According to DC Studios CEO Peter Safran, there was no company mandate that he and James Gunn needed to reboot Zack Snyder's DCEU. Safran and Gunn have kicked off their new super-powered universe, with the release of Superman earlier this year (after a brief appetizer with last year's Creature Commandos). This ushered in a new era for the Blue Brand after several years of ups and downs under the previous regime.
The SnyderVerse era of DC was a divisive one, with some fans falling in love with the director's dark vision for the comic book world, while others found it too edgy for their taste. Many had assumed Gunn and Safran were brought in as Warner eyed a new direction for the franchise, but that may not have entirely been the case.
In the new Superman: The Art and Making of the Film, DC Studios co-CEO Peter Safran revealed that "nothing was off limits" when he and Gunn were brought on to lead this next chapter of DC, including continuing with the canon already established by former DC headman Zack Snyder:
"I mean, it really is a dream come true—the opportunity to play with the greatest library of characters and stories and themes, and to have access to everything. Nothing was off limits."
"We could keep what we wanted to keep," the DC executive continued, adding, "We could go in any direction we wanted to go."
Safran's co-CEO at DC Studios, James Gunn, chimed in as well, positing that, "One of the things that’s very important for me...is that the director’s vision and the vision of the writers and all of the creators, is unique:"
"One of the things that’s very important for me in all of these movies and TV series is that the director’s vision, and the vision of the writers and all of the creators, is unique and something special. Storytelling is always king. That’s all that matters to us, and I want to be true to those stories."
This seems to indicate that Warner would have been perfectly fine had Gunn and Safran just picked up the DCEU and continued the story that Zack Snyder had started all those years ago with Man of Steel; however, instead, the two Hollywood execs opted to start their own thing, forging their own path with the DCU.
Gunn and Safran's DCU continues next year with the release of Supergirl, Clayface, and the newly delayed Lanterns. Fans can catch up on this entirely new superhero franchise, with Creature Commandos, Superman, and Peacemaker Season 2 on HBO Max.
Why Didn't James Gunn and Peter Safran Continue the SnyderVerse?
Hearing that James Gunn and Peter Safran had the chance to continue Zack Snyder's DCEU and they decided against it is pretty telling.
It is not as though the new DC executive team had no experience with the SnyderVerse. Gunn previously worked on The Suicide Squad, which was firmly planted in the now-defunct super-powered universe.
However, instead of moving forward with more from Snyder's former attempt at an interconnected DC universe, they decided it was better to start fresh (at least for the most part). It is notable that, despite the DCU being clearly distinct from the DCEU, there is still some connective tissue between the two.
It truly seems that "nothing was off limits" in developing the DCU, including picking and choosing what from the past version of the franchise Gunn and the DC Studios team could bring over.
This meant that heroes like Rick Flag Jr. and various other specific story beats could come along for the DCU ride, while leaving the baggage of the DCEU in the rearview.
Continuing Snyder's vision of the DC universe would have been a tall task for Gunn and Safran, simply because of the weight that the franchise carried among fans. The DCEU was divisive, to put it mildly.
So, cutting bait makes the most sense simply from the perspective of getting a fresh start.
