During a sit-down with actor Rainn Wilson, Superman director James Gunn answered some of the fans' most burning questions about the future of the DCU. DC fans, who viewed Superman as a redemption from Zack Snyder's version of the character, were particularly interested in how Gunn would guide the universe.
Now, Gunn has provided those answers. He's even had a chance to delve into his love for George R.R. Martin and shared his thoughts on how the DCU and MCU are different, and we have to agree!
James Gunn's approach to a connected DC Universe
In 2025, many superhero fans are having a difficult discussion of whether or not the world is burned out on these beloved films. Marvel is certainly at the forefront of this conversation, and DC hadn't brought anything productive to the table with the DCEU that polarized it's own fanbase. However, the issue doesn't seem to be with the movies themselves, but perhaps the need to shove everything into a neatly interconnected universe. Maybe that worked ten years ago, but it seems to be failing now.
James Gunn understands this and isn't taking inspiration from the MCU, but rather worlds like Star Wars and Game of Thrones. During his interview with Rainn Wilson, he said, "You talk about George R.R. Martin, and he is really one of the guys who I love and look up to. I’m an enormous fan of his, and people say, 'Oh, the DCU is doing what MCU is.' But I think it really is a lot more to me what the Game of Thrones world is like or what Star Wars is like, because we’re building a universe and then picking out little pieces of it and telling individual stories from that universe."
Comparing Gunn's world-building to George R.R Martin's is pretty accurate in terms of the story he's trying to tell. When considering all the moving pieces of the world of Westeros and the different stories that are told, all while being interconnected in a subtle way, James Gunn's plans for the DCU are similar.
When asked about what makes DC different from the MCU, Gunn talks about how there isn't any correlation to real life within it. Marvel breaks the immersion by being mostly based in reality, like New York and Los Angeles. Gunn points out how these places don't exist in DC. Instead, we have Metropolis, Smallville, and Gotham. These places are familiar enough that we can relate to them, but they add another level to the fictional immersion. It allows Gunn to emulate the world-building of Star Wars and Game of Thrones.
Clayface and Superman sequel confirmation
During this interview, Gunn also confirmed that he's working with director James Watkins on Clayface and is also writing the script for the Superman sequel. "Seconds before I got on the phone with you," he said to Rainn Wilson, "I was working on that. I had a meeting about Clayface this morning, which is a movie that James Watkins is directing that I’m really hopeful about. And right before I got on here, I’ve been writing the Superman sequel script." Clayface is a Batman villain, so this gives a bit of hope for the future of Robert Pattinson's Batman.
It also seems that James Gunn is willing to give a lot of creative freedom to the directors of the next DC films while giving minimal notes. This could allow for a universe that is unique and creative rather than all of them feeling similar to one another. It also gives credibility to his plan of not making the films so interconnected like the MCU.
One of the biggest mistakes of the DCEU, spearheaded by Zack Snyder, was trying to emulate the MCU too much. While some of the heroes are similar to one another, those universes are different. Snyder tried too hard to replicate what Kevin Feige had going and attempted to speed up the DCEU to catch up to where Marvel was. This is not even counting the fact that he took a darker "Injustice" approach to the characters, which didn't land well with fans. Many speculate that this was to counter Marvel's comedic approach to the films. James Gunn's DCU is trying to be its own thing, have us fall in love with the characters organically rather than just being told that we should care. It's full of joy and color, bringing redemption to live-action DC films.
With the release of Superman and James Gunn manning the DC ship, fans are more hopeful for this incredible and beloved superhero universe to be properly represented this time around.