DC studios co-CEO James Gunn has long engaged with fans on Twitter, both as director of movies such as Guardians of the Galaxy and in his new executive capacity at Warner Bros. Discovery. But some of his recent replies have taken a sharper tone since fans began reacting to the news that Patty Jenkins’ plan for Wonder Woman 3 was not moving forward and, more stridently, the revelation that Henry Cavill would not be returning as Superman.
“One of the things Peter & I were aware of when we took the job as heads of DC Studios was a certain minority of people online that could be, well, uproarious & unkind, to say the least,” Gunn wrote this afternoon on Twitter. “No one loves to be harassed or called names – but, to be frank, we’ve been through significantly worse. Disrespectful outcry will never, ever affect our actions.”
Many on Twitter questioned Gunn’s use of the word “minority,” claiming there is a major portion of the fan base that’s not onboard with the moves.
Gunn repeated that his decisions with DC co-CEO James Safran have been all about serving the story which, in the case of the next Superman movie, Gunn himself is writing.
“Our choices for the DCU are based upon what we believe is best for the story & best for the DC characters who have been around for nearly 85 years. Perhaps these choices are great, perhaps not, but they are made with sincere hearts & integrity & always with the story in mind.”
About two weeks ago, Gunn responded to the reaction to the WW3 news with: “We know we are not going to make every single person happy every step of the way, but we can promise everything we do is done in the service of the STORY & in the service of the DC CHARACTERS we know you cherish and we have cherished our whole lives.”
Today, Gunn also went down into the comments on his post and responded to specific assertions.
“Who knows if its (sic) true, but recasting all the main DCEU characters, but keeping some. Will be interesting how Peacemaker and SS characters/actors live on, but the others dont? (sic) Particularly when they have all intereacted (sic) together.”
Responded the DC boss: “I keep seeing posts with this untrue theory. We’re not recasting everyone except The Suicide Squad.”