After Zack Snyder and Joss Whedon’s Justice League flopped in 2017 — it made about $660 million and has a 39% on Rotten Tomatoes — Warner Bros. met with Feige “to try to convince him to switch sides,” according to a new Wall Street Journal report. Feige is the president of Marvel Studios and has been a producer or executive producer on just about every Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) project since 2008’s Iron Man.
WSJ noted “those talks fizzled” between DC and Feige, and Feige has remained as the leader of the MCU since. The DC Extended Universe (DCEU) continued post-Justice League with films like Aquaman (the only DCEU film to top $1 billion at the box office) and Birds of Prey, but it too fizzled out after Warner Bros. announced plans to reboot the universe. Gunn and producer Peter Safran were brought on board to lend their vision.
Gunn’s first DC Universe (DCU) film releases Friday in Superman (Gunn’s 2021 The Suicide Squad is technically apart of the former DCEU). Superman has landed well with critics so far, and could open to more than $125 million domestically, according to pre-release surveys. Right behind it to give it a run for its blockbuster money: The Fantastic Four: First Steps, produced by Kevin Feige, opening on July 25.
Peacemaker season 2 is the next DCU project, premiering Aug. 21, while Supergirl arrives in June 2026. Gunn and Safran’s goal is to “re-establish” DC’s Trinity — Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman — in the DCU and “unite them in a new Justice League film,” according to the report. Second time’s the charm?
