Peter James Mann
Let’s Get Ready to Rumble!
Gunn was approached by Warner Bros. to reboot one of their more famous misfires, The Suicide Squad. He took his Guardians of the Galaxy approach, but added in elements from his Troma Studios days, like the experiments with Starro, or the extremely bloody, red herring opening sequence of the film. Gunn, in many ways, treated it as though it was his final comic book film, and it shows. It came across like his version of The Wild Bunch, or The Guns of Navarone, and it felt more true to form for DC than most properties to date.
Another power move they made was signing Dwayne Johnson to become Black Adam, although they were unaware of how much they would have to bend for The Rock to be the cornerstone of their DC Cinematic Universe. Not only would they have to mess with the origins of Black Adam, they would also have to adapt him to be the rival of Superman, not Shazam. The two characters, for those who don’t know, are inextricably linked, since Black Adam was the 1st attempt at giving a mortal this insane power, and it failed miserably.
But Dwayne Johnson wasn’t just suiting up to be Black Adam. With his promotional campaign he started a year before the film came out, he was promising a changing of the hierarchy of power along with being a champion for what the fans want. He famously has admitted during promotions for Black Adam that it was him who insisted that they bring back Henry Cavil for Superman, doing what a plethora of fans (and agents) have failed to do since the fallout from Justice League.
Unfortunately for The Rock, Black Adam didn’t change the landscape of the comic book genre. There were several problems with the film structurally and thematically that both fans and critics were quick to point out. But Black Adam, commercially, was still a success. So, arguably, was The Suicide Squad, but it also had the added benefits of being way lower budget, truer to the source material, and had critical success as well, including with yours truly, who did an entire podcast episode on what it referenced.
Yes, Dwayne has the star power and allure for fans, but Gunn quite literally was in the room with Feige. James could have easily been in writing sessions with Feige, and knew how to get his own vision in as well. Where other filmmakers like Edgar Wright would be bumped out of their own films for “creative differences,” Gunn set the model for what others like Taika Waitiki would do at Disney to add their own flavor. And now, James Gunn is the Kevin Feige of DC. The Nikola Tesla to his former employer, Thomas Edison.
And for the first time, Warner Bros might have equal footing with Disney. As the MCU struggles to find its footing by combining streaming shows with feature films, Warner Bros. have canceled almost all of their properties for financial write-offs, but also to start a New 52, if you will, with new editors-in-chief. I was a fan of that when it happened in the comics and I can’t wait to see what they do with it here.
