Hollywood’s push for quantity is killing quality, and Marvel fell victim to it: James Gunn

James Gunn has pressed from the outset of his leadership at DC Studios that no superhero film under his oversight would move forward without having a finished script first. Speaking to Rolling Stone recently, Gunn explained that Hollywood's downfall isn't a lack of interest from audiences or the rise of home screens — it's the industry's rush to produce blockbusters without complete and polished stories.

"I do believe that the reason why the movie industry is dying is not because of people not wanting to see movies. It's not because of home screens getting so good. The number-one reason is that people are making movies without a finished screenplay," Gunn explained. 

He revealed that a DC project was recently shelved because the script simply hadn't come together. "Everybody wanted to make the movie. It was greenlit, ready to go. The screenplay wasn't ready. And I couldn't do a movie where the screenplay's not good."

He added, "And we've been really lucky so far, because 'Supergirl's' script was so good off the bat. And then 'Lanterns' came in, and the script was also very good. 'Clayface', same thing. So so good. So we have these scripts that we've been really lucky with or wise in our choices or whatever the combination is."

Gunn additionally stressed that, under his leadership, there's no corporate pressure from Warner Bros to release a certain number of films or shows each year. His experience at Marvel, where a huge push to produce content for Disney+ ended up hurting the overall universe, taught him the importance of focusing on quality over quantity. Disney's CEO, Bob Iger, has recognised this was a mistake. 

"That wasn't fair. It wasn't right. And it killed them," Gunn stated about Marvel. "We don't have the mandate [at DC] to have a certain amount of movies and TV shows every year. So we're going to put out everything that we think is of the highest quality. We're obviously going to do some good things and some not-so-good things, but hopefully, on average, everything will be as high-quality as possible. Nothing goes before there's a screenplay that I personally am happy with."

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Gunn's first film under his new era, "Superman", is slated to release next month and will kick off his revamped cinematic universe. So far, only "Supergirl", set for a 2026 release, has finished filming, but future plans include developing Batman's story in "The Brave and the Bold" and adding Wonder Woman into the fold.

"Batman is the greatest challenge we have at DC right now, personally," Gunn admitted to Rolling Stone. "And it's not — I'm not writing 'Batman', but I am working with the writer of 'Batman' and trying to get it right, because he's incredibly important to DC, as is Wonder Woman. So, outside of the stuff that I'm doing in the projects that are actively going, our two priorities are finishing our 'Wonder Woman' and our 'Batman' scripts."

He noted, "Every 'Batman' story has been told in some form. Half of DC's comic books over the past few decades feature Batman. He's the most popular, well-known superhero in the world. People love him, but when you see him all the time, it can become boring. So the challenge is figuring out how to make him fresh and fun again — how to bring something new to the character without losing what makes Batman, Batman."

Gunn added that developing a "Wonder Woman" story feels a bit more straightforward in comparison. "With 'Batman', we've gotten countless portrayals — nearly 30 years' worth. 'Wonder Woman', by contrast, has been less frequently depicted on the big screen, which makes it a bit more freeing for me creatively."