When asked which superhero had his favorite origin story, co-president of DC Studios James Gunn quickly went to one name: Batman. He also, however, made it pretty clear that as much as he loves Batman’s origin, maybe its time on the big screen is over. At least for a while.
Speaking at length on the Happy Sad Confused podcast, Gunn was first asked about his favorite origin story in comics. “Frankly Batman’s story is great,” Gunn said. “And I like it when the robber doesn’t get caught. It makes more sense if the robber is always out there and that Batman’s search for justice is an unquenchable search to right the wrongs of his childhood trauma that he’ll never be able to do. I really love Batman’s origin in terms of a simple story… [it’s] the ultimate origin story.”
With admiration like that, you might expect Gunn—who along with partner Peter Safran is responsible for running DC Studios—would want to bring that origin to the big screen. But, alas, he does not. “I won’t promise [that we’ll never show it] but I have no plans on it,” Gunn said. “I’ll say that much. I have no plans. I am myself sick of seeing Superman and Batman and Spider-Man’s [origins]. Those three. I’m sick of seeing those three origin stories and I don’t need to see them again for a long time.”
But Gunn, being the smart open-minded filmmaker he is, did add one more thing. “But someone could come along and surprise me and do it in a way that’s cool,” he said. “You just never know.”
Being as we’ve seen the Batman origin on the big screen through the eyes of Tim Burton, Christopher Nolan, Zack Snyder, and Todd Phillips, it makes sense to get away from it for a bit. Even Harley Quinn had a spin recently. So, long before Gunn came on board at DC, the idea of origin stories for those big characters had gone out of style. (See also The Batman, Spider-Man: Homecoming and Gunn’s own 2025 Superman movie). Now though, with this statement, we can pretty much be assured The Brave and the Bold, the upcoming Batman film Gunn is producing, won’t have it either.
Do you agree with Gunn’s instincts here? Let us know below.
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