DC Studios' DCU Storytelling Approach Laid Out From The Start: Gunn
· BCPosted in: HBO, Max, Movies, TV | Tagged: dc studios, dcu, james gunn
DC Studios' DCU Storytelling Approach Laid Out From The Start: Gunn
James Gunn pushed back on the idea that DC Studios' approach to telling standalone and overarching DCU stories has changed since 2023.
Published Tue, 27 Oct 2026 19:19:10 -0500
by Ray Flook
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Article Summary
- James Gunn says DC Studios’ DCU plan hasn’t changed since 2023: standalone stories and larger arcs were always the goal.
- DC Studios is prioritizing story first, giving projects like Clayface and The Penguin room to thrive on their own terms.
- Gunn says the original DC Studios roadmap covered more than plot, including key heroes, rising characters, and creator freedom.
- The Superman Saga will connect parts of the DCU, but Gunn stresses each DC Studios project must still work as a complete story.
Over the weekend, we looked at what DC Studios co-CEO and filmmaker James Gunn had to say about storytelling and whether stories in a larger universe (like Marvel Studios' MCU or DC Studios' DCU) need to have hard connections. Gunn agreed with an individual who made the point that DC Studios' DCU is about telling stories first, and that this approach allows it to present a diverse range of approaches and perspectives. That means that sometimes – as we saw with The Penguin and Clayface – the villains get the spotlight. As Gunn sees it, DC Studios' approach is very similar to what other major franchises have done over the years. On Monday, Gunn returned to the topic in response to an individual who implied that it wasn't the initial approach pitched in January 2023, when "Chapter One: Gods and Monsters" was first rolled out.
"You can look at my quotes from January '23 when we started and I said we were going to do exactly what we're doing. I said some stories would be standalone like the Guardians movies were (which is what Clayface is) and some stories would have part of a larger narrative structure, which is what the Superman Saga is. All that said, each piece of the larger story should work on its own with or without having to see everything else," Gunn shared in the first of a series of three Threads posts, addressing a comment (since removed) that looked to call into how Gunn defined his and Peter Safran's vision for their DCU in early 2023.
"ALSO, some things get conflated here. The often cited '8 to 10 year roadmap' originally pitched wasn't only story points (although that was a part of it), but also the plan for DC as a whole, including focusing on diamond characters (Superman, Batman, WW) as well as smaller characters we could turn into diamonds (Krypto, John Stewart, Peacemaker), how we would foster filmmaker freedom & allow for multiple tones & ratings, the influences of Star Wars & George RR Martin, and so much more," Gunn continued, adding, "It's exciting seeing things START to come together and all that makes me even more excited for what we have in store for everyone in Man of Tomorrow."
"DCU is just an alternate universe; we can enter at any location or time and tell THAT story. I dislike the idea that individual stories aren't meaningful unless they lead to something else. People not understanding this is strange to me, because Star Wars has essentially been doing this for 50 years across movies, shows, games, and books, admittedly without the tonal variety. Now, this doesn't mean there isn't connectivity," Gunn previously posted. "The Superman Saga starts with 'Superman' and travels into 'Man of Tomorrow' and onward, and contains many characters we've introduced in other stories. But that doesn't mean those other stories only exist to set up what's happening there. I would love people to be seeing 'Clayface' because it's a great, fun horror movie unto itself, not because of where else Clayface will show up three movies from now.
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