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The world of comics and CBM adaptations has always been filled with layered and complex morality. Be it Kevin Feige’s MCU, James Gunn’s DCU, or Eric Kripke’sThe Boyssaga, the heroes and villains in every universe have been tempted by and flirted with shades of grey, often crossing over completely into morally questionable territories to find what they need.
But an over-indulgence in themes that bring fleeting satisfaction to the audience has spelled the doom of certain franchises in the past. Zack Snyder’s DCEU, namely, comes to mind. The gruesome downfall and embarrassment that the DC Extended Universe has had to bear for nearly a decade (from 2013 to 2022) will always be a dark chapter in the history of the CBM universe.
It then comes as a surprise that the current lord and overseer of the new and improved realm of DC wants to regress into an era defined by “morally complex” characters rather than evolve with the times and usher in a better batch of heroes, gods, monsters, and villains.
The DCU Hints at Some Much-Needed Change
The potential of the DC universe is vast and untethered to any set rulebook of principles and guidelines. And yet, the stories of heroes such as Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, and Flash have been revisited so many times that they have essentially become redundant and saturated.
Zack Snyder’s DCEU later attempted to establish a new vision of the world of heroes and villains by making the genre more grounded, gritty, dark, and realistic than before. However, his universe came crashing down soon enough for reasons too convoluted to get into. The world, it seemed, was ready for a change even though the screams of disappointed fans echoed in the background.
DC May Finally Overtake Marvel: With MCU’s Near Misses Like The Marvels, 2 New James Gunn DCU Shows Get Much Needed Updates
Now, years after the end of the DCEU fiasco and Warner Bros. appointingJames Gunnas head of the DC Universe, the filmmaker has come up with a plan. However, the only problem with the blueprint of the new universe is that it looks as repetitive as the origin story of Batman and as predictable as the virtue of Superman.
James Gunn Makes a Surprising Declaration
In October 2022, Dwayne Johnson raised a one-man army to battle the battalions of critics and haters who seemed ready to tear down the world that Warner Bros. had built for nearly a century. His coup failed.Black Adamsinglehandedly called an end to the reign of DCEU and all that it stood for.
James Gunn was undeterred by all the controversy, however. When the filmmaker came on board to steer the newly formed DC Studios into better days, he made a promise to the fans who eagerly waited to see him falter and fail.
In an interview withGizmodo, published on August 07, 2025, Gunn declared:
We’re coming into a world where superheroes exist and have existed for some time in one form or another, and that’s the universe. And so we are telling a big, huge central story […] But we’re also creating a universe that is like Star Wars where there are different times, different places, different things, [and] like Game of Thrones, where characters are a little bit more morally complex.
To reiterate once more, making the DCU a derivative of done-and-dusted themes from the past will only add to its problems. The comic book universe is a vast, never-ending, and inexhaustible lore of stories, characters, and tropes that can be wielded as freely as the creator of a universe wants.
James Gunn on DCU’s New Batman Movie: “That movie is not going to get made” Until My One Condition is Met
Sticking to morally grey characters like Snyder’s DCEU stands out as a huge red flag considering Gunn’s plans for the future. So far, he has only shown promise with John Cena’s seriesPeacemakeralthough the broader overarching future of DC remains to be written in the pages of comic book history.
Superman: Legacywill premiere on August 13, 2025.
Diya Majumdar
Senior Writer
Articles Published :2407
Diya Majumdar is a Senior Content Writer at FandomWire with over 2000 published articles on the website. Since 2022, she has been working as an entertainment journalist with a special focus on films and pop culture.Among the countless genres and themes of Hollywood, the ones that particularly favor Diya’s tastes include Game of Thrones, DC, and well-aged thrillers and classics.
