DCU Has a ‘Powerful Vision and Blueprint’ From James Gunn & Peter Safran

November 4, 2022

Following the news that James Gunn and Peter Safran would be heading up the all-new DC Studios for the next four years, Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav has high hopes for the duo.

Speaking during an earnings call for the company this week (via Comic Book Movie), Zaslav said that he believes the DCU has “a powerful vision and blueprint” that they can now use to bring a “more unified creative approach” to the films.

“I’ve spent a lot of time over the past few months with James and Peter, talking about our strategy and long-term plans for the future of DC across TV, animation, and film,” Zaslav said. “They have a powerful vision and blueprint that will drive a more unified creative approach that will allow us to enable to the full value of one of the world’s most iconic franchises.”

Zaslav went on to note that the duo is also already working together and praised Gunn for his storytelling abilities, as well as Safran for his producing credits.

“They are hard at work right now … James is a brilliant storyteller who has the distinction of being the first and only filmmaker to direct a movie for both Marvel and DC,” said Zaslav before calling Safran “a prolific producer whose credits include DC’s highest-grossing movie Aquaman as well as the entire Conjuring universe, the most successful horror franchise of all time. We could not be more thrilled to have them join our leadership team, and I’m excited for what is to come.”

The initial report of Gunn and Safran heading up DC Studios mentions that both are still expected to continue directing and producing other projects. Also important to note is the fact that, according to early reports, the separate universes established at DC — including that of Todd Phillips’ Joker films — will not be overseen by Gunn and Safran. At this point, it’s unknown if Matt Reeves’ The Batman films will be, but any future DC project will be overseen by Gunn and Safran moving forward.