Recently, DC Studios co-CEO and president James Gunn addressed why his take on major DC characters will not necessarily include their backstories. HisDC Universewill kick off its film side in July of 2025 withSuperman, starring David Corenswet, Rachel Brosnahan, and Nicholas Hoult.Despite introducing a new iteration of the Man of Tomorrow and his world, the film will not be a retelling of his origin.
User @shubhang.fearlesswrote to Gunn on Threads, seemingly expressing frustration, asking: “James, why are you overlooking origin stories? Those make us connect with the characters well at [an] emotional level.” In response, the DC Studios bossanswered:“I’m not telling Batman and Superman’s origin stories again because everyone knows them.” Gunn is, of course, correct. Batman’s origin has been done several times in big-budget films as has Superman’s. Moreover,both heroes had their origins chronicled in a television series, withGothamandSmallville, respectively.Audiences already know the characters, so it makes sense to jump straight into the action.
What James Gunn’s DCU Origin Story Comments Mean
Interestingly, the Marvel Cinematic Universe mostly took this approach with Spider-Man. Tom Holland’s Peter Parker was at the start of his career in heroism when he first showed up inCaptain America: Civil Warin 2016. Subsequently, the first and second installments in the MCUSpider-Manfilm series didn’t touch his origin. Even so,Holland’s take on the character is beloved by fans, proving that a backstory doesn’t have to be shown when the hero is iconicand well-known.
10 Things We Need To See In James Gunn’s Superman Movie Trailer
The upcoming trailer for James Gunn’s Superman has a lot to answer for, from performances to costumes to narrative choices that will inform the DCU.
Both Superman and Batman are at the same level of status as Spider-Man. As such, showing a young Clark Kent discovering his powers isn’t essential to a good Superman film.Gunn’sSupermanwill still feature a green version of the Man of Steel who is growing into his role as Metropolis' protector,even if we don’t see all that came before. If the character work in the DCU is well-written, it will not matter.
Our Take on James Gunn’s DCU Origin Story Comments
Of note, Gunn did not say that no heroes in the DCU will have their origin stories onscreen. As such, there is still room for characters to get their powers in DCU films and shows. For example,Aaron Pierre’s John Stewartis a younger Green Lantern inLanterns, so his history would make sense to show. At this stage, it would be difficult to gauge how the DCU will handle fledgling heroes. Regardless, fast-forwarding to the interesting parts of Batman and Superman’s stories is the right move for theDCU.
DC Universe
The DC Universe is one of the biggest comic book franchises and often competes with Marvel. DC Comics started as National Allied Publications, founded by Malcolm Wheeler-Nicholson in 1935. Since then, the franchise has exploded with thousands of comic books, movies, TV shows, and video games. 2013 marked the beginning of the most recent iteration of the superheroes, with Zack Snyder introducing Henry Cavill as Superman. After several movies with mixed reviews, DC underwent a soft reboot under the helm of James Gunn and Peter Safran.
