What Happens If James Gunn’s Superman Flops?

James Gunn’s Superman is currently in production, but with the fractured state of DC on film, there are many pertinent questions to ask about the ramifications of the movie failing to resonate with audiences. Like, what happens if James Gunn’s Superman flops?

A New Superman & A New DC

Following Gunn and Peter Safran’s appointment as co-CEOs of the newly formed DC Studios, the duo elected to chart a largely new course for DC cinematically, effectively bringing the DCEU to an abrupt end and launching the DCU. While the DCU will begin with an animated intro in the upcoming animated series Creature Commandos, the franchise will truly begin in earnest with 2025’s Superman (formerly titled Superman: Legacy.)

The question of Superman’s financial prospects is certainly a valid one to ponder after 2023 proved to be a box office bloodbath for DC and comic book movies in general. An argument can most certainly be made that Gunn announcing the DCU reboot when he did set up Shazam: Fury of the Gods, The Flash, Blue Beetle, and Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom to fail, since the news effectively told audiences the four upcoming films were no longer leading anywhere, with only Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom achieving some level of box office success.

At the same time, the news of the DCU also came after several years of extreme turbulence in WB’s (mis)management of DC cinematically, including the studio’s efforts to downplay the release of Zack Snyder’s Justice League before, during, and after its release.

Bearing that in mind, James Gunn’s Superman is heading into theatres with a far more daunting task than simply kicking off a new DC franchise or introducing the world to a new Man of Steel, but also asking both general moviegoers seemingly worn out by DC’s lack of forward momentum and disillusioned DCEU fans to come aboard for the ride. The question is will they answer the call?

What If James Gunn’s Superman Fails To Launch The DCU?

Should Gunn’s Superman not take off at the box office, win over moviegoers and hard-core DC fans, or both, the most immediate ramification is that failure calling into question the wisdom of the DCU reboot in the first place. After all, if the reasoning behind starting fresh with the DCU (or rather semi-fresh, with Peacemaker season two and an animated Blue Beetle series on the way) was to lead DC to greener box office pastures only for Superman to not accomplish that, pulling the plug on the DCEU will look like a bad decision right from the jump.

It’s not like the DCEU hadn’t achieved box office success, either, with the Man of Steel to Wonder Woman era averaging $779.4 million, Aquaman clearing $1 billion in 2018, and Zack Snyder’s Justice League becoming a streaming hit and significantly reversing the negative reputation the movie’s theatrical incarnation had left.

It continues to bear repeating just how damaging Justice League 2017 was to DC on film, and while the baggage it left might have been what motivated James Gunn to start anew with the DCU, if the latter can’t even match the numbers of Man of Steel or Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, that outcome could throw the entire DCU slate into question. And however tempting it might be for many fans to look at the continuing calls of #RestoreTheSnyderVerse as the alternative that DC Studios would then resort to, the chaos DC has been through since 2017 has also had such a deleterious impact on the DC IP that any immediate failure of the DCU slate could leave DC at a crossroads.

The Future Of The DCU Is Already Uncertain

Rumours have already been rampant of Warner Bros. undergoing yet another merger in the near future, itself something that could impact the trajectory of the upcoming DCU slate. Should James Gunn’s Superman not connect upon its release, Warner Bros. could find themselves tarnished with such a bad history of (largely self-inflicted) damage on their biggest IP as to finally begin licensing DC to other studios or streamers, with WB simply cashing the checks and only participating in distribution.

James Gunn’s Superman has a lot riding on it, but if slamming the breaks on the DCEU to kickstart to the DCU fails to bring back the audience in numbers like they once had, Warner Bros. could well have reason to finally throw in the towel and let someone else manage the most iconic superheroes the world has ever known.

What do you think will happen if James Gunn’s Superman flops at the box office? Also, read up about why James Gunn can’t take Superman back to a no-kill rule and how Zack Snyder liked a meme mocking David Corenswet’s Superman suit.