It isn’t a fun time to be James Gunn right now. Not only did Supergirl make peanuts at the box office and receive a universal meh from audiences, but now talk show host John Oliver also took a shot at the state of DC movies.
On Last Week Tonight, Oliver provided his commentary on the latest happenings in the United States’ Department of Justice. The ultimate shade arrived when Oliver said, “I didn’t realize the existence of repeated unsuccessful attempts was actually good news — that’s huge for DC movies, if true.”
Posters of failed projects such as Black Adam, The Flash, and Supergirl flashed across the screen as the host (verbally) decimated DC movies into oblivion. To be fair, Oliver isn’t the only person firing off at Gunn right now, as multiple people are taking victory laps about how Gunn and Peter Safran’s DC Universe isn’t the almighty savior it was painted out to be. To rub further salt in the wounds, Spider-Man: Brand New Day broke all kinds of box office records, while the Marvel Cinematic Universe appears to be back better than ever. In comparison, the DCU’s future hangs by a delicate thread depending on how the whole Paramount-Warner Bros. fiasco pans out.
For some, this is a form of karmic justice for Gunn, who’s too terminally online for his own good. In the past, Gunn blasted the Batman movies, and now his comments are coming back to haunt him as he receives blowback for his own creative decisions.
As captured by Reddit (because the internet doesn’t forget), Gunn unloaded on both Tim Burton and Christopher Nolan’s versions of the Caped Crusader on his Facebook page. “The Tim Burton Batman is poorly written, the soundtrack is the worst work of everyone involved, and it is absolutely one of the most boring films ever,” Gunn wrote, and later added, “Burton’s Planet of the Apes is genius in comparison.”
Look, there’s a lot to unpack there, but the fact that Gunn says this about a soundtrack made by Prince should be classified as a crime. He didn’t stop there, though, further writing, “Oh yeah, and Jack Nicholson as the Joker is Jack Nicholson in The Shining with sh*tty clown makeup. F*ck you, everyone involved with that travesty.”
Yes, these comments come from the person who decided a dance-off was the best way to cap off a superhero movie’s third act and who gave Superman his worst onscreen costume yet.
Gunn also paid a backhanded compliment to Nolan – one of the greatest filmmakers of our generation – as he continued to criticize Burton’s adaptation. “Listen, I have problems with both of Nolan’s films – I don’t think either one is classic, and I don’t even really think Batman Begins is good. But they’re far superior to the first Batman.” Kindness is the real punk rock, eh, James?
All things considered, Gunn admitted that he used to be an edgelord in his internet usage in the past, so this could have been his attempt at attracting attention from anybody willing to fight him in the comments. Having said that, if you’re building a cinematic universe, do you really want someone who says that Burton’s Batman and Nolan’s Dark Knight Trilogy aren’t all that good? That’s not a hot take; it’s just a stinky one.
As it turns out, what goes around comes around. Now, Gunn is dealing with a whole lot of criticisms about his handling of everything DC. What’s that saying about karma?
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