Gunn shared that he had closed the deal to become the new head of DC Studios on the same day that Cavill said he was reprising the Superman role. Needless to say, the announcement came as a surprise to the Guardians of the Galaxy director. "I'm like, 'What is going on? We know what the plan is,'" Gunn told podcast host Josh Horowitz.

Now that Superman is performing well at the box office, buoyed by positive word of mouth and critic reviews, James Gunn is admitting that there was a lot riding on the film's success.