Today is the last day of January, and as per rumors, James Gunn will announce his new DCU slate at 12 p.m. ET. The DCU fandom is restless with the speculation about what projects he might announce. While there’s intense theorizing on that, a Marvel actor has already given us a hint of what’s to come.
Dave Bautista, best known for playing Drax in the James Gunn-directed Marvel Studios trilogy “Guardians of the Galaxy,” has revealed what James Gunn is ultimately planning to do. So let’s dive deep into it.
Dave Bautista Reveals James Gunn’s DCU Plans
During an interview with Insider, Dave Bautista told the site about his conversations with James Gunn, which helped him understand what the director of the “Guardians of the Galaxy” films were planning to do. As per the star, he thinks that the direction Gunn is leaning in is to totally reboot the whole DC universe and start afresh with young cast members. But what does Bautista think about the full reboot idea?
He is all for it. The actor goes on to further say that if DC has to be revived, then the people in charge need to start again from the beginning with younger actors and plan ahead for the next decade and more. Since Bautista is close to Gunn, it makes sense that he will know what the new DC Studios co-CEO is planning on doing.
For a long time, rumors about James Gunn starting again with a new and younger cast have been doing the rounds of DC subreddits. The news of Henry Cavill’s departure from his Superman role after appearing in a cameo role in Dwayne Johnson’s “Black Adam” movie tipped off many fans about such a plan. However, it was James Gunn’s confirmation that he was writing a new Superman movie script that would feature a young version of the hero that concretized the validity of those rumors for many DC enthusiasts.
Is Starting Afresh The Right Idea For DCU Moving Forward?
When Henry Cavill announced that he was done playing Superman, everyone was aghast. Since then, Gunn has received a barrage of hate tweets almost every day. Many DC fans have tweeted to let the director know about their displeasure at his decision. For them, the ideal scenario would be to let Cavill come back as Clark Kent and finish his Superman trilogy. But that’s not all that they want.
They also want Ben Affleck to return as Bruce Wayne and star in his solo movie about the Dark Knight. Not excluded from their plans is Gal Gadot’s Diana Prince. DC aficionados want her to complete her “Wonder Woman” trilogy as well. Additionally, they also demand that James Gunn bring Zack Snyder back and let him direct his planned “Justice League” trilogy. While other supporters don’t have such a laundry list of demands, many do think that letting Cavill go barely a month after bringing him back again is cruel. So the consensus is that Henry should have been allowed to star in at least one more Superman project before he was let go.
However, not everyone agrees with this agenda. Many DC fans think that starting over is the best idea. After all, it doesn’t matter when Cavill is let go from his Superman duties; there will be an uproar from everyone nonetheless. As such, it’s better to rip the bandage off as soon as possible and begin anew. This will also ensure that James Gunn doesn’t have to stay beholden to the lore and continuity of a slate of movies that came before him.
But that’s not all. Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD), the parent company under which DC Studios operates, is in tremendous debt. So much so that the company has been canceling well-received shows to save money or selling them to other streamers to make a profit. For example, shows like “Westworld” were canceled even after getting renewed for another season. Also, movies like “Batgirl” and “Scoob” were gutted even after they finished filming just for tax write-offs.
Famous stars like Henry Cavill, Gal Gadot, Ben Affleck, and more don’t come cheap. For example, as per The Wrap, Henry Cavill apparently took home $250K for his Black Adam cameo, while as per Vanity Fair, Gal Gadot was paid about $10 million for “Wonder Woman 2.” So the previous actors will definitely charge higher amounts for more movies set in the DC Universe. But WBD doesn’t have much money to spend just on actor salaries. As such, the smart decision would be to start afresh with new actors who wouldn’t want such amounts right from the beginning.
In the end, Dave Bautista is right. Starting again with a total DCU reboot is indeed the right choice. Whether that will happen or not will be confirmed today when James Gunn announces Chapter 1 of his DC vision.
See more: Kevin Feige Reveals The First Goal Of Marvel Studios, And It Makes A Lot Of Sense
