James Gunn has now become the ‘Kevin Feige’ of the new DCU. Last year, he announced several DC projects that will be a part of his vision for the beginning of the DCU moving forward. While Kevin Feige has the experience and achieved success over the years, Gunn is also a solid filmmaker and has never disappointed audiences with his work.
However, there is a stark difference between how they operate and their way of telling actors what to do to prepare for their roles. As pointed out by a popular scooper, Gunn seems to have an edge over Feige over one aspect in building his own DC universe.
Kevin Feige and James Gunn’s Differing Approach to Their Cinematic Universes
The MCU and the DCU are now going hand in hand next year with the release of The Fantastic Four and Superman: Legacy, respectively. Kevin Feige has shepherded the MCU to great success, Gunn has observed him all those years and is now building his own cinematic universe at Warner Bros. However, there seems to be a difference in how they approach the source material.
As Daniel Richtman points out on X, Feige has not necessarily made the MCU as true to the comics as he wants both the comics fans and general audiences to enjoy the films. While he does emphasize actors have a significant idea of their characters, he does not necessarily let them get deep into them as he always brings a new interpretation when he adapts it for the big screen which becomes a double-edged sword.
While his formula has worked for the first 10 years, audiences are now tired of the MCU straying away from the true identities of the characters and the narratives. The complaints of the MCU being too woke and inconsistent have led to its downfall in recent years. For example, the events of Captain America: Civil War and Secret Invasion are very different from their comic counterparts and have led to differing results.
On the contrary, Gunn has always stayed true to the characters and has always injected heart with humor, starting with his Guardians of the Galaxy films. He seems to be emphasizing his actors to go deep into the myths of the characters they are playing. With his new DCU, he wants to shape it in line with the comics, and it is a wise approach to start with this approach.
Alan Ritchson is open to Play Batman in James Gunn’s DCU
James Gunn is set to have a new Batman in the new DCU, and while he is far off from casting the character, it hasn’t stopped fans from speculating who will be perfect for the role. With the popularity and success of the Reacher series on Amazon Prime, Alan Ritchson has been a top pick for fans to play the role. The actor himself has now responded to this fan campaign.
Ritchson told BroBible that it is a real honor that people are even thinking of him to play the role. He revealed how he was a big fan of the comics growing up and called Batman one of the coolest characters of all time. He would be open to playing the role if he is presented with the opportunity by Gunn. He said,
“The fact that people are interested in me playing Batman is a real honor and privilege. It’s one of the first characters I fell in love with as a child. For there to even be a conversation or a rumor mill surrounding this role, for me… all I can do is laugh. I just think it’s wild that’s where we are. You know… I would love to. I would absolutely love to. It’s one of the coolest characters of all time.”
Gunn is currently busy as Superman: Legacy is set to start filming next month. He is taking it slow with Batman: The Brave and the Bold and has not even hired a writer for it. It remains to be seen who he ends up selecting for the role.
