gunn already has far more pressing matters to attend to, as a recent lawsuit might ruin Superman’s global premiere and cripple the emerging DCU in its first stage. Viewers will have to wait and see how things play out ahead of the planned July premiere.
Superman is set for theatrical release on July 11, 2025.
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Source: Comicbook