Joker 2 Isn't A DC Studios Movie, And That's Great News For James Gunn's New DC Universe

To say that the early results for "Joker: Folie a Deux" weren't exactly what everyone at Warner Bros. had in mind would be a polite understatement. The high-profile sequel from director Todd Phillips has been met with what might be best described as disdain from many critics and audiences thus far. Its prospects are not great, particularly in light of the sequel's terrible opening weekend at the box office. Some of the only good news here in the early going is that DC Studios won't have to wear this as a stain on its reputation.

Those who saw "Joker 2" in theaters over the weekend might have noticed that the new DC Studios logo didn't appear in the film's credits, either before or after the film itself. The division was launched in 2022, with "Guardians of the Galaxy" director James Gunn and producer Peter Safran jointly running the operation. The idea is for Gunn and Safran to create a new, cohesive DC Universe going forward. Mercifully, even though this film was released at a time when other projects are getting the DC Studios branding, "Joker 2" isn't being connected to what Gunn and Safran are putting together.

Meanwhile, "The Batman" spin-off series "The Penguin" recently became the first DC Studios project released into the world. The recent acclaimed documentary "Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story" also was released with the DC Studios branding. Phillips' second team-up with Joaquin Phoenix, despite coming out after these films, is instead a Warner Bros. production that is "based on characters from DC." That is soon going to become a very, very important distinction.

Gunn and Safran have a lot to prove with their new DCU. Even if we take "Wonder Woman 1984" and "The Suicide Squad" out of the equation since those films were hampered greatly by the pandemic, DC has suffered six disappointments in a row, most of which were outright flops. "Shazam! Fury of the Gods," "The Flash," and "Blue Beetle" all bombed badly in 2023. Dwayne Johnson's long-awaited "Black Adam" also seriously disappointed in late 2022, with "Aqauaman and the Lost Kingdom" falling well short of its predecessor. It's been a terrible run.

Let's also not forget that Marvel has had its woes during this period as well, with films like "The Marvels" and "Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania" disappointing greatly. The point is, the days of a comic book movie becoming a presumed success theatrically are truly behind us. Gunn's "Superman," which stars David Corenswet as our new Man of Steel, arrives next summer and effectively kicks off this new DC Universe. That movie now has the weight of an entire studio on its shoulders. The pressure is on and Gunn needs to do for DC what he did for "Guardians of the Galaxy": He needs to take something nobody believes in and turn it into a resounding success. Audiences have clearly turned on DC. Gunn needs to change the narrative.

For what it's worth, Todd Phillips previously distanced "Joker 2" from DC Studios publicly. "With all due respect to [Gunn and Safran], this is kind of a Warner Brothers movie," Phillips previously said during a pre-release Q&A. "That's them also wanting it to be like, 'Okay, Todd did his thing. Let Todd continue to do his thing.'"

Gunn similarly took to Threads recently to state plainly that "Joker: Folie a Deux" is "not a DC Studios film." Gunn also clarified in the same thread that "Penguin is DC Studios, and The Batman 2 is. All future films with DC characters will be DC Studios." From a PR standpoint, it's helpful that Gunn, Safran, and Warner Bros. can say "'Joker 2' isn't a DC Studios thing" in the same way that Marvel Studios was able to say that Fox's "X-Men" films weren't their thing. The problem is that the general public doesn't make such distinctions. For many people, DC is DC.

The bigger problem both WB and DC Studios have is that we're not just talking about one movie — we're talking about an entire shared universe. When DC Studios first launched in late 2022, it was said that "Gunn and Safran will spearhead the development and execution of a long-term plan for the many properties licensed from DC Comics," while also "building a sustainable growth business out of the iconic franchise." That's now a pretty tall order, in light of DC's recent string of misfires.

Aside from "Superman," Gunn and Safran have already announced a full DC movie slate which includes "Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow," "Swamp Thing," "The Authority," "The Brave and the Bold," and "The Batman Part II." Other projects such as "Teen Titans" have also entered development since the initial slate was announced. This is to say nothing of the TV shows on the way, including "Creature Commandos," "Waller," "Lanterns," and "Booster Gold." It's an ambitious slate that relies heavily on relatively untested DC properties and B-list characters.

As ambitious as those plans are, the last thing Gunn and Safran need is more baggage. They need a clean slate. That's why they are recasting all of the main roles from the former DCEU that was started by Zack Snyder. Frankly, it's already a little complicated given that Robert Pattinson's Batman exists only in "The Batman" universe and won't be the proper Batman in the new DCU. That means we'll have two Batmen probably existing at the same time in different parts of the multiverse. Can the marketplace sustain that? Can WB avoid brand confusion?

The point is, DC Studios has enough headaches and plenty of hurdles to clear. Warner Bros. is still going to lose a fortune on "Joker: Folie a Deux." That can't be helped. At the very least, the company can learn some hard lessons there and the new DC regime won't have to atone for that film's sins because it wasn't their project and they thankfully get to disown it. Here's hoping what comes next plays out better for all involved. "Superman" hits theaters on July 11, 2025.

We spoke more about the "Joker" sequel's disastrous box office opening on today's episode of the /Film Daily podcast, which you can listen to below:

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