James Gunn Names ‘Batman’ and ‘Wonder Woman’ Films as the Most Important Upcoming Stories in His DCU

The DCU is currently in a very specific phase ahead of the Superman premiere next month. And while many have said that this movie could make or break the DCU, Gunn is looking at the future with a lot of optimism.

He’s either sure of the movie’s success or the DCU doesn’t rely on the success of Superman that much. Regardless of which it is, though, there are many projects in the works, as you probably know.

Among them are the upcoming Batman and Wonder Woman projects, which Gunn just wants to see done right.

As you know, the short-term focus of the DCU is on Superman and the upcoming Supergirl movie, and potentially the Lanterns series. But, since Gunn aims to create a large and immersive fictional universe, he has to look even further.

We’ve known that a Batman movie, tentatively titled The Brave and the Bold, has been in the works. The movie will be completely separate from Matt Reeves’ Batman universe and will be part of the main DCU timeline.

At the same time, Gunn has recently confirmed that a new Wonder Woman movie is being written and it seems that these two movies will be the priority for Gunn and the DCU following the two “Super” movies.

In a recent interview, Gunn commented on these two films, claiming that Batman is actually his “biggest issue” at this point. “No, I don’t — Batman’s my biggest issue in all of DC right now, personally. And it’s not — I’m not writing Batman, but I am working with the writer of Batman and trying to get it right, because he’s incredibly important to DC, as is Wonder Woman. So outside of the stuff that I’m doing in the projects that are actively going, our two priorities are finishing our Wonder Woman and our Batman scripts,” he said.

He also went into detail about his approach to these two major IPs, revealing – in a broad sense – what the DCU is planning with them.

“Batman has to have a reason for existing, right? So Batman can’t just be ‘Oh, we’re making a Batman movie because Batman’s the biggest character in all of Warner Bros.,’ which he is. But because there’s a need for him in the DCU and a need that he’s not exactly the same as Matt’s Batman,” he said. “But yet he’s not a campy Batman. I’m not interested in that. I’m not interested in a funny, campy Batman, really. So we’re dealing with that. I think I have a way in, by the way. I think I really know what it’s — I just am dealing with the writer to make sure that we can make it a reality.”

As for Wonder Woman, he said that it was “similar. Wonder Woman I think is actually easier for me, because there haven’t been so many infinite portrayals of Wonder Woman — definitely not in movies, but really anywhere — that there have been of Batman. Every single Batman story has been told. It seems like half the comics that have come out of DC over the past 30 years have Batman in them. He’s the most famous superhero in the world and the most popular superhero in the world. And people love him because he’s interesting, but also having so much of him out there can also make him boring. So how do you create that property that’s fun to watch?”

And this makes sense. The Trinity is the basis for any proper Justice League team-up later on, and with the three of them being such important characters from DC’s universe, there is absolutely no doubt that the DCU to get them right.

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