What To Make Of Henry Cavill’s Superman Departure And James Gunn’s Superman Movie Announcement
In some heartbreaking DC movies news, Henry Cavill announced he won’t be returning as Superman after all. The news was paired with a series of tweets from James Gunn that confirmed Gunn is currently developing a new Superman movie based on a screenplay he is writing and that will focus on the character at an earlier part in the character's life.
In this video, CinemaBlend’s Sean O’Connell and Hannah Saulic work through all their thoughts about the news. They discuss everything from the embarrassing mistreatment of Henry Cavill and the handling of his “return” since his cameo in “Black Adam,” break down James Gunn’s official statements, theorize about the future of the trinity (Batman, Wonder Woman and Superman) and explain why they’re ultimately optimistic about James Gunn and Peter Safran’s DC Universe plan.
In this video, CinemaBlend’s Sean O’Connell and Hannah Saulic work through all their thoughts about the news. They discuss everything from the embarrassing mistreatment of Henry Cavill and the handling of his “return” since his cameo in “Black Adam,” break down James Gunn’s official statements, theorize about the future of the trinity (Batman, Wonder Woman and Superman) and explain why they’re ultimately optimistic about James Gunn and Peter Safran’s DC Universe plan.
Transcript
00:00 I gotta find a job.
00:07 Hey everybody, it's Hannah Sollock, the head of video at CinemaBlend, here with Sean O'Connell,
00:15 our managing editor, and we had to hop on first thing this morning because yesterday
00:20 news broke that Henry Cavill's Superman is officially not returning in whatever James
00:25 Gunn's new DCU plan is, which is, I mean, for me, mixed feelings.
00:32 Sean, what was your initial reaction?
00:41 I want to say shock, but it wasn't shock necessarily, because with the DC universe, and especially
00:47 with this changing of the guard and James Gunn coming in, I legitimately feel like anything
00:52 is and was possible, but there are so many factors we're going to get into over the course
00:57 of this video, Hannah, as to why this was so surprising, because it just was mishandled.
01:03 So much of it was mishandled, and we'll get into all the different reasons why, I think
01:09 as we go through and discuss what happened and what's going to happen moving forward.
01:12 We have a plan, General.
01:14 A singularity can be created.
01:16 So if we open up this doorway, then theoretically they should be pulled back in.
01:20 So you want us to bomb them with that?
01:22 Not something I asked for!
01:26 Just to kind of set the scene, Sean and I were talking earlier about how there's a lot
01:29 of blame that's being placed on James Gunn and this new plan with Peter Safran, but really
01:35 when you break it down, all of this sort of confusion and, like you were saying, mistreatment,
01:42 is not being done by them.
01:46 So we are going to get into that.
01:48 All right.
01:49 Okay.
01:50 I'm going to just read Henry's statement real quick in case people forgot what it says,
01:54 but he said, "I have just had a meeting with James Gunn and Peter Safran and it's sad news,
01:59 everyone.
02:00 I will, after all, not be returning as Superman after being told by the studio to announce
02:04 my return back in October prior to their hire.
02:07 This news isn't the easiest, but that's life.
02:09 The changing of the guard is something that happens.
02:11 I respect that.
02:12 James and Peter have a universe to build.
02:14 I wish them and all involved in the new universe the best of luck and the happiest of fortunes.
02:19 For those who have been by my side through the years, we can mourn for a bit, but then
02:22 we must remember Superman is still around.
02:25 Everything he stands for exists and the examples he sets for us are still there.
02:29 My turn to wear the cape has passed."
02:31 Oh, sad.
02:32 That's just, like the past just got me.
02:37 "But what Superman stands for never will.
02:40 It's been a fun ride with you all, onwards and upwards."
02:45 Just a class act.
02:47 So classy.
02:48 That's the classiest statement that anyone could put forward.
02:51 He's a classy dude.
02:52 Real classy.
02:53 What I want to emphasize so much off the top of the bat is that, you know, there's all
02:57 this conversation about actors and characters and all this jazz, but like, this is a human
03:02 being, you know?
03:03 Like, we can overlook very quickly that Henry Cavill is a dude who loves Superman.
03:09 Like he legitimately loves the character and has been on this emotional rollercoaster over
03:15 the past few months, which I think could have easily been avoided if people were just a
03:20 little more transparent with either him or with the decisions that were being made.
03:26 And in that instance, Hannah, I don't personally blame Gunn because I think a lot of these
03:30 decisions were made before he and Peter Safran came on board.
03:35 And a lot of it dates back to the old regime.
03:37 And a lot of this falls on The Rock, who, you know, used Henry as a cornerstone of the
03:43 campaign for Black Adam.
03:45 And maybe, you know, I'm not sure, I'm not sure who fed the misperceptions to Henry that
03:53 he was going to be coming back officially.
03:54 Right?
03:55 And there were a lot of people talking like when that happened of like, are you actually
03:58 signed?
03:59 Like, what's the deal?
04:00 Do you have a contract?
04:02 I think we did.
04:03 And, and I foolishly believed that if they were allowing this man to go forward and make
04:09 Instagram videos and say, I'm back, that they legitimately had like plans in place for him
04:14 to, to come back.
04:16 And my heart just breaks for him as I know, being a fan of the character and how much
04:21 he is in tune with the fan base and how much he loves being Superman and representing Superman.
04:28 Well, he's so good at it.
04:29 Like, even if people, like even people who aren't Snyder movie fans love Henry Cavill
04:33 as Superman.
04:34 It must be frustrating as a person to just know like, Hey, people really love me in this
04:39 role.
04:40 I really want to play this role.
04:42 And then for it to just be like, you're going to, after like years of like, will he, won't
04:46 he, it finally seemed like he will, here's the thing.
04:49 And then it was like, Oh, just kidding.
04:51 And to me, it's almost like somebody at Warner's, I assume.
04:55 And again, I don't know, maybe they didn't.
04:57 I mean, I don't know.
04:58 Warner's is a mess, but like somebody had to have known like, Hey, he just put this
05:03 video out, like, I think it was like a week or two weeks later, James Gunn and Peter Safran
05:08 were announced as like the new heads of DC studios.
05:10 Somebody had to have known that that shift was happening and should have just out of
05:15 sheer respect for Henry Cavill been like, Hey, I don't think you should do this yet
05:20 because we need to check with these new people.
05:23 Like I just think there's something got lost there.
05:25 And yeah, I mean, we don't know who officially gave him that go ahead, but it's just, it
05:30 again points to me how mismanaged DC has been at Warner Brothers for so long.
05:36 And something that excites me about like the sort of like bittersweet part of this is that
05:41 with James Gunn making this decision and being really transparent about plans, it makes me
05:47 kind of feel like, okay, I know we're all exhausted from just constantly being like,
05:51 this is happening now, this is happening.
05:53 And then nothing happens.
05:54 And it's like, I finally feel like that period is coming to an end, hopefully.
05:59 And it really sucks that it's not with Henry.
06:01 I wish it were, but also, you know, from a logical business perspective and thinking
06:06 about story and how you build a new universe, like it just, it's, we've talked about this
06:12 before.
06:13 It's just, it's, it's so much baggage.
06:14 You can't.
06:15 No matter how much we wanted to, no matter how much we loved you.
06:19 What made this more difficult is that, you know, fans can get wrapped up in speculation
06:23 and you can project what you think is going to happen or what you really want to happen.
06:29 But when the actual actor comes out and says.
06:32 I am back as Superman and the image you see on this post and what you saw in Black Adam,
06:39 they're just a very small taste of things to come.
06:42 Thank you for your support and thank you for your patience.
06:46 I promise it will be rewarded.
06:49 That's ridiculous.
06:50 I mean, that's goes to the mismanagement that we've been talking about and how this man
06:56 got mistreated.
06:57 And that again, breaks my heart.
06:59 I got to leave it at just the fact that it breaks my heart because it will forever be
07:02 a what if I can promise you that.
07:06 Oh, in like 10 years, two people are going to be doing all kinds of retrospective looks
07:10 back at like how DC totally messed up Henry Cavill.
07:14 Like, but they've been like somebody posts, I think it was on our YouTube.
07:17 I posted a graphic just like when the news broke last night and someone was like, DC
07:20 has been doing this since like Keaton's Batman with Tim Burton.
07:24 Like, they just have never had respect for the actors or filmmakers that are handling
07:29 DC proper.
07:31 And like, hopefully that changes.
07:36 It also blows my mind that in 40 years, are we talking?
07:42 We've had at most, arguably three great Superman movies.
07:48 How can that be the case?
07:51 There's four Thor movies.
07:53 We can't get Superman right.
07:56 Right?
07:57 I don't understand this at all.
07:59 How is he that hard of a character to figure out?
08:01 Like I'm including the first Superman and Superman 2, and then I'm including Man of
08:06 Steel and everything else from that point on either isn't a traditional Superman movie
08:12 or was, you know, the botched Superman Returns or the weaker Christopher Reeve Superman movies.
08:18 Like, what is going on with this character?
08:20 Not a goddamn thing.
08:21 Which then leads me to the little bit of optimism, which is, okay, so James Gunn is at least
08:29 stating that Superman is important to him in this new universe going forward.
08:32 And I think you and I are both of the same mindset that this is a new universe, right?
08:36 I don't think they're interested in sharing this world.
08:39 And again, I love how transparent James is being on social media.
08:42 This is terrific.
08:43 Thank you.
08:44 What was it?
08:45 It was like, oh, James Gunn doesn't like Henry Cavill.
08:49 James Gunn responded with that comment about like, sorry, you got kicked out of your mom's
08:53 basement.
08:54 So glad you're plugged in.
08:55 Which was terrific.
08:58 Because again, hold on, let's touch on that just for a quick second, because that thing
09:01 blew out of proportion, right?
09:02 Like that guy made, he's making videos based on James Gunn's response.
09:07 Gunn's response initially was just like, hey man, that's a false rumor.
09:11 But then the guy doubled down.
09:12 It's like, I don't know.
09:13 I've heard from plenty of people who tell me that you're wrong.
09:17 And that's when Gunn came back and he was like, all right, man, like stop.
09:21 Just stop.
09:22 The worst types of people in this situation are the people that you're like, oh, I think
09:27 this.
09:28 And they're like, no, I don't think you do.
09:29 And you're like, oh, I'm so sorry.
09:33 Or worse.
09:34 I don't know.
09:35 Other people have told me that you really think this.
09:37 Oh, they have?
09:39 Great.
09:40 Wow.
09:41 So after Cavill posted on Instagram, James posted on Twitter and he said, Peter and I
09:46 have a DC slate ready to go, which we couldn't be more over the moon about.
09:50 We'll be able to share some exciting information about our first projects and beginning of
09:53 the new year.
09:54 Among those on the slate is Superman and the initial stages.
09:57 Our story will be focusing on an earlier part of Superman's life.
10:00 So the character will not be played by Henry Cavill.
10:03 But we just had a great meeting with Henry and we're big fans.
10:06 And we talked about a number of exciting possibilities to work together in the future.
10:11 OK, immediate question.
10:12 Do you think that the whole possibilities to work together in the future thing is real
10:17 or do you think that that's just like, you know, good?
10:22 That feels that feels unrealistic to me.
10:25 Like I don't see how you would.
10:27 Although we have had conversations about Momoa going over and playing someone other than
10:31 Aquaman like if he were to play Lobo.
10:33 But like character confusion is an honest thing.
10:35 You know, like I wouldn't want to see Henry Cavill playing someone else in the DC universe.
10:41 If he was not able to play.
10:42 But if they're going to do younger Superman.
10:45 Yeah.
10:46 Which like, what do you think they mean by younger?
10:48 If it's because it's not an origin story.
10:50 Right.
10:51 So what I kind of envision and I could be way off is what Matt Reeves did with Robert
10:56 Pattinson, which is you start a Batman movie in like year two.
10:59 Right.
11:00 Like he's already Batman.
11:01 Yeah, yeah, yeah.
11:03 He's figuring out what to do and that you could a little bit do that with Superman in
11:07 that sense and that you don't have to do the whole Kansas bit.
11:10 He said he's going to be Clark Kent already, you know, at the Daily Planet.
11:14 And so why not?
11:15 You know, I mean, as long as you still have an interesting story and potentially.
11:18 Oh, we won't get any more Amy Adams as Lois Lane.
11:21 No, we're going to get a whole new Lois Lane.
11:25 And you know what?
11:26 You know what?
11:27 What cleans all this up, Hannah?
11:28 Is a good movie.
11:29 Like if it's good, then we all say, all right, we still feel bad for Henry and I'm sorry
11:34 he never got another shot at it.
11:36 Because, OK, so I saw Drew McQueen, who's a film critic, classic film critic, great
11:42 insight all the time.
11:44 He made this comparison.
11:45 He says Henry Cavill is essentially Pierce Brosnan as James Bond.
11:49 He finally got his shot.
11:51 He had a really great movie to start off with, and then they never figured out how to use
11:54 him properly again.
11:55 Right.
11:56 So at the time, if everybody was like, well, James Bond is done, you know, Pierce Brosnan
12:01 couldn't do it.
12:02 And then they came out with Casino Royale.
12:04 And they introduced Daniel Craig.
12:07 And all of us were like, oh, holy shit, that's how you do James Bond.
12:11 Like, could that happen?
12:12 Could we get a Superman?
12:13 I truly think we're going to look back in like five years and be like, wow, LOL, remember
12:17 how much of a shit show this used to be?
12:20 Look at it now.
12:21 Like, yeah, right.
12:22 Yeah.
12:23 So trying to think of everything half full.
12:27 And another interesting piece of this is they met with Ben Affleck, who's hopefully going
12:32 to direct something, which should be exciting for Snyder fans.
12:36 You know, like the Batman project that we never got to see from him, maybe we'll get
12:40 to see something even better.
12:41 Like he's a great director.
12:43 He really cares about DC.
12:45 And I think like the fact that Ben Affleck even met with them shows Ben Affleck's own
12:49 faith in what James Gunn and Peter Safran are going to do.
12:52 Because he's been jerked around so many times by that studio, too.
12:55 Like the fact that he would even go into talks was kind of surprising to me.
13:01 I would hand Ben Affleck a blank check and just said, go make whatever movie you want
13:08 to make.
13:09 And what if Affleck still gets to make that Batman versus Deathstroke movie, but it's
13:14 just not, it's not him in the Batsuit, right?
13:18 We always talked about the fact of how they kind of painted themselves into the corner
13:21 with the older Batman.
13:23 And maybe it was going to get to the point where you were going to get a Batman Beyond
13:26 type movie where he mentors a younger.
13:29 Wasn't that confirmed that his Batman script had a younger Batgirl in it that he was kind
13:35 of like with?
13:36 Oh, I'm not sure.
13:37 I feel like that was a thing.
13:38 I'm sure I'll get yelled at.
13:39 Because I would still love to see him direct it.
13:43 Yeah.
13:44 Well, that's what we do in these videos.
13:46 I would love to see him come back and direct.
13:48 And I don't know if he has a project on the horizon coming up.
13:52 Like I'm not sure if he's directed anything since Live by Night.
13:54 Has he?
13:55 Isn't he directing that new one about Air Jordans?
13:58 Yes.
13:59 I mean, Patty Jenkins learning that she's essentially not able to move forward her vision
14:03 of Wonder Woman.
14:05 Henry Cavill finding out that he's not coming back as Superman.
14:08 Ben Affleck being approached to potentially direct future DC projects.
14:13 And that rumor that Gunn then shot down of that Matt Reeves's universe may somehow play
14:18 into what they're planning to do overall.
14:21 It almost makes me feel that each of these core characters, especially the Trinity, what
14:26 I'm thinking is that.
14:28 Okay, so let's say we have a Batman who exists in the Matt Reeves universe who is in his
14:33 year two, year three kind of phase.
14:35 Right?
14:36 Now Gunn says he's announcing he's writing a Superman project where we get a younger
14:40 Superman but it's not the origin story.
14:44 So maybe he's in year two, year three of his career phase type thing.
14:50 And then Patty's story, which she said wanted to sort of double down on the Wonder Woman
14:54 1984 aspects of it all, isn't moving forward because it doesn't jive with what Gunn and
14:59 Peter Safran are trying to do.
15:01 What if they're envisioning a Wonder Woman project where she is also in her two to three
15:06 year phase?
15:07 Like you line the timelines up, right?
15:10 You figure out a way that like we're going to create this universe where they're not
15:13 all connected, but they exist in a timeframe where they each have the potential to connect
15:20 or crisscross and you don't force the marriage of all of them coming together.
15:24 You just start to establish a universe where they're all kind of on a level playing field
15:28 in terms of like timelines, essentially.
15:31 Alternate timelines.
15:32 I also think we had maybe speculated or theorized that potentially because James Gunn has this
15:38 tendency to sort of pick, at least with Marvel, sort of these like off the beaten path characters
15:43 and I guess the Suicide Squad too, that maybe his DC universe wasn't immediately going to
15:47 focus on the Trinity.
15:48 But this also signals to me like, no, they're following Zaslav's thing of like, they want
15:53 the three of them to be like tent pole, like the center of everything, which makes me wonder
15:59 if we're going to get, like if that means Battinson or if that means two Batman or what
16:07 that means.
16:08 And I don't think that that's going to be like an immediate thing.
16:11 I wonder if they'll kind of start with Superman, do a few side characters, then work up to,
16:16 because like there could be a world too, this is a theory, where like Matt Reeves does a
16:21 trilogy of Batman movies in its own separate universe.
16:24 That's over, done.
16:26 And then it's like, then Batman comes into whatever James Gunn is doing.
16:31 Could be.
16:32 But you know what?
16:33 I'm confident that James Gunn has the answer to that right now.
16:36 I'm just theorizing, Sean.
16:39 Yeah, yeah, yeah.
16:41 But when's the last time that we were able to say that, hey, I feel pretty confident
16:45 that somebody over at DC knows the answer to that.
16:48 Never.
16:49 Not since we've started doing videos.
16:52 Right, exactly.
16:53 In a long time if ever.
16:54 I feel like we used to end every video with like, but who knows?
16:58 But this is the glass half full.
17:00 Like, yes, there's some tough decisions that have to be made and we're starting to see
17:04 the ramifications of these, but it feels like these are the steps moving forward towards
17:10 a plan and it's just a matter of, are we on board with the plan or not?
17:14 And currently I'm on board with it.
17:17 I think I'm on board with it.
17:18 I hate it for Henry.
17:19 I love Henry.
17:20 I hate it for Henry.
17:21 I think Henry would-
17:22 My heart is broken for Henry.
17:25 I hate it.
17:26 And I cannot admire anymore his statement.
17:31 Oh, yeah.
17:33 And I mean, maybe this is opening up better things for him.
17:36 You know, you mentioned, like, does this mean Bond is on the table for him potentially?
17:41 Even though they wanted a younger Bond, we don't know.
17:43 It sucks too with the Witcher stuff.
17:44 I know that that was potentially about, you know, things to do with source material and
17:48 the actual scripts.
17:49 But yeah, but to your point, he was, I think he said it best in saying that, like, you
17:55 know, the whole message of like, let's mourn for now, but then we got to move on and like,
18:00 come back to the living.
18:03 So let's just get into this real quick.
18:04 Do you think he's going to go over to Marvel?
18:08 Like do you think he's going to pull a James Gunn?
18:10 Where like, remember like when Disney let James Gunn go and then DC scooped him up?
18:13 Like, do you think Marvel is about to be like?
18:16 I 100% think he's going to be.
18:20 This is gonna hurt.
18:21 He would be, I mean, he'd be, I will literally like we were discussing for this video, like
18:26 I'm in on whatever Henry Cavill is choosing to do, right?
18:29 Like I'm in.
18:31 I think he'd be strange for Reed Richards, but I'd go with it.
18:33 Who would you see him as?
18:34 Like if Marvel were to say, like, come here.
18:38 It's so lazy to say like Captain Britain, you know, and I don't even really know where
18:42 they fit Captain Britain in, but like Captain Britain is like Marvel's Superman to a certain
18:47 extent.
18:48 They won't necessarily make the same mistakes we did.
18:50 People were commenting that when he showed up at the Avatar world premiere, looking super
18:55 dapper in a blue suit.
18:57 He always looks dapper.
18:58 They were like, no, I know.
19:00 I understand that.
19:01 But they were like, this is a very strategic play on his part.
19:04 Like he's showing up here to prove something to, and I don't, and that's what led me down
19:11 the Bond trail.
19:14 But maybe he's showing up at a Disney premiere because he's about to join Marvel.
19:16 Maybe he's advertising.
19:17 I don't know.
19:18 He's like, hey, I'm available.
19:19 I'm here to help.
19:20 The hand of the question it raises is what are we doing about the Flash and Aquaman 2
19:24 and Shazam 2?
19:25 Like, are they just in?
19:26 How are we supposed to care about going to go see those movies when it's basically been
19:29 at, like, do you think that Zaslav was just like, hey, we know these are going to be a
19:34 wash.
19:35 Like they, it is what it is.
19:36 We're going to take the loss and it's not worth like you guys not announcing your plan
19:40 and like gaining momentum.
19:42 Cause like at this point, like a lot of people are like, why even go see these movies?
19:46 Nobody cares anymore, Kelex.
19:47 The world is about to come to an end.
19:49 I'm marginally interested still in the Flash because I've always wanted Flash to have his
19:54 own movie, you know?
19:55 And I do, I'm very excited about seeing Michael Keaton back as Batman.
20:00 I don't know enough about what the Aquaman story is, you know?
20:05 I love James Wan and I kind of want to see what they're doing in that universe.
20:10 But you're right.
20:11 I'm not compelled to go see that.
20:12 Because like, I doubt that Aquaman 2 was written or like conceived to be an end point on something.
20:17 And if that's ultimately what's happening, it's like, well, I don't know.
20:21 Like it just, it would be like going to go see Black Adam.
20:23 Like when we saw Black Adam and I know that a lot of people did not agree with us there,
20:27 at least on our video, we were like, what is like a lot of the implications of this
20:31 story in this world?
20:33 It's just like, what is, where did this stuff come from?
20:35 What are the, like, it just didn't resonate.
20:38 It was just hard to like invest in when this, because the movie itself wasn't good, you
20:44 know?
20:45 Like if the movie itself just as a story was good, it's like, you don't really care about
20:48 a lot of that stuff.
20:49 So, I mean, yeah, I guess to a point you made earlier, if the movies are good, that's all
20:54 that matters.
20:55 But then you forgive a lot of the sins, but, and that's exactly why I think that they pivoted
21:00 the talking points on the publicity tour to, hey, we're building towards something.
21:06 Hey, we're going to get Superman involved here because.
21:08 Hey, the hierarchy of power is changing.
21:11 He wasn't wrong.
21:12 It definitely changed.
21:15 Just not the way he anticipated in the least bit whatsoever.
21:19 Man, I, listen, Rock is extremely savvy and generally knows how to handle publicity, but
21:27 this one fell on, fell back on him.
21:30 You know, he's got egg on his face for the way that this played out.
21:32 And you'd think somebody at Warner's would be like, hey, shh, don't do that.
21:36 But there, maybe it's just because there wasn't really anyone in place to sort of take on
21:41 that role that everybody was just kind of like, well, I guess he's going to say that.
21:44 I like, does, what could have hurt?
21:46 And also like behind the scenes, it like, are you going to bet against the Rock?
21:50 Like, I guess in that instance, I guess you could say like, it might work.
21:54 His fans could show up and then they didn't necessarily.
21:57 And then they were like, damn, that really backfired.
22:00 So I don't know.
22:03 Where are we going moving forward?
22:04 I don't know.
22:06 I kind of view this as like, I know that it's really sad.
22:11 And I think a lot of people are going to maybe initially be really resistant to whatever
22:17 James Gunn's new, like when that casting news breaks that poor actor.
22:23 But I do think that this is almost like ripping a bandaid off, you know?
22:28 And it's like, right, as a just a DC fan, it's like, I don't know.
22:33 It doesn't serve me to be sad about it because it's like nothing we're going to do is going
22:37 to get Henry back right now.
22:39 And, you know, hopefully in the future, we'll look back and be like, you know what?
22:42 That sucked in the moment.
22:43 But that was a really great decision for the overall story and the arc and where DC is
22:47 going and actually making it something that people want to see versus feel like they have
22:53 to see or like they're just going to get disappointed when they go see it.
22:57 And so, I don't know.
22:58 I mean, like I'm I'm optimistic, but I'm also sad.
23:02 Well, there's this Pavlovian response also, too, that whenever someone says like, we're
23:08 going to announce our full slate in the early part of next year, I get excited.
23:14 And I don't know if it's like Lucy holding the football and I'm just, you know, lining
23:18 up to go kick it again.
23:20 But like, you're right.
23:21 I want to be optimistic that this new leadership team, like we've been craving leadership at
23:27 the top of DC.
23:29 We now have it right.
23:31 We have to let them make decisions and make decisions.
23:34 And like, you don't bring James Gunn in to execute other people's visions.
23:38 You bring him in to say like, hey, what do we do?
23:42 Start from scratch.
23:43 And I have yet to see a James Gunn movie that I didn't vibe with.
23:47 So personally, like, I'm not really that worried.
23:49 He's a great screenwriter.
23:50 He's not directing it.
23:51 They haven't announced who would be directing it.
23:54 He's just said that he's writing it at this point.
23:56 And so, I mean, I trust him, which I know is...
24:01 And in a way, I almost don't want him to direct it.
24:03 In a way, I'd like to see some other voices come through.
24:06 Like, yes, let him write the script.
24:08 Let him kind of fit it into whatever the bigger picture that they have.
24:12 But let's maybe turn the reins over.
24:13 And again, I don't care.
24:14 If he ends up directing it, that'd be fantastic as well, too.
24:17 But I would love to see some other fresh voices come in and bring a different style to Superman.
24:20 And then allow James to also, in addition to working on this script, maybe continue
24:26 to focus on the big picture type of things and the other decisions that have to be made.
24:29 You're the leader.
24:30 You're supposed to be decisive.
24:32 I do.
24:33 We said this.
24:34 I think I said this before the video.
24:35 James Gunn has been telling us since day one when he took over this job that he was writing
24:40 a Superman movie.
24:42 And I don't know.
24:43 I'm sure there's some people out there who, like, immediately had that theory once he
24:46 first tweeted that thing at the typewriter.
24:48 But I just I love that.
24:52 So true.
24:53 To an earlier point you made just goes to show how transparent he is.
24:56 I think it's going to be really fun over the years to kind of like I mean, again, I love
25:00 a fan theory and I go down rabbit holes, not because I like and I'm not one of those people
25:04 that gets mad when they're wrong.
25:06 I just genuinely think it's fun.
25:08 And I think it's going to be really fun to sort of like the more he starts to kind of
25:11 show us there's going to be so many dots to connect.
25:14 And I bet he's going to be very strategic about things.
25:17 And we're going to look back and be like, oh, my God, he already told us that.
25:21 So I'm excited.
25:22 Well, then let's look at the other the other banner that he's been sharing constantly.
25:26 You might want to grab the graphic novel Kingdom Come because he's been sharing photos from
25:29 that often.
25:30 Do you think and everyone's like, let's settle down.
25:33 Maybe he's just showing a photo, but he's not just showing.
25:36 I don't think James Gunn is ever just doing something.
25:39 I think he's very he's a very smart person.
25:42 I think he's very intentional about what he enjoys.
25:47 He enjoys playing the game.
25:48 And he's so good at it.
25:49 He knows what he's doing.
25:50 The more we talk about it, the more excited I am, just because I'm hopeful for like, you
25:55 know, five years from now, we won't be in this place of like, well, this movie is coming
25:59 out.
26:00 What do we it's like we're actually going to hopefully be excited about these things.
26:04 And I hope that James Gunn can just sort of rebuild some trust within DC fan communities.
26:11 And I think that's going to be a long road, but I don't think it's impossible.
26:14 I think it's just going to take time, especially with this like bombshell heartbreaking Henry
26:19 is.
26:20 And everyone watching this is going to hate me for saying this, but like he did kind of
26:24 learn under Feige for the past few years, you know, like, well, I'm sorry.
26:29 Anybody who says like fight, like who is mad about that or like it says Feige is like,
26:34 what like he's a very good at his job.
26:36 Like don't you want that?
26:37 Like anybody who says Feige is not good at his job is just incompetent.
26:41 I'm sorry.
26:42 Well, and if you know, the, the thing was, oh, DC needs a Feige, you know, who's DC's
26:48 Feige going to be like, why not somebody who worked underneath him?
26:52 Like better than Feige.
26:53 Cause he's actually like a creative filmmaker who like, I mean that, I don't know if you're
26:59 going to level up.
27:00 I mean, I think we just did that.
27:01 Right.
27:02 Yeah.
27:03 Yeah.
27:04 It's very possible.
27:05 Very far.
27:06 We shall see.
27:07 I'm not going to ask my brothers to say any of this.
27:09 If they would like to pay me, I will take it.
27:11 Yeah.
27:12 I'm not making any money.
27:13 I've got Venmo.
27:14 I'm still seeing zeros over here, Angie.
27:16 Poor Hannah is sitting on the floor for God's sake.
27:19 She can't even get a chair.
27:22 Exactly.
27:23 All right.
27:24 Well, listen, there's a lot more news to come on this beat, obviously.
27:26 And we're thrilled that you guys are joining us for these new videos.
27:29 So we will continue to make them.
27:31 Henry, we love you.
27:32 We're really sorry for how this happened.
27:34 But onward and upward, as he said.
27:36 Hit subscribe, turn on your notifications and Hannah and I will be back with more DC
27:40 stuff very, very soon.