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DC Studios: James Gunn Offers Advice on Dealing with Online Toxicity

Taking to social media, DC Studios co-CEO and writer/director James Gunn offered some advice on the best way to deal with online toxicity.

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Article Summary

  • James Gunn shares advice on handling online toxicity, urging fans not to engage with negative posts.
  • He explains that attention amplifies toxic voices, making rage and cruelty appear more widespread online.
  • Gunn distinguishes genuine discussion from toxic behavior, encouraging open but respectful debate.
  • He outlines how he separates real news from rumors, trusting only official sources or major publications.

Even while still promoting Superman, being knee-deep in promoting the second season of John Cena-starring Peacemaker, writing a new project, serving as co-CEO of DC Studios, and attempting to carve out some semblance of a personal life along the way, writer/director James Gunn took to social media to drop some critical advice on a topic we're all familiar with on some level. "If you see something toxic online, my advice would be, don't interact with it. Attention only fans the flames of online toxicity. It's one of the reasons I'm primarily on this platform. It isn't because there are fewer toxic people here (although there seemingly are), it's because it started as an online culture more willing to let the toxic personality in the back of the room shout himself hoarse and go away. When you shout back, you're making that voice relevant," Gunn shared, in what would be the first of two posts offering his thoughts on the best way to handle toxicity on social media.

He continued, making a point of differentiating cruelty and hate speech from individuals expressing why they like or don't like something in a meaningful manner. "You're giving it a sounding board. You are the midwife helping to birth that toxic voice into the world. You're helping to make a few thousand angry voices seem like millions. And, to be clear, when I'm talking about toxicity, I'm talking primarily about rage or cruelty. I'm not talking about not liking something or having reasonable arguments about things we like and don't. Anyway, forgive the PSA, but it's on my mind. :heart::merman:" Gunn followed up by replying to some questions/scenarios stemming from his post that were raised (which you can check out on Gunn's account).

James Gunn
ImageL DC Studios Screencap; Cyberbullying – social media harassment concept. Top view of a little boy sitting alone on a sofa holding a tablet feeling frustrated while reading bad comments. Text emoticons, Kids mental health (Shutterstock.com/myboys.me)

DC Studios: James Gunn on Separating News From Rumors/Gossip

"Here's what I do when I don't talk personally to the filmmakers," Gunn offered back in November 2024, laying out his four-point approach to handling entertainment news that comes his way that didn't come directly from the source. "1) I only fully trust stuff that's publicly announced (from Kevin & Marvel, me & DC, Disney & Star Wars etc), 2) If it comes from the mainstream trades (H. Reporter, Variety, Deadline), it's usually true (but not always), 3) If it's from trusted fan press it COULD be true but easily could not be, & 4) if it comes from most scoopers it's probably not true as their batting average isn't great. Some are obviously better than others!"

DC Studios
Image: Threads Screencap

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Ray FlookAbout Ray Flook

Serving as Television Editor since 2018, Ray began five years earlier as a contributing writer/photographer before being brought onto the core BC team in 2017.
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