By Chris Snellgrove | Published 1 hour ago Ever since becoming the co-CEO of DC Studios, James Gunn has been taking a very hands-on approach to the DCU. He often discusses his process on Threads (his social media platform of choice), and he recently posted about the five different DC projects he is currently working on, only one of which (the Superman sequel Man of Tomorrow) that he is personally directing. At the risk of sounding like a fanboy, Gunn’s breezy posts led me to a simple conclusion: that his auteur approach will ultimately spell doom for the MCU, his biggest rival. No Average Day This all started when a fan took to Threads to ask a straightforward question: what does an average day look like for the co-CEO of DC Studios? An enthusiastic Gunn replied that “there is no average day” (which he considers “the fun of the job”), but he went on to describe what his days currently look like. He said he spends most of his time “prepping Man of Tomorrow, going over cuts of Supergirl and Lanterns, supporting The Batman 2 crew to make sure it goes smoothly,” and “waiting for 1st cut of Clayface.” Additionally, his responsibilities include casting, conducting meetings, marketing, and approving designs. Like many fans, though, I was mostly impressed by the fact that James Gunn was taking such a hands-on approach to the evolution of the DCU. If these future projects end up being as impressive as Superman and Peacemaker (both of which were passion projects for Gunn), then the DCU might be able to definitively drive the MCU into the ground. Kevin Feige’s Failure That’s partially due to Gunn’s successes, of course, but it’s also partially due to Kevin Feige’s failures. On paper, Feige is Gunn’s counterpart, and he is widely credited with transforming the MCU into one of the most successful franchises in the entire world. However, Marvel has missed a few steps in recent years, and the blunt truth is that Feige also deserves “credit” for the brand’s spate of high-profile failures. The Marvels , for example, was the biggest financial failure of the MCU. More recently, both Thunderbolts and The Fantastic Four : First Steps were box office disappointments that got absolutely pantsed by the financial success of James Gunn’s Superman. There are many possible reasons for this (including growing superhero fatigue among moviegoers), but all of Marvel’s biggest failures have one thing in common: Kevin Feige signed off on them. Something New, Something Old Despite this, Feige seems very reluctant to acknowledge why this juggernaut of a franchise is currently faltering. The closest he has come to acknowledging this is to the press earlier this year, when he stated that Marvel used the period after Endgame “to experiment” and “to evolve,” and that “we used it to expand—too much.” The implication here is that the MCU attempted to do too many new things and would have likely been better off sticking with what worked. That’s a wild claim because modern Marvel’s biggest problem is its failure to do anything truly new. Thunderbolts felt like a lower-budget version of The Avengers , Captain America: Brave New World felt like fanfiction for The Falcon and Winter Soldier, and The Fantastic Four: First Steps felt like a Guardians of the Galaxy movie stripped of characterization and humor. Comparatively, the DCU’s upcoming slate of films (which includes a superpowered tentpole film, a police procedural show, a horror-themed character study, and an alternate universe detective story) feels like it’s swinging for the creative fences, and the fandom couldn’t be more excited. Kevin Feige’s Marvel contract is up sometime after Avengers: Secret Wars releases, and James Gunn is proof that Disney should let Feige go. Gunn is providing the kinds of hands-on, auteur-like attention that a superhero cinematic universe deserves, and Feige, well… he’s just been leaving things on autopilot while his franchise flies wildly off course. Here’s hoping the competition’s success will convince him to pull up before everything Marvel has been building since 2008 crashes and burns. Related Topics: Source: https://www.giantfreakinrobot.com/ent/super/james-gunns-plan.html