Okay, Fine, Hollywood: I’ll Fix DC Studios For You — Here’s How I’d Do It In Six Simple Steps

Water is wet. Time is a flat circle. The DC brand on the big screen is a mess.

Regardless of whether you supported James Gunn’s unjustly brief tenure as co-CEO of DC Studios, there was a consensus that the lack of updates on the universe’s Batman was frustrating for everyone involved. Perhaps Gunn especially.

Gunn and fellow co-CEO Peter Safran were hired barely half a year after the release of Matt Reeves’ The Batman, a project in development for so long that its original iteration was supposed to star and be directed by Ben Affleck as Zack Snyder’s version of the character.

Given the success of The Batman and a sequel announcement that predated their hiring, the shiniest jewel in DC’s arsenal was tied up in previous commitments. So off to Superman Gunn went, and the rest, as they say, is history.

The issue facing DC is the same one it faced a decade ago, persisting regardless of who’s in charge: its cinematic project is inherently broken.

Gunn — who arrived after the smash-hit of The Batman but before mega-bombs like The Flash and Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom — was tasked with launching his own universe while those characters were already being used elsewhere. Whatever you think of his creative vision, that was not his fault.

Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice failing to crack $1 billion near the height of the superhero craze has been the franchise’s ghost of box office past, present, and future. Aquaman made a billion dollars, but outside Christopher Nolan’s trilogy, no Batman movie has. How is that possible? IS it possible? These are the questions new and proudly family-forward steward Jeremy Latcham will be tasked with answering. And nothing says understanding Batman like family!

In all likelihood, Skydance’s shared cinematic universe will be worse than both Snyder’s DCEU and Gunn’s DCU. Reports indicate that incoming executives turned their noses up at Superman’s $618 million worldwide haul. That’s particularly ironic given that Paramount has released only two movies in the past decade that earned more worldwide. Domestically, you have to go back to 2009’s Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen to find a Paramount film that outgrossed Superman.

And yet, despite all that, DC’s cinematic endeavor appears headed back to the starting line. Here’s what I’d do if it were me.

1. Assign an individual producer and creative team to each of Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman

For better or for worse, Skydance is dead set on getting the Justice League back on the big screen. This, however, is inherently misguided thinking. Despite what the bloated box office returns of the first Aquaman movie suggest — while the film grossed over $1 billion, over 70% of that came from overseas, including $300M in China — audiences don’t actually care about the periphery members of the Justice League. They care about the iconic Trinity of Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman.

But the fool’s errand that DC has run into time and time again has been trying to rush to that endgame. So, this time, I’d sign a producer and a creative team to each Trinity hero: one for Batman, one for Superman, one for Wonder Woman. I’d ask them to work together to create individual trilogy maps that can also overlap with one another when necessary. For example, the culmination of Batman’s trilogy could be a Hush-type story that involves Superman.

The perk of having three massively iconic characters is that you don’t have to overlap all three at once to make the moment feel epic. You pair them off here and there before finally bringing the three of them together for the ultimate team-up movie AFTER the audience has already fallen in love with these iterations of the characters.

2. Cast Jake Gyllenhaal as an established, peak-of-his-powers Batman

They’ve done old Batman (Ben Affleck). They’ve done new Batman (Christian Bale). They’ve done sophomore-year Batman (Robert Pattinson). They’ve done… whatever kind of Batman Michael Keaton was (complimentary). It’s time for a peak-of-his-powers Batman, a Peyton Manning in 2003-2009 Batman.

Jake Gyllenhaal has been part of the Batman conversation for so long that his actual history with the role predates Christian Bale’s tenure. He auditioned for Christopher Nolan’s Batman Begins before Bale landed the part, and has been a prime candidate in every single casting cycle since Bale stepped away from the role. The time is now.

At 45, he’s the right age for the Batman I’d want this universe to have: an experienced Bruce Wayne with a history, a reputation, and relationships that existed before the audience arrived — old enough to be a father but still young enough to be within range of his physical prime.

Gyllenhaal has all the range you’d want from a Batman actor — Prisoners and Nightcrawler demonstrate his ability to play obsession and emotional instability, while Southpaw and Road House have established the physical side. He could sell Bruce Wayne’s public charm while making it clear how much effort goes into maintaining it.

I’d cast and announce him early, then target 2030 for his first solo movie, ideally after Robert Pattinson’s Batman story has concluded.

3. Build Batman’s trilogy around ‘Under the Red Hood’ and ‘Hush’

An established Batman also lets DC adapt stories that require more history than another origin movie can provide.

Under the Red Hood brings back Jason Todd, the former Robin whose death represents one of Batman’s greatest failures, and his return forces Bruce to confront the limits of his methods and the consequences of his refusal to kill.

Hush already provides a route to Superman, whose confrontation with Batman is a major part of the comic, while also providing a roadmap for featuring numerous iconic Gotham City villains along the way.

4. Keep David Corenswet’s Superman and commit to Adria Arjona’s Wonder Woman

DC simply cannot afford to reboot the franchise from scratch again. They just can’t. It’ll be 14 years since Man of Steel next summer, and the franchise has *still* yet to sufficiently establish a shared universe. You need to walk before you can run, though, and while 2025’s Superman was far from perfect, it did provide an adequate starting point for the franchise overall. Role with Man of Tomorrow and make the third Superman movie the de facto first Justice League movie, just as James Gunn was reportedly planning.

That same principle needs to be applied to Wonder Woman, assuming the widely suspected Adria Arjona is true (it is).  Her work in Andor and Hit Man makes the case for her ability, while the response to her appearance opposite Michael B. Jordan in The Thomas Crown Affair points to the appeal of casting someone audiences are excited to see become a movie star.

Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman should each feel like a major attraction. Their eventual partnership becomes more valuable when audiences already have a reason to care about all three.

5. Give Wonder Woman a solo movie drawing from ‘Year One’ and ‘The Hiketeia’

For Wonder Woman’s solo film, I’d draw from Greg Rucka’s Year One and The Hiketeia, using the former to establish Diana’s perspective and the latter to test it.

Year One supplies the foundation for her arrival in the wider world, while The Hiketeia places her obligations and principles in direct conflict with Batman’s when she grants protection to a woman he is pursuing.

DC Comics officially describes the story as a confrontation between the two Justice League allies, and it would feature a dynamic that’s never been seen on the big screen.

The audience has seen Batman versus Superman. What about Batman vs. Wonder Woman? Now that’s interesting, especially if you lean into the storied romantic tension between the two, essentially creating Mr. and Mrs. Smith but with superheroes.

6. Make the Trinity standing together the ultimate goal — it’s the one thing Marvel can never replicate

DC has three characters whose combined recognition gives it an extraordinary starting point. Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman are arguably three of the four faces on the superhero Mount Rushmore, alongside Spider-Man.

That is the image I’d build toward: the three of them standing together, with the audience understanding what it took to get them there. The aforementioned Batman vs. Superman tried to rush that process, though, sapping the moment of whatever aura it should have otherwise had. This iteration of the franchise cannot afford to make that same mistake.

The first major crossover could and should belong to those three — their personalities, disagreements, and developing trust provide enough material to carry a movie before the franchise needs to accommodate a larger Justice League roster. And by then, Bruce’s guardedness would be familiar; Clark’s faith in people would have been tested; Diana’s sense of obligation would have brought her into conflict with both of them.

Cast Batman, preserve the Superman people have begun investing in, establish Wonder Woman, and give their stories enough time to make that meeting matter beyond just images on a screen, but portrayals people adore.