James Gunn Appears To Walk Back Statements That ‘The Flash’ Resets The DC Universe
DC Studios CEO James Gunn appeared to walk back statements he made claiming that the upcoming The Flash movie would reset the DC Universe.
When announcing his new DCU slate and its first chapter titled Gods and Monsters, Gunn said the film would reset the entire DC Universe.
He said, “First, we have Shazam! Fury of the Gods. Shazam has always been off kind of in his own part of the DCU so he connects very well. That moves directly into The Flash, a fantastic movie that I really love, that resets the entire DCU universe.”
While Gunn was pretty clear that “The Flash resets the entire DCU universe,” he did tell The Hollywood Reporter that Zachary Levi, Ezra Miller, Jason Momoa and Xolo Maridueña might continue on in their roles as Shazam, Barry Allen, Aquaman, and Blue Beetle.
Gunn said, “There is nothing that prohibits that from happening.”
In an Instagram post trying to hype up the Creature Commandos animated series, a user questioned how much The Flash resets the DCEU.
The user asked, “James I’m seriously confused. How is Viola Davis still playing Amanda Waller? Aren’t you rebooting the DCEU 100%? That includes peacemaker, the whole suicide squad and the Snyder Verse. Like you said Robert Pattinson’s Batman & Joaquin Phoenix’s Joker is else-worlds story.”
Gunn replied, “Flash resets many things, not all things. Some characters remain the same some do not.”
This is clearly a different narrative than what Gunn provided in his actual announcement and breakdown of his DCU slate where he made it abundantly clear that “The Flash resets the entire DCU universe.”
On top of Gunn walking back his comments about The Flash resetting the DCU, he also addressed questions about Gal Gadot’s status in Gunn’s new DCU.
Gunn indicated that he did have a meeting with Gadot, but didn’t really provide any update on whether she will continue on as Wonder Woman or in some other role.
“Yes we met with her weeks ago,” he said.
He would provide another statement when one user asserted, “Looking forward to the new projects, but I am disappointed you guys let Henry and Gal go, but still have Ezra around. He’s a knucklehead while Henry and Gal have done it all right. Just makes no sense to me.”
Gunn responded, “We didn’t let Gal go. Ezra’s movie is already made. Henry doesn’t fit what I have for Superman.”
RELATED: James Gunn Claims He Didn’t Fire Henry Cavill From Superman, Says “Henry Was Never Cast”
Gunn’s comments about The Flash are the latest example of him speaking with a forked tongue. As an example, he recently claimed that he didn’t fire Henry Cavill and that Cavill was never cast.
“We didn’t fire Henry. Henry was never cast,” Gunn said. “For me, it’s about, Who do I want to cast as Superman, and who do the filmmakers we have want to cast? And for me, for this story, it isn’t Henry.”
Gunn continued, “I like Henry, I think he’s a great guy. I think he’s getting dicked around by a lot of people, including the former regime at this company. But this Superman is not Henry, for a number of reasons.”
However, Cavill was clearly cast as Superman. He played the character in Man of Steel, Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice, Justice League, Zack Snyder’s Justice League, and most recently in Black Adam.
To claim that Cavill wasn’t cast as Superman is a lie no matter how Gunn tries to explain it, which would most likely just be about his own Superman film, Superman: Legacy.
On top of this Gunn also claimed that his strategy for the DCU “is to take our diamond characters — which is Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman — and we use them to prop up other characters that people don’t know.”
However, his DCU slate includes numerous smaller and obscure properties that don’t appear to be using the diamond properties to launch them. This includes Creature Commandos, Waller, The Authority, Paradise Lost, Booster Gold, Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow, and Swamp Thing.
In fact, the slate only includes three diamond properties in Superman: Legacy, Lanterns, and The Brave and the Bold. However, there’s also a theory that Superman: Legacy won’t feature Clark Kent, but will instead feature gay Superman Jonathan Kent.
The Brave and the Bold also doesn’t appear to be an actual Batman film, but a Damian Wayne film.
What do you make of Gunn walking back his comments about The Flash almost immediately after announcing his DCU slate?