This is, of course, not the first news we’ve heard about James Gunn bringing The Authority into his revamped DC universe. Gunn’s intention to depict the crew on the big screen caught many off-guard when he and Peter Safran included a project fronting The Authority in their upcoming slate of DC films earlier this year, if only because Angela Spica and her crew are hardly DC A-listers. Nonetheless, at least one member of that team will make their big-screen debut in “Superman: Legacy.” And even as the rest of the gang has yet to be cast, The Authority is already slated to return for a feature film somewhere down the line.
As it is, putting The Authority front and center for a feature clearly signals Gunn’s desire to go the way of Marvel and mix in projects featuring fringe characters alongside DC’s tried and tested names. That should hardly come as a shock from a filmmaker who’s long reveled in so-called “outsider” sensibilities. Gunn has indeed spent much of the past decade indulging in the world of misfit superheroes via his work on Marvel’s “Guardians of the Galaxy” franchise, as well as DC’s “The Suicide Squad” and “Peacemaker” projects.
Perhaps more importantly, Gunn proved with those projects that superhero fans are ready to embrace even the oddest and most violent heroes so long as they’re presented in the right light. Still, The Authority may push boundaries even Gunn has yet to bridge. And it should be fascinating to see how audiences react to their wildly unconventional approach to heroism.
