As James Gunn ushers a new world of heroes and villains as the new head of DC Studios, he assures fans that his main focus would be their individual stories. The filmmaker believes that, as enjoyable as shared universes look like, every character’s story should be treated without any attachments from the outside world.
Moreover, the Guardians of the Galaxy director noted that shared universes should add fun and excitement, not complicate things and stress the heck out of people. Indeed, he made it clear that individual stories should be prioritized over the connections between characters.
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James Gunn Was Frustrated With MCU’s Shared Universes
James Gunn spoke with Rolling Stone and ranted about how the Marvel Cinematic Universe went against his style of storytelling. He notably said that dealing with Thor while working on his Guardians of the Galaxy project was never his plan from the beginning. Gunn expressed his dismay:
“They chose to have that ending in editing, and I didn’t think it was gonna be in there. ‘Endgame’ came out right after I decided to do ‘Guardians’ again. So I didn’t have much say in what was in ‘Endgame’, and then it came out, and then I was like, ‘What the f**k am I gonna do?’”
His frustration at how Avengers: Endgame famously ended with the God of Thunder joining Star-Lord’s team onboard was evident, though the team-up was only short-lived. Ultimately, the problem was seamlessly resolved in Thor: Love and Thunder. Gunn shared how Taika Waititi saved the day:
“I said, ‘Thank God!’ To be completely honest, Thor was never going to be in this movie. Taika took a bullet for me. Because I was not going to have him in. I was just gonna start up, and there’s no Thor.”
It seems like Marvel Studios has been suffering from too many character crossovers and shared universes that only end up making more problems than creating enjoyable experiences.
James Gunn Reveals The Advantage Of DCU Over MCU
James Gunn tackled the differences between the two giant franchises as he has worked on both. According to him, there is “a bit more of a fantasy element to DCU because there are these larger-than-life superheroes,” which he is quite excited to explore in the upcoming projects. He also said via Inside of You with Michael Rosenbaum:
“One of the things I love about DC and excites me about is DC is that in a way it is another alternate history. I love that about it. I love that we get to create true world-building in DC. It isn’t just we’re throwing some superheroes on Earth. So I think that, right now, is one of the key differences.”
Gunn is very much focused on building a new era for DC heroes and villains, and as head of the studios, he is also responsible for maintaining harmony in all of the projects that are currently brewing at the headquarters.
In summary, the filmmaker pointed out that the best tactic is to build on what is already in front of you – that is, indeed, focusing on a single character or story at a time.
