Posted in: HBO, Max, Movies, TV | Tagged: dc studios, dcu

James Gunn on How Death Works in The DCU: "If You Die, You're Dead"

Writer and director James Gunn made it clear how death works in DC Studios' DCU (though he's not opposed to a good Lazarus Pit story).

With the first season of HBO Max's Creature Commandos already out there (and the second season currently in production), David Corenswet, Rachel Brosnahan, and Nicholas Hoult-starring Superman premiering in July, and the second season of John Cena-starring Peacemaker ready to hit the ground running in August, it's safe to say that DC Studios Co-CEOs James Gunn and Peter Safran's New DCU is starting to take shape. As it continues to, fans have been wanting to learn more and more about the DCU's overarching beliefs, philosophies, and practices. For example, death and dying. Can we expect characters who die to stay dead, or do Gunn and Safran keep a "Get Out of Being Dead" card in their back pockets? Gunn tackled that very topic on social media in response to a fan asking if Princess Ilana Rostovic was really dead or if she would be brought back for Creature Commandos Season 2 (no spoilers, but let's just say Rostovic's finale was pretty "finale").

"In the DCU if you die, you're dead," Gunn responded, not leaving a whole lot of room for misinterpretation. In a follow-up, Gunn added that he "wouldn't mind using the Lazarus Pit (and/or resurrection) in a story. But it would have to be a part of the story itself. I won't be killing major characters just to pop them in the old LP to be alive again." In other words, it needs to be meaningful to the story and not serve as a "deus ex machina" to justify using death as a storyline cheap pop (in pro-wrestling terms). Over in the comics universe, the Lazarus Pit was most associated with Ra's al Ghul and consists of a series of pools that can do everything from heal injuries and resurrect the dead to granting near-immortality. You can see how easily a storyline device like that could get abused: you need to bring a character back, so you have a new Lazarus Pit appear somewhere in the world that no one knew about until that very moment.

As for the concern that having such a strict death policy could backfire on them as the DCU grows, Gunn is more concerned about death actually having meaning and importance. "What backfires more is people believing there are no stakes, and death doesn't mean anything. Dead is dead," Gunn shared. Here's a look at some of Gunn's responses during what was a very informative exchange:

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