James Gunn Wants DCU to Move Away From Good Guy vs. Bad Guy

On the official DC blog, DC Studios Co-CEO James Gunn spoke about he and fellow Co-CEO Peter Safran’s ambition to move DC away from the straightforward dynamic of good guys versus bad guys.

The director explained that the DC Universe has a vast number of characters who range from pure good to intense evil and everything between, which he wants to use to tell more complex stories.

“With our stories, we want to take it away from good guy vs. bad guy,” Gunn stated. “There are really good — almost saintly — people and Superman is among them. There are really terrible villains like Gorilla Grodd or the Joker. And then there’s everybody in between them, so there are all these shades of gray which allow us to tell complex stories.”

Given the upcoming slate includes projects like The Authority and Waller — both involving characters known for their gray morality — it seems Gunn is quite passionate about exploring the less clear-cut types of morality throughout DC’s expansive universe.

The DC Universe’s first phase, called Chapter One: Gods and Monsters, will feature a multitude of different movies and television shows. A few of the announced projects include a Batman and Robin-focused movie called The Brave and the Bold, a Supergirl movie titled Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow, a Swamp Thing film, and multiple TV shows.