It’s a normal reaction to get tired of the media we consume. Despite our love for it, there could be times when we feel we don’t care anymore about the endless content we receive from our favorite franchise. The idea of superhero fatigue came about when a fandom study shared by Variety revealed that fatigue is real, with 36% of Marvel fans reportedly fatigued with the superhero content compared to 20% of DC fans. But DC Studios’ co-architect, James Gunn, knows a way to rise above this problem.
In an interview with The New York Times, Gunn explained that even though superhero fatigue exists, it can be eliminated with solid storytelling, which he aims to deliver in his recently unveiled DC slate. "I think it’s real," he said, referring to the overabundance of comic book films flooding movie theaters, which leads to tiresome moviegoers.
The Peacemaker creator said that telling the same thing over and over again would not work in dealing with the exhaustion of superhero content. “You have to make the stories diverse and different. Good guy, bad guy, giant thing in the sky, good guys win; you can’t tell that story again. You need to tell stories that are more, you know, morally complex.” explained Gunn.
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Gunn and Peter Safran’s new slate of DC projects has indeed excited the fans. Most DCU diehards feel satisfied with the future that DCU is aiming for under its new management. DC Studios Chapter 1, titled "Gods and Monsters," will feature five brand new films and five TV shows that are slated for a 2025 release, including a Green Lantern TV show called Lanterns and a new Batman movie.
The Guardians of the Galaxy creator believes that good storytelling will help ease viewers’ superhero fatigue. During the DC slate announcement, Gunn stressed that "storytelling is always king," and keeping directorial visions intact and creating a fresh perspective are the ways to avoid replicating the movie or story that came before them. “I want to be true to those stories and I want to be true to you guys, and give you something different than you've ever seen before,” he said.
Gunn also noted that his DCU will shy away from DC’s previous and messy direction. “The history of DC is pretty f---ed up. They were just giving away IP like they were party favors to any creators. What we are going to do is we're going to promise that everything from our first project forward is going to be unified. But we will say that we've gotten very lucky [inheriting these] next four projects.” underscored the Suicide Squad director.
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DC's upcoming projects this year, such as The Flash, will arrive in theaters on June 16, with Blue Beetle following on August 18 and Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom on December 25.
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