DC Studios Announced A ‘V For Vendetta’ Series And Other Projects, But Will They Even Be Made If Warner Bros. Is Sold?
In lieu of the failed push for the initial Gods and Monsters slate, James Gunn has pivoted to his Superman Saga. Ever since he rushed Man of Tomorrow into development, he has announced a new project in that film’s universe starring Jimmy Olsen, as well as one other that had to be throwing everybody for a loop. That project is a new adaptation of V for Vendetta.
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This reinterpretation will reportedly be a miniseries, probably for HBO Max, if all goes according to the tentative plan. As we’re barely 20 years removed from the 2006 film produced by the Wachowskis, some fear Gunn will use the canvas of this proposed series to smear with his politics, just as he did in Peacemaker. Gunn might deny it, but everything suggests he is woke, and so is his filmography.
This impression is not helped by recent comments by Hasan Piker, who said Gunn is far woker than he appears. “James Gunn is a lot more woke than he lets on. And he lets on how woke he is all the time,” Piker said in Variety. The left-wing streamer added that the Boravian leader in Superman is clearly a caricature of historic Israeli leader David Ben-Gurion, and that Luthor is an imperialist defense contractor.
V is a fecund territory for Gunn to push a more transparent agenda than in Superman’s plot, with its antifascist and anarchistic themes. The problem is that the messaging will likely be more on the nose than the film version or the graphic novel. You can see the night-and-day difference between the Watchmen comics and films, and the HBO miniseries. Whether you liked the effort by Damon Lindelof or not, it had all the subtlety of a ball peen hammer.
There is cause for concern, but worrying might be premature with other breaking news on the horizon. Warner Bros. is up for sale again and seemingly lurches ever closer to a buyer. So far, Comcast, Netflix, and, at the forefront, Paramount are in the running to bid. However, a dark horse is emerging in the race, and it’s one few have considered until now: the ruling family of Saudi Arabia.
Cosmic Book News reported, as an exclusive, that the Saudis are “a signature away” from acquiring the ailing WB. Moreover, they have allegedly had discussions with Zack Snyder about returning, bringing back the DCEU, and finishing his Justice League arc. This is put forth as the reason Snyder is so boldly and confidently sharing photos of Henry Cavill and Ben Affleck, saying they are Superman and Batman.
The source for the Saudi intel was a self-identified producer named Patrick Caligiuri who uploaded an Instagram video explaining what he’s heard from inside sources (see the video above). If the Saudis take over, it could mean ‘goodbye, Mr. Gunn, good luck in your future endeavors’. That could, in turn, mean his V for Vendetta gets canceled mid-development with nothing to show for it, along with the rest of the moribund Gods and Monsters slate.
In all fairness, that outcome hinges on a sale being imminent and the buyer, Saudis or not, being unwilling to work with Gunn. He could be sent home to sit out the remainder of his contract, which comes up next year or after. Or they could let him finish his projects to his liking or under certain conditions and then terminate him.
It’s also possible that they keep Gunn on to unite him with Snyder, like The Wonder Twins, to flex as much creative muscle for DC as they can. A follow-up report by Cosmic says, according to an insider, Snyder and the Snyderverse could be brought back “without rocking the boat.” Both the Snyderverse and DCU could coexist with Gunn collaborating despite the Saudi and Paramount associations with President Donald Trump.
That might end in a Marvel-style event that consolidates everything, but that wouldn’t put an end to Gunn’s involvement, per se. Neither are we guaranteed an early end to the V miniseries idea. Some will be more responsible than others for that fiasco, but will they be held accountable?
