# Gunn is done. Is DCCU 2 through? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** movies, hbomax-wb-dc\ **Created:** [November 10, 2026, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gunn-is-done-is-dccu-2-through/1034753 "2026-11-10T01:37:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2026, 12:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gunn-is-done-is-dccu-2-through/1034753/42 "2026-11-11T12:23:05Z")
> [@Smid](#): > > But moving forward into a Christian DC universe, won’t Superman and Jesus be somewhat problematic? I’ve seen the documentary. [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List\_of\_The\_Boys\_episodes#Season\_5\_(2026)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_The_Boys_episodes#Season_5_(2026)) ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2026, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gunn-is-done-is-dccu-2-through/1034753/43 "2026-11-11T13:27:50Z")
Is that link supposed to mean something? I don’t see any mention of a documentary. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2026, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gunn-is-done-is-dccu-2-through/1034753/44 "2026-11-11T13:39:24Z")
> [@Smid](#): > > But moving forward into a Christian DC universe, won’t Superman and Jesus be somewhat problematic? I saw this really really stupid T shirt one time, it had Jesus sitting center with all the superheroes sitting (kneeling? I couldn’t look very long without my brain hurting) him in adoration. Now imagine that as a franchise! ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2026, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gunn-is-done-is-dccu-2-through/1034753/45 "2026-11-11T13:45:00Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > like Darksied Darkseid. -DSeid 🙂 > [@msmith537](#): > > We never heard of Darksied until he showed up in whatever cut of whatever film and then he was never spoken of again after his defeat. Point is he shares the same function in comic universes and could in cinematic. I would rather downplay the universe existential threat level villains and try to find ways to focus on characters in smaller level threats that just get … complicated. An arc can be that threat but slowly realized and only looking back seeing that earlier films gave the hints. ---
**Author:** ![DigitalC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ebca7d/32.png) [@DigitalC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DigitalC)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2026, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gunn-is-done-is-dccu-2-through/1034753/46 "2026-11-11T13:49:48Z")
> [@Great\_Antibob](#): > > They want the big team-up movies and guaranteed profits ASAP, despite having failed spectacularly at that continuously for nearly the last decade. But they haven’t. Both the snyderverse and this new reboot have continued to do well in theaters, for the most part. They haven’t come close to the MCU, but almost none of them have actually bombed. ---
**Author:** ![Great\_Antibob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47c2d/32.png) [@Great\_Antibob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Great_Antibob)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2026, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gunn-is-done-is-dccu-2-through/1034753/47 "2026-11-11T14:17:11Z")
That was slightly tongue in cheek but that’s the point - a profitable set of movies would be enough for many people. But the bar for major studio releases these days is something within striking distance of a billion dollars and for the major ones, well in excess of a billion. The Justice League movie cleared nearly $700 million worldwide but also had tremendous costs. It probably made a small (by modern standards) profit. And was still considered a massive failure by the studio. And that’s the bar the new studio heads appear to have set - massive, massive profits on 2 or 3 tentpole movies every year. They don’t want a new Justice League movie in 5 years. They want it out in the next 2 or 3 and for it to easily clear 10 figures in worldwide revenue. Otherwise, it’s a disappointing failure. But also, > [@DigitalC](#): > > They haven’t come close to the MCU, but almost none of them have actually bombed. Black Adam, Blue Beetle, the Shazam sequel, and the Flash pretty much did. They did not come close to breaking even, especially the Flash movie. The Wonder Woman sequel bombed spectacularly. And the Aquaman sequel probably broke even but not much more than that. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2026, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gunn-is-done-is-dccu-2-through/1034753/48 "2026-11-11T14:44:55Z")
The big superhero movies have massive budgets of $100-200 million, with millions more in marketing costs. So it’s necessary for them to make hundreds of millions at the box office just to earn a profit. There are, or were, other sources of revenues that could contribute to a profit from the big movies, but there’s really no money in DVD sales although there may still be product placement money. Unlike Disney, Warner Bros doesn’t own theme parks so there’s not that revenue source. ---
**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2026, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gunn-is-done-is-dccu-2-through/1034753/49 "2026-11-11T14:57:03Z")
_The Boys_ season 5. Homelander, Superman expy, attempts to declare himself God after coopting US Government and (briefly) becoming ruler-by-dicta of the United States. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2026, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gunn-is-done-is-dccu-2-through/1034753/50 "2026-11-11T14:59:42Z")
You couldn’t just have _described_ the episode in question for the one or two people who might not be familiar with that show? You just _assumed_ we’d all be familiar with it? ---
**Author:** ![Smid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/838e76/32.png) [@Smid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smid)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2026, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gunn-is-done-is-dccu-2-through/1034753/51 "2026-11-11T15:17:07Z")
> [@DigitalC](#): > > But they haven’t. Both the snyderverse and this new reboot have continued to do well in theaters, for the most part. They haven’t come close to the MCU, but almost none of them have actually bombed. The problem is a different thing, they kind of killed the universe. People turned up in quantity to see them off the back of being DC and Batman and all that, and stopped going to them afterwards (Wonderwoman, Shazams, Aquamans, etc etc). Batman vs Superman was baaaad, how they managed to get people to go to see Justice League after that was incredible. ---
**Author:** ![DigitalC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ebca7d/32.png) [@DigitalC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DigitalC)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2026, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gunn-is-done-is-dccu-2-through/1034753/52 "2026-11-11T15:30:41Z")
> [@Great\_Antibob](#): > > Black Adam, Blue Beetle, the Shazam sequel, and the Flash pretty much did. They did not come close to breaking even, especially the Flash movie. And all of them came out after the “snyderverse” had already been cancelled and there was no reason for anyone to care. Man of Steel did like 670 million, Dawn of Justice 875m, Suicide Squad 750m, Wonder Woman 823m, Justice League 660m, Aquaman 1.15 billion. After that things went to hell, but they didn’t start off bad. Just not… MCU good. ---
**Author:** ![Great\_Antibob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47c2d/32.png) [@Great\_Antibob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Great_Antibob)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2026, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gunn-is-done-is-dccu-2-through/1034753/53 "2026-11-11T15:34:43Z")
That’s a different argument. The claim was the Snyderverse “continued” to do well. If that’s not what was meant, well, ok. But also Justice League making less than either of the previous Superman movies? That’s…not great. That box office take is low enough it may have actually lost a bit of money, after marketing costs are included. At best, it broke even or made a slight profit. That’s actually bad and worse than I thought. And puts the Snyder firing into better context, though Whedon was responsible for a good deal of it. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2026, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gunn-is-done-is-dccu-2-through/1034753/54 "2026-11-11T15:37:55Z")
I wonder why DC has struggled and Marvel has thrived. Marvel hit the jackpot by getting Robert Downey, Jr. for Iron Man. He made the character very distinct and memorable and his first movie is really great. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2026, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gunn-is-done-is-dccu-2-through/1034753/55 "2026-11-11T15:40:55Z")
I think Kevin Feige gets a lot of credit for steering the Marvel Cinematic Universe since before Iron Man was released. Wikipedia says the combined gross of the whole series is over $32 billion, so I hope he’s well compensated for his role in that. I thought Warner hired James Gunn to serve the same role and don’t understand why that went wrong. [Gift link](https://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/25/business/media/marvel-with-a-fan-at-the-helm-steers-its-heroes-to-the-screen.html?unlocked_article_code=1.PlE.8tCF.vEcKIWKUJSAa&smid=url-share) to a New York Times article from 2011 about how Kevin Feige was a fan of the comic books first. That kind of knowledge and enthusiasm helps. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2026, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gunn-is-done-is-dccu-2-through/1034753/56 "2026-11-11T16:44:03Z")
I saw Gunn today or yesterday said things that make it sound like the current DCU will continue without him in charge. And Man of Tomorrow is coming out in summer; it’s not getting Batgirled. ---
**Author:** ![DigitalC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ebca7d/32.png) [@DigitalC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DigitalC)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2026, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gunn-is-done-is-dccu-2-through/1034753/57 "2026-11-11T17:00:44Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > I wonder why DC has struggled and Marvel has thrived. Lack of commitment and insistence on constant stand alone series while trying to also make a shared universe. Granted their standalone, mostly Batman, movies do quite well. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2026, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gunn-is-done-is-dccu-2-through/1034753/58 "2026-11-11T17:04:59Z")
My understanding is that the new guy (Jeremy Latcham) worked closely with Kevin Feige at Marvel for a while, so perhaps the idea is that he might bring some of that magic over. And James Gunn is still going to produce movies, so he’s not out entirely. ---
**Author:** ![Great\_Antibob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47c2d/32.png) [@Great\_Antibob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Great_Antibob)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2026, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gunn-is-done-is-dccu-2-through/1034753/59 "2026-11-11T17:08:39Z")
Hope springs eternal, I suppose. It’s not an uncommon belief, especially at the executive level, that success in any industry can be copied from others through some combination of proximity and osmosis ---
**Author:** ![Snarky\_Kong](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a183cd/32.png) [@Snarky\_Kong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snarky_Kong)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2026, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gunn-is-done-is-dccu-2-through/1034753/60 "2026-11-11T17:20:22Z")
Justice League’s break even point according to Wikipedia is 750m, it was a bomb. Break even is usually 2.5-3x budget. Man of Steel barely broke even. Considering that they could have invested that money elsewhere they probably are happy with 3 the performance of 3 out of the 15 DCEU films (WW, Aquaman, Suicide Squad). And that probably oversells things to because the movies were bad and that damaged the brand event though individually some of them made money. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2026, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gunn-is-done-is-dccu-2-through/1034753/61 "2026-11-11T17:29:02Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > And Man of Tomorrow is coming out in summer; it’s not getting Batgirled. [It might get Batgirled.](https://cosmicbook.news/man-of-tomorrow-may-not-hit-theaters-all-options) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gunn-is-done-is-dccu-2-through/1034753.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gunn-is-done-is-dccu-2-through/1034753.md?page=4)