James Gunn on Marvel Studios' Content Overload: 'That Wasn't Fair. It Wasn't Right. And It Killed Them.' — GeekTyrant

Geek Tyrant

6 hours ago

DC Studios co-chief James Gunn is no stranger to Marvel's universe, having played a major role in shaping it with his Guardians of the Galaxy trilogy. But now, as he builds DC's cinematic future, Gunn is reflecting on where things may have gone wrong for Marvel, and he doesn't think it's entirely their fault.
While Marvel has been criticized for flooding audiences with content, Gunn offered a more sympathetic take during a recent interview with Rolling Stone.
'I don't even know if it's really their fault,' Gunn said, adding that a Marvel executive admitted privately that they 'put out too much stuff.'
When asked whether Disney was behind the push, Gunn didn't mince words: 'That wasn't fair. It wasn't right. And it killed them.'
Marvel's content surge wasn't just a matter of creative enthusiasm, we all know that it was corporate-driven. As Marvel's Head of Streaming Brad Winderbaum previously said, the mandate from Disney was clear: 'create as much as we could for Disney Plus as quickly as we could.'
The results were uneven at best, leading to franchise fatigue and underwhelming box office returns, even for projects that might've succeeded with more breathing room.
But Gunn doesn't plan to repeat those mistakes at DC Studios. He said: 'We don't have the mandate to have a certain amount of movies and TV shows every year.
'So we're going to put out everything that we think is of the highest quality. We're obviously going to do some good things and some not-so-good things, but hopefully on average everything will be as high-quality as possible.'
He also made it clear that nothing gets the green light without his personal stamp of approval: 'Nothing goes before there's a screenplay that I personally am happy with.'
Marvel, for its part, appears to be recalibrating. Disney CEO Bob Iger has publicly embraced a 'quality over quantity' approach, and with The Fantastic Four: First Steps set to lead the charge this summer, there's cautious optimism for a return to form.
Meanwhile, Gunn's DC Universe kicks off this July with Superman , followed by Peacemaker Season 2. After that, it'll be Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow in 2026.