James Gunn Calls Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman the DCU’s ‘Diamond Characters,’ Says Krypto, John Stewart and Peacemaker Could ‘Turn Into Diamonds’

As DC Studios marks another release in its growing slate, co-studio head James Gunn has revealed a set of "diamond characters" for the new DCU. Gunn and co-studio head Peter Safran outlined their plans for the new DCU, which wiped the slate clean of Warner Bros.' previous DCEU, in an ambitious presentation for DCU Chapter 1: Gods and Monsters. Now six releases into the new DCU, Gunn has shed more light on how they're approaching the release slate and which characters are priorities.

via: Variety

James Gunn has once again taken to Threads in defense of his DC universe, and this time, is clarifying his previously proposed eight- to 10-year roadmap for the fictional world and making it clearer where each character stands within it.

“You can look at my quotes from January ’23 when we started and I said we were going to do exactly what we’re doing,” the DC Studios co-head wrote responding to a now-deleted post. “I said some stories would be standalone like the Guardians movies were (which is what Clayface is) and some stories would have part of a larger narrative structure, which is what the Superman Saga is. All that said, each piece of the larger story should work on its own with or without having to see everything else.”

He continued in a second post: “ALSO, some things get conflated here. The often cited ‘8 to 10 year roadmap’ originally pitched wasn’t only story points (although that was a part of it), but also the plan for DC as a whole, including focusing on diamond characters (Superman, Batman, WW) as well as smaller characters we could turn into diamonds (Krypto, John Stewart, Peacemaker), how we would foster filmmaker freedom & allow for multiple tones & ratings, the influences of Star Wars & George RR Martin, and so much more.”

Gunn’s note about the “8 to 10 year roadmap” refers to his and fellow co-head Peter Safran’s 2022 remarks during a virtual Warner Bros. Discovery town hall, during which he’d said they’d mapped out an 8- to ten-year plan for DC. In a third post, he added: “It’s exciting seeing things START to come together and all that makes me even more excited for what we have in store for everyone in Man of Tomorrow.”

On Saturday, Gunn took to the social media platform to defend his decision to expand the DC universe with “individual stories” amid criticism that his films aren’t building toward a major crossover event.

Responding to a commenter who pointed out that Gunn doesn’t necessarily need to lay the foundation for one totally interconnected universe, he wrote, “I couldn’t agree more.” “DCU is just an alternate universe; we can enter at any location or time and tell THAT story. I dislike the idea that individual stories aren’t meaningful unless they lead to something else. People not understanding this is strange to me, because ‘Star Wars’ has essentially been doing this for 50 years across movies, shows, games and books, admittedly without the tonal variety,” he wrote.

Fans Were Sold A Connected Universe

Gunn and Peter Safran launched the DCU in January 2023 as one connected universe across film, television, animation and games, with the same actors playing the same characters everywhere. That pitch is the reason the old DC universe got scrapped.

DC Studios has also spent the three years since sorting its projects into canon and Elseworlds. The Batman and Joker are Elseworlds. Clayface is canon.

“Just an alternate universe” is the language fans have come to associate with the other pile.

The Star Wars comparison is drawing its own fire. Star Wars has told 50 years of stories inside one continuity it never threw out. The DCU exists because DC threw its universe out and started over.

Geeks and Gamers writes that Gunn “gets defensive again” and that fans have legitimate questions about his vision, pointing to a Clayface movie arriving before the DCU even has a Batman.

The Ringer is friendlier to the approach but still writes it is “fair to wonder about the clarity of the DCU branding” a few years into its run.

It is also the second time this month Gunn has gone online to defend Clayface. Before release, he fired back at a fan asking who wanted a Clayface movie with “Who tf asked for Back to the Future?”

Gunn’s next film, “Superman: Man of Tomorrow,” hits theaters July 9, 2027.