DCU’s reboot opens up the gates of the franchise to tell a host of stories, without being beholden to any past set-up from the DCEU. However, this has also blown speculations among the fandom wide open, causing James Gunn to put out rumors left, right and center. This might become a problem for the franchise in a manner that it never was for the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and it needs to be curbed as soon as possible.
Since DC has changed the brass on its films, and decided to put all its films, television, and video games under one banner, fans have been wildly speculating what they might expect from the DCU. This problem has been largely absent from the MCU, even recently, as Kevin Feige has trickled out a steady stream of information for fans to consume as they anticipate the next film.
James Gunn can only put out so many fires
As soon as James Gunn took over the reins of DC Studios, speculations were rife about what the new DCU would look like under the Guardians of the Galaxy director. When Chapter 1 of the DCU, Gods and Monsters was announced, the DCU became a hotbed for speculation, which raged from a logical conclusion based on the information provided, to completely wild theories that bordered on fanfiction.
Unlike Kevin Feige’s neck of the woods, the DCU has had a lot of rumors about its projects, even the ones that are not going to be canon in the newly minted DCU. However, it seems like Gunn has to take to the internet to dispel rumors and speculations every other day, in the interest of managing fan expectations and and making sure the films are not taken in the wrong direction.
Even films like Batman Part II have become a problem for the studio, given that there is no way yet to hone in fan speculation, which has gone wild ever since the company decided to throw out the Snyderverse and then the DCEU.
Kevin Feige’s running of Marvel Studios has faced the same issue before
While Marvel is far better off when it comes to rumors and speculations, it must be noted that Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness faced the same issues that a lot of DCU projects are facing right now. While it was rumored that a host of cameos would be a part of the story, the rampant speculation went overboard, especially due to the rumored Illuminati scene.
Fans were expecting a host of cameos from non-MCU Marvel films of the past, including, but not limited to Ghost Rider, The Fantastic Four, Blade and X-Men. While Sir Patrick Stewart did reprise his role as Professor X, the disappointment that followed due to the lack of potential cameos created a lot of distress among fans, especially because there were so m, many expectations from the film in a post Endgame landscape.
However, in the current superhero landscape, the DCU must temper the rumors by giving out as little information as possible. Both the MCU and the DCU have suffered from over-commitment in the past years, with fans losing interest in projects that were announced but were nowhere close to materializing, such as The Fantastic Four, The Marvel Zombies animated series and the Blade film, the lead for which has already been cast.
