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By Chris Snellgrove
| Updated
The upcoming merger between Paramount and Warner Bros. has fans nervous, and for good reason. Leadership changes usually lead to major franchise changes, like the recent decision to pivot Star Trek into a film-only franchise. For superhero fans, the franchise they are most worried about is James Gunn’s DCU. His Superman movie was the hit of the summer last year, and his hilariously vulgar Peacemaker show has proven insanely popular. Now, Supergirl is about to hit theaters while Gunn himself works on the Superman sequel Man of Tomorrow. With this cinematic universe going up, up, and away, nervous fans are worried that a merger could drag it back to Earth.
Under new leadership, James Gunn could be ousted in favor of a new creative visionary for the DCU. Should he keep his job, there’s a risk that the studio would suddenly start meddling with movies and TV shows. In the absolute worst-case scenario, the new WB might pull the plug on the DCU altogether. Does that mean that fans of this cinematic universe should start worrying? According to Supergirl executive producer Lars P. Winther, there’s nothing to worry about after meeting with Paramount’s David Ellison and declared that the CEO is a big fan who has mostly been giving DCU gurus like Gunn whatever they want.
Under The Gunn
Ever since news of a merger between Paramount and Warner Bros. broke, DCU fans have been getting increasingly nervous. Paramount CEO David Ellison is a very prominent conservative, and skeptics were worried he might demand massive changes to this cinematic universe. After all, Ellison is the one Star Trek fans blame for pulling the plug on Starfleet Academy and pivoting this long-running sci-fi franchise away from TV and back to film. Considering how proudly “woke” DCU projects like Superman and Supergirl are (not to mention Gunn himself), many fans have been worried that Ellison would make drastic changes that would effectively ruin future projects.
To hear executive producer Lars P. Winther tell the story, though, there’s nothing to worry about. He told The Hollywood Reporter that Ellison “came to Atlanta” when they were filming Supergirl. “We showed him everything, and we’re having discussions with him.” He claims Ellison had questions about the upcoming slate of 10 DCU projects and that “He’s pretty open to what we’re doing.” He noted how Clayface and Lanterns were projects that had already “left the station” and how fans didn’t have to worry about Ellison. “He’s a big fan, he’s been great with us. He’s giving us kind of what we want. So far, everything’s good.”
Box Office Kryptonite
So, does that mean fans can stop worrying altogether? We may know more about that after this weekend. Supergirl is flying into theaters this Friday, with some box office projects predicting it will make as little as $39 million in its opening weekend. By comparison, Superman (2025) opened to a $125 million weekend, and that movie ultimately made the studio far less than they were hoping. If Supergirl ends up being a commercial and critical bomb (at 57 percent on Rotten Tomatoes, it’s officially “rotten”), Ellison might want to make some major changes just to help the DCU stay afloat.
That was, of course, the ultimate lesson of NuTrek. Shows like Starfleet Academy weren’t canceled early because they were woke but because they didn’t have enough viewers to justify the high, per-episode price tag. It won’t be the end of the DCU if Supergirl bombs, and the Superman sequel, The Man of Tomorrowis much more likely to be a hit. If it’s not, though, then this cinematic universe might be more trouble than it’s worth. Should the DCU fail, it likely won’t be because Ellison personally pulled the plug. Rather, it will be because the movies keep experiencing the scariest Kryptonite of them all: bad box office.
