James Gunn's DCEU Plans Includes Video Games
We've already seen James Gunn work his movie magic on the Guardians of the Galaxy, but as he jumps ship from Marvel to DC, it remains to be seen whether his Midas touch can transfer to Gotham City and Metropolis.
Having added some much-needed levity to the dark and brooding DC Extended Universe of Zack Snyder's stewardship, Gunn has led the charge with 2022's The Suicide Squad and the Peacemaker spin-off series.
Following his tenure at Disney with the three Guardians of the Galaxy movie, Gunn is stepping up as co-chairman and co-CEO of DC Studios alongside Peter Safran. As Gunn revamps the struggling series from the ground up, he's promised that it's not just movies coming from the rebranded DCEU.
Will Video Games Be Part Of The DCEU?
During an exchange on Twitter, Gunn adamantly said "yes" when asked if there will be a united front on DC animation, games, and movies. being typically engaged on the platform, Gunn said, "DCU will be connected across film and TV (and animation)."
Gunn's vision comes after Warner Bros Discovery head David Zaslav said he was excited to see where the superhero superstar can take the studio's DC output. Deadline reports that Zaslav has tasked Gunn with building "a bible for a cohesive DC universe, one that is overarching across live-action films, TV, animation, gaming and more."
Currently, the only game on the horizon is Rocksteady's Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League, which is definitely not set in the same continuity as Gunn's The Suicide Squad. Following the middling reviews of Gotham Knights, maybe a shared vision would do us some good.
It remains to be seen what's on the slate, but should we start fantasizing about a game set alongside Matt Reeves' gritty Batman trilogy? As the Robert Pattinson-led movies are separate from the likes of Henry Cavill's Superman and Margot Robbie's Harley Quinn, probably not.
Could The DCEU Finally Rival The MCU?
Gunn's is a bold statement to make, especially as this shared continuity is something that even Marvel hasn't nailed. Despite the remastered version of Marvel's Spider-Man swapping Peter Parker's character model for one that looks more like Tom Holland, it isn't part of the MCU.
Crystal Dynamics' Marvel's Avengers and Eidos-Montreal's Guardians of the Galaxy have both told their own stories, meaning that a shared continuity is something Disney can't boast about... yet. There's a chance Insomniac's Wolverine game will fit into Spider-Man's world, but it's still included in the MCU.
It's hard enough to juggle the various movies and TV spin-offs without uniting games under the same roof, so Gunn is giving himself a lot of work here.
Whether the gamble pays off remains to be seen, but after 14 years of MCU supremacy, we imagine Mickey Mouse is quaking in his boots right about now. It looks like Jim Gordon lit the Bat-Signal and Gunn answered its call.