DC Fans Officially Demand James Gunn’s Return!!

The fallout from the shocking news of James Gunn and Peter Safran‘s departure from DC Studios continues. The duo were brought in to shape the DC cinematic universe into a franchise capable of challenging Disney‘s MCU for box office supremacy, but they’ve been dismissed four years after coming in by new management at the newly merged Warner Bros-Paramount-Skydance entity. However, DC fans are already voicing their objection to the changes with a new petition on Change.org.

This isn’t the first time DC fans have vented their collective spleen on the internet after C-suite changes. When Zack Snyder was removed from the production of Justice League, and replaced with Joss Whedon, a great hue and cry came from the DC faithful who had enjoyed Snyder‘s dark takes on Man of Steel and Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. Amid a number of box-office and creative struggles, Warner Bros. returned the film to Snyder for Zack Snyder’s Justice League, the so-called “Snyder Cut” that restored creative control to Snyder and ballooned the film’s length to a hefty 242 minutes. Despite this, occasional calls to “restore the Snyderverse” have gone unheeded.

Now, it’s the turn of fans who enjoyed Gunn‘s sunnier take on the DC universe, as seen in last summer’s Superman; they’ve filed their own petition demanding his reinstatement alongside Safran. The petition argues that Gunn‘s take on the DC mythos is worth preserving. It also contends that DC Studios, which has already seen one potential shared universe arrive stillborn with 2011’s Green Lantern, and another die an undignified death with the conclusion of the pre-Gunn DCEU, needs to maintain some consistency now, and would be harmed by yet another big-screen reboot. As of Friday, November 13, the number of signatures on the petition has reached 70,000. The petition can be viewed and signed at Change.org.

What’s Next for DC Studios?

Although plans can clearly change, the immediate future seems certain for the DCU, which will now be spearheaded by former MCU executive Jeremy Latcham. Man of Tomorrow, the follow-up to Superman that is written and directed by Gunn, will pit Superman (David Corenswet) and nemesis Lex Luthor (Nicholas Hoult) against the alien menace of Brainiac (Lars Eidinger); it is set to hit theaters on July 9, 2027. The mockumentary series The People v. Gorilla Grodd and the second season of the animated Creature Commandos are will into production, and likely to be released in the near future; after that, the future is hidden behind the Source Wall, but Latcham will reportedly prioritize projects featuring DC‘s big-name characters, including Batman and Wonder Woman.