After Zack Snyder and Joss Whedon’s Justice League flopped in 2017 — it earned an estimated $660 million and has a 39% on Rotten Tomatoes — Warner Bros. met with Feige “to try to convince him to switch sides,” according to a new Wall Street Journal report. Feige is the president of Marvel Studios and has been a producer or executive producer on nearly every Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) project since 2008’s Iron Man .
WSJ noted “those failed talks” between DC and Feige, and Feige has remained the leader of the MCU ever since. The DC Extended Universe (DCEU) continued after Justice League with films like Aquaman (the only DCEU film to reach $1 billion at the box office) and Birds of Prey , but also fizzled after Warner Bros. announced plans to reboot the universe. Gunn and producer Peter Safran were brought on board to lend their vision.
Gunn’s first DC Universe (DCU) film opens Friday in Superman (Gunn’s 2021 The Suicide Squad is technically separate from the former DCEU). Superman has so far performed well with critics and could open to over $125 million domestically, according to pre-release polls. Right behind it to give it a run for its blockbuster money: The Kevin Feige-produced Fantastic Four: First Steps , opening July 25.
Peacemaker season 2 is the next DCU project, premiering on August 21, while Supergirl arrives in June 2026. Gunn and Safran’s goal is to “reestablish” DC’s Trinity—Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman—in the DCU and “unite them in a new Justice League film,” according to the report. Second time’s the charm?
