Apparently, before handing over the reins to James Gunn and Peter Safran, the newly-merged Hollywood studio wanted to bring in Todd Phillips to lead the struggling cinematic universe. It isn’t clear how deep the negotiations went, but The New York Post is claiming that Warner Bros. Discovery begged the Joker director to be the head of DC Studios. In the same post, a different source reports that “the whole town turned the job down”, which is in line with earlier reports after Dan Lin turned down the job. It’d be interesting to see what a Phillips-led DC Universe would look like if he’d accepted the offer. Would he have fired Henry Cavill? What kind of movies would we see? Would he be in favor of a more cohesive cinematic universe like James Gunn, who wants to bring video games into the mix? Or would Phillips prefer standalone continuities? Would Phillips merge Joker and Matt Reeves’ Batman into the same universe? There are a lot of questions that will never be answered now that this is all a moot point. The only thing guaranteed is that the DC Universe would look a lot different under Phillips’ leadership. It remains to be seen if it would’ve been for the better or for worse. As for the current state of the DC Universe, Gunn has clarified his plans won’t take off until 2024. Many take this as a sign that the current slate of films is effectively useless, which has reportedly led to a falling out with Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson. But, the Black Adam star is denying the claims while Gunn is using social media to shoot down false rumors. Hopefully, we’ll have a much clearer view of the DC Universe by the time next year’s first DCU film, Shazam! Fury of the Gods, premieres on March 17. And, oh, don’t forget to watch the sequel to the first R-rated film to break the billion-dollar-mark at the global box office, Joker: Folie à Deux, in theaters on October 4, 2024.
