James Gunn Reveals Why Marvel and the Movie Industry Are Dying

James Gunn, the co-head of DC Studios, is being very clear about how he wants superhero movies made. In a recent interview with Rolling Stone, Gunn said that no film under his leadership will begin production without a finished script.

He believes this is one of the main problems with the movie industry right now.

“I do believe that the reason why the movie industry is dying is not because of people not wanting to see movies,” Gunn said. “It’s not because of home screens getting so good. The number-one reason is because people are making movies without a finished screenplay.”

According to Gunn, rushing into big movies before the scripts are ready is hurting Hollywood. He shared that DC Studios recently stopped one of their planned movies, even though everyone involved was excited about it. The reason? The script just wasn’t good enough.

“Everybody wanted to make the movie. It was greenlit, ready to go. The screenplay wasn’t ready. And I couldn’t do a movie where the screenplay’s not good,” he explained. Gunn said that they’ve been lucky with other projects like Supergirl, Lanterns, and Clayface, calling their scripts “so f—–g good.”

Gunn also talked about how DC Studios doesn’t have pressure from Warner Bros. to keep pushing out a certain number of films or shows every year.

He mentioned that this kind of pressure caused problems at Marvel Studios when Disney started releasing a lot more content for Disney+. Gunn used to work at Marvel, where he directed all three Guardians of the Galaxy movies, so he knows how things changed when the studio had to increase its output.

“That wasn’t fair. It wasn’t right. And it killed them,” Gunn said. “We don’t have the mandate [at DC] to have a certain amount of movies and TV shows every year. So we’re going to put out everything that we think is of the highest quality.”

Gunn said his new Superman movie is ready to launch next month, and another film, Supergirl, is already done filming and set for 2026. More movies, including ones about Batman and Wonder Woman, are in the works.

When it comes to Batman, Gunn admitted that he’s still trying to figure things out with the writer.

“Batman’s my biggest issue in all of DC right now, personally,” he said. “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.”

He added that Batman needs a real purpose in the new DC Universe. He said they’re not just making a Batman movie because the character is popular. The goal is to give him a meaningful role in the new story.

“Batman has to have a reason for existing, right?” Gunn said. “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.”

He made it clear that this new Batman will be different from the version in Matt Reeves’ films. At the same time, he’s not interested in making Batman goofy.

“He’s not exactly the same as Matt’s Batman. But yet he’s not a campy Batman. I’m not interested in that. I’m not interested in a funny, campy Batman, really,” Gunn said. “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.”

Gunn also said working on Wonder Woman has been easier. Since there haven’t been as many versions of her in movies, he feels like there’s more room to shape something fresh.

“Every single Batman story has been told,” Gunn said. “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.”

Gunn’s goal now is to make a Batman movie that feels new, fun to watch, and still fits the world they’re building at DC. His Superman movie will hit theaters on July 11, and from there, the new DC Universe will start to unfold.

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