The continuous box office disaster of DC movies even after James Gunn and Peter Safran’s takeover as DC’s co-heads has raised questions. Even DC’s most ambitious project, The Flash which received rave reviews from the likes of Stephen King and Tom Cruise and which Gunn exclusively stated was “one of the best superhero movies I’ve ever seen” could not achieve its desired mark and failed rather miserably despite delving into the multiverse and inviting several DC characters into the mix.
Also, Gunn’s radical reboot of the former DCEU has upset many fans. Henry Cavill was a well-established Superman since Zack Snyder’s take on the DC frontline heroes. However, Gunn has replaced the actor along with Batman star Ben Affleck while Gal Gadot’s Wonder Woman 3 fate hangs in the balance. Also, the potential return of Dwayne Johnson’s Black Adam looks increasingly bleak.
Dwayne Johnson, The Savior?
DC is in serious need of a savior to rescue the sinking ship that is the DC Studio. James Gunn’s magic has not worked yet despite his shift in approach and application of different methods to save projects. However, after Ezra Miller’s The Flash, Xolo Maridueña starrer Blue Beetle has met the same fate.
The overhyped DC reboot is yet to be implemented on the screen but his involvement in the DC movies coming out has raised ample questions as it failed to address the problematic box office markings. Warner Brothers has consistently poured money into these projects and yet they failed to recover at the box office and in the court of public opinion.
Gunn and Peter Safran have slated several projects for sure but with Henry Cavill out of the picture, the return of Dwayne Johnson’s Black Adam looks blurry too. Of course, Black Adam did not perform well at the box office but given that the character was new, it would take time and opportunity for the fans to engage and connect with The Rock’s anti-villain. Despite the failure, if given the chance, Black Adam had the potential to bounce back, perhaps in another experimental installment.
Since the film’s release, most blamed Johnson for the failure of Black Adam but they have failed to confront the fact that the ancient superpowered being should have appeared in more DC projects before headlining his own standalone feature. Fans now believe Johnson can save DC with more projects which includes his character. But so far, there is no positive news regarding his return.
Fans Are Skeptical of James Gunn
As Gunn’s tenure at DC has been a matter of contention, fans have questioned his idea of the DC reboot. Certainly, Gunn and Safran were hired to rescue the collapsing DC. Also, Gunn has seen the best of the success in his MCU tenure as the director of the box office powerhouse franchise Guardians of the Galaxy. But as the DC boss, Gunn has not made any tangible impact other than the hot updates of the DC reboot and fans are losing patience.
Hot take: DC would have been better with the Rock and Henry Cavill than it is now with James Gunn. The hype for DC movies was insane when MoS2 was announced but now it is totally dead. Black Adam’s box office still dwarfs the previous 3 DC movies, despite the fact that BA is a… pic.twitter.com/GmpGbfTVJY
— Geralt of North (@Itssan17) September 7, 2023
Another user took to X to support Johnson.
they literally blame the Rock for all their failures 😭
— Loba’s fan №1 🐺 (@Kozandr1) September 7, 2023
One user applauds Johnson’s Black Adam.
I thought Black Adam was great!
— DontHateMe (@KrazyZany) September 8, 2023
Another speculated the future of Gunn’s Superman: Legacy.
That’s not a hot take that’s just a fact.. superman “legacy” is going to flop
— Kentalk (@Kentalknews) September 7, 2023
One user explained the reason behind DC’s consistent failure.
The problem was they introduce a new character with a bunch of other new characters that normies have no idea and then before that was a long enough break for people to be like ehhh. Henry Cavill was the only one people was excited for.
— G Gore (@GGore65002096) September 7, 2023
Obviously, Gunn’s actual slates are yet to roll out and only time will tell how the audience will receive these movies, and most importantly, if they could save the studio’s sinking ship.
Source: X
