James Gunn Is Right: The Lack of Creative Flexibility Is Making Movies Worse

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On Tuesday, the new head of the DCU, a man by the name of James Gunn who you may have heard of, seemed to acknowledge the limitations seemingly imposed on modern mainstream media creators. While he is bringing much of the scattered universe under what is essentially the same roof, that is less interesting than what he said when laying out his plan for the future of the DCU with one particular part that stood out. Specifically, Gunn said that the reason why he thinks “movies in general are not as good as they used to be” is that there is less flexibility given to the creators of the stories themselves.

The greatest action blockbuster that was released last year was not one that was created under the banner of either Marvel or DC. Rather, it was the thrilling RRR that put any and all other such works to shame. It is a dynamic film that is bursting with energy in how it flaunted any and all expectations. It found an audience for a reason. In a landscape that can start to feel like there is very little room for creativity, it was this story of two bros flipping through the air and fighting off swarms of enemies that resonated unlike anything else out there. It was more alive than the many mechanical movies that came out last year and proved that the freedom to create will always win out over the shallowness of interchangeable stories within superhero universes that start to all feel the same. Though the most vibrant new works of cinema are often to be found in the small works of art, there is no reason for more mainstream movies to continually remain unimaginative and uninspired just because they are all part of a shared universe. There is the potential for all of this to change for the better.

In his comments, James Gunn said that he wants to change this culture of limitation by setting out to “really elevate writers, again, make writers as important as they are, and become architects of this story." While Gunn still very much has to put his money where his mouth is by sticking with this, this is the type of thing you want to hear from someone who is trying to revamp an entire world of stories. When we go out to the movies, we don’t go there to see something that feels like it was made in a boardroom by executives who are not wanting to take a risk. We go to see writers working to leave their mark on a story and using the opportunity to reinvent what can be woefully well-worn material.

James Gunn himself is familiar with this having been on the other side of the equation in both of the major franchises. He came into Marvel where he gave them one of their best movies with Guardians of the Galaxy and then, after briefly being fired by his former employers, did the same for DC with The Suicide Squad as well as Peacemaker. Sure, they were all stories about vastly different heroes and made sure to delve into each of their respective worlds. However, each of them felt just as much like Gunn’s story as they did that of the characters. Even if you went in without any knowledge that he was behind them, you could identify his fingerprints over every individual aspect of it. From the darker humor to the often goofy tone, there was a sense that he was in control of the story. One can only then hope, as a writer himself who is also planning to take on such duties for projects in the future as part of a fresh start for the series, that Gunn gives that same freedom he was able to work within to his collaborators.

James Gunn Argues That Stories Are Only As Good As Their Storytellers' Freedom

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This is crucial as we can see, on the flip side of this, there are plenty of blockbuster movies that you watch and have no idea who was behind them. They feel far too safe in how micromanaged and devoid of any real personality they are. This is likely done out of a misguided emphasis on making things palatable to as wide of an audience as possible. Remember when Edgar Wright left the first Ant-Man because the vision he had was too much in the style of his prior movies? Or how Sam Raimi talked openly about how, even as he still managed to get a lot of his sensibilities into it, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness was something that had to follow set rules in order to fit into the Marvel brand?

All of this is storytelling dictated by a spreadsheet as opposed to a vision that will only mean you just get the same old stories dumped out over and over again. This ignores how, If you make a compelling story that has actual individuality to it, people will seek it out for that reason alone. The best way to make something that earns its place in pop culture is to be fresh as opposed to just another cannibalized recreation of what has come before.

Fewer Assembly Line Movies, Please

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In the wide world of cinematic franchises, the greatest problem remains in how they can feel like they are being made on an assembly line. Anything that can be done to alter that is a step in the right direction. For all the ways that the creators attached may seem like they are bringing their own respective visions, it can honestly remain tough to tell when you actually sit down to watch them. This type of control stifles creativity and, when you can't actually tell the difference between any of the films, it ensures we are all worse off as audiences. The flexibility given to storytellers is fundamental to moviemaking and, even when they don't always connect, it is better to take chances on big swings. This will always be more enjoyable to experience than films that are confined to strict formulas over creative freedom.

We still don’t know what this will look like in the road ahead for all the many new stories that are being helmed under Gunn’s leadership, but one can only hope that they actually are driven by the visions of the creators. More than familiar characters or references that we've already come to know ad nauseam, this is what will make them into something that will stand above the often repetitive malaise that has come to dominate blockbuster movies today.