The DC Universe has a few tricks up its sleeve for refreshing the superhero genre and standing out from the Marvel Cinematic Universe. James Gunn just shared one of his biggest secrets in an interview with Entertainment Weekly — when the DCU begins, super-powered “metahumans” will already be well-established within this world. According to the filmmaker and co-CEO of DC Studios, he and the writers have decided that metahumans have been a matter of public knowledge for about 300 years at the time of Superman. This will make introducing outlandish powers smoother, and may cut down on some of the need for exposition, but it presents its own worldbuilding hurdles as well.
Videos by ComicBook.com
“If you saw a shark-man walking down the street, you’d probably vomit and s— yourself to death,” Gunn joked. “If they saw one, it would be more like if you saw Paul McCartney on the sidewalk in New York.” Gunn revealed that among these existing heroes is the Justice Gang, a team that is already established when the movie begins. It consists of Green Lantern (Nathan Fillion), Hawkgirl (Isabela Merced), and Mister Terrific (Edi Gathegi). However, their group is backed by the tech billionaire Maxwell Lord (Sean Gunn), which may skew their judgement.
“They’re good. They just are not saintly,” Gunn remarked. Corrupt, corporately-backed superheroes will be very familiar to genre fans following the success of The Boys and other stories of its kind, but it’s very interesting to introduce Superman into such a setting. The Man of Steel is often showcased alone, or as the first hero of his kind in the world. Injecting this idealistic hero into a grim, jaded world may be the perfect way of freshening him up for modern audiences.
[RELATED: Superman Tickets to Go On Sale With Early Screenings]
On the other hand, creating a fictional setting with so much divergent history from the real world is a dangerous game that has flopped for filmmakers before. It raises many questions that can be difficult to answer, as the ripple effects of a few superheroes could have changed the events of the past 300 years quite a bit. This was one of the main criticisms the 2017 fantasy movie Bright, to give one glaring example.
The DCU is more likely to face comparisons to the MCU, where the setting was virtually identical to our real world up until 2008, when Iron Man went public. Since then, the MCU has rapidly accepted superheroes, space travelers, living gods, interdimensional incursions, and many other new elements as undeniable reality. It’s also prepping for the introduction of even more large-scale change, including mutants. By comparison, the pacing and planning of the DCU may feel more streamlined.
We’ll get to see how well this approach to the superhero genre works for ourselves very soon. Superman hits theaters on July 11th.
Most Viewed
-
Hulu / 20th Television Animation
