James Gunn Begins His DC Studios Reign by Standing Behind Ezra Miller and Zachary Levi - Vanity Fair

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The filmmaker spoke frankly at his first major press event since taking over as cohead of the studio: “As everyone here probably knows, the history of DC is pretty messed up. It was f--ked up.”

By Savannah Walsh

February 1, 2023

Only three months into his tenure as DC Studios head alongside Peter Safran, filmmaker James Gunn isn’t mincing words about the company’s future. In an action-packed press conference held from the Warner Bros. lot, Gunn expanded on his recently unveiled plans for DC, including new Superman and Batman films.

“As everyone here probably knows, the history of DC is pretty messed up. It was fucked up,” Gunn said before a group of journalists this week, according to The Hollywood Reporter. “No one was minding the mint. They were giving away IP like they were party favors at any creator who smiled at them.”

The writer-director, who helmed 2021’s The Suicide Squad and HBO Max’s Peacemaker series, was tapped by Warner Bros. Discovery chief David Zaslav to run the revamped DC Studios alongside Safran late last year. Key company figures including Walter Hamada, Toby Emmerich, and Zack Snyder had all departed their roles prior to the shift. “There is the Arrowverse, there was the DCEU, which then split and became the Joss Whedon Justice League at one point and the Snyderverse. At another point, there is Superman & Lois, there is Reevesverse, there are all these different things,” Gunn said of a project lineup that included The CW’s TV shows and Matt Reeves’s The Batman. “And even us—we came and did Suicide Squad, and that became Peacemaker, and all of sudden Bat-Mite is a real thing.”

One victim of the changing of the guard, as Gunn sees it, was former Superman Henry Cavill. “I like Henry, I think he’s a great guy,” he said. “I think he’s getting dicked around by a lot of people, including the former regime at this company. But this Superman is not Henry, for a number of reasons.” (Cavill’s ouster in favor of a younger Clark Kent and the halting of Patty Jenkins’s in-development Wonder Woman 3 were among early moves in Gunn and Safran’s reign.)

During the press conference, Gunn also railed against mad dash release dates. “We are not going to put hundreds of millions of dollars into a film where a screenplay is only two thirds of the way done and we have to finish it while we’re making the movie. I’ve seen it happen again and again, and it’s a mess,” he said. “I think it’s the primary reason for the deterioration of quality of films today versus 20, 30 years ago.”

Gunn, who has weathered his own share of controversy, also addressed two tumultuous figures under the DC Studios umbrella. Ezra Miller, who recently pleaded guilty to misdemeanor unlawful trespass and is receiving mental health treatment, will lead The Flash when it opens in theaters on June 16. Not only are company heads not shying away from Miller’s movie—they’re wholeheartedly hyping it. “I will say here that Flash is probably one of the greatest superhero movies ever made,” Gunn said, as reported by Variety. Added Safran: “Ezra is completely committed to their recovery, and we are fully supportive of that journey that they’re on right now. When the time is right, when they feel like they’re ready to have the discussion, we’ll all figure out what the best path forward is. But right now they are completely focused on their recovery. And in our conversations with them over the last couple of months, it feels like they’re making enormous progress.”

Then there is the matter of Zachary Levi, who sparked backlash on January 29 after he responded to a Twitter user who wrote, “Do you agree or not, that Pfizer is a real danger to the world?” “Hardcore agree,” Levi wrote in response. Many assumed Levi was airing anti-vaccine beliefs, although the actor has not offered additional context for his tweet.

“Just real simply: Actors and filmmakers that I work with are going to say things that I agree with and things that I don’t agree with,” Gunn said when asked about Levi, per Variety. “And that’s going to happen. I don’t have a list of things that somebody should say because of what I think. And you know, I can’t be changing my plans all the time because an actor says something that I don’t agree with.”

He continued: “By the same token, if somebody’s doing something morally reprehensible, then that’s a different story. We have to take all that stuff into account. It’s a balance. It’s modern world and it’s a different place.” Levi will soon embark on press duties for Shazam! Fury of the Gods, which will be released on March 17. Plans for future films centered on his superhero haven’t been announced.