A new era of DC – the erstwhile rival of Marvel Comics – has arrived. Under the leadership of co-chairpersons and CEOs James Gunn and Peter Safran, DC Studios has announced its new slate of 10 upcoming movies and shows.
The pair explained that this new slate represents a unified approach to DC storytelling, while providing exciting details about the future direction of the company. Some of the projects include a new Batman movie, a Superman movie set for release in 2025, a Game of Thrones-style drama based on Wonder Woman's home of Themyscira, and an animated series on an odd set of characters.
The new slate, which is being referred to as Chapter 1: Gods and Monsters, features a combination of well-known heroes and lesser-known characters, who may become big in the future, similar to how Gunn's Guardians of the Galaxy characters did in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
The duo explained that their strategy is to use popular characters like Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman to prop up other characters that people are not familiar with and build those properties into popular ones in the future.
The initial slate of projects for Chapter 1 is ordered based on their planned appearance.
Creature Commandos: A seven-episode animated series, written by Gunn, that is already in production. Originally a team of classic monsters assembled to fight Nazis, this is a modern take on the concept.
The voice actors have yet to be cast, but the executives are looking to find people who can voice the animated characters and portray the live-action versions when the antiheroes appear in movies and series.
Waller: In a spinoff of Gunn’s own HBO Max hit series Peacemaker, Viola Davis will return as the ruthless and morally ambiguous head of a government task force. It is being written by Christal Henry (Watchmen) and Jeremy Carver, the creator of the Doom Patrol TV series.
Superman: Legacy: The movie featuring the Man of Steel that Gunn is writing and may direct, although no commitments on that end have been made. While the two previous titles are meant to be “aperitifs,” in Safran’s words, Superman is the true kick-off for the duo’s DCU plans.
“It’s not an origin story,” Safran said. “It focuses on Superman balancing his Kryptonian heritage with his human upbringing. He is the embodiment of truth, justice, and the American way. He is kindness in a world that thinks that kindness is old-fashioned.”
A release date of July 11, 2025, has been penciled in.
Lanterns: Greg Berlanti’s long-in-the-works Green Lanterns TV series has been scrapped (and Gunn and Safran have parted ways with the longtime DC series steward). In its place will be a new take on the space cops with power rings.
“Our vision for this is very much in the vein of True Detective,” Safran described. “It’s terrestrial-based.”
It will feature prominent Lantern heroes Hal Jordan and John Stewart and is one of the most important shows they have in development. “This plays a really big role in leading into the main story we are telling across film and TV.”
The Authority: A movie based on a team of superheroes with extreme methods of protecting the planet that first originated in the late 1990s under an influential imprint known as Wildstorm, run by artist and now head of DC publishing Jim Lee.
“One of the things about the DCU is that it’s not just a story of heroes and villains,” said Gunn. “Not every film and TV show is going to be about good guy versus bad guy, giant things from the sky come and good guy wins. There are white hats, black hats, and gray hats.”
Added Safran: “They are kinda like Jack Nicholson in A Few Good Men. They know that you want them on the wall. Or at least they believe that.”
Paradise Lost: The duo describes this HBO Max series as a Game of Thrones-style drama set on the all-female island that is Wonder Woman’s birthplace, Themyscira, filled with political intrigue and scheming between power players. It takes place before the events of the Wonder Woman films.
The Brave and the Bold: “This is the introduction of the DCU Batman,” said Gunn, “of Bruce Wayne, and also introduces our favorite Robin, Damian Wayne, who is a little son of a b****.” The movie will take inspiration from the now-classic Batman run written by Grant Morrison that introduced Batman to a son he never knew existed: a murderous tween raised by assassins. “It’s a very strange father-and-son story.”
The Batman Part II: Robert Pattinson will continue to portray the Dark Knight in at least one more crime saga movie directed by Matt Reeves, in a follow-up to 2022's The Batman. That movie, the executives revealed, will be released October 3, 2025.
“2025 is going to be a very big year for DC,” crowed Safran. “Superman and Batman within the same year.”
Booster Gold: An HBO Max series based on a unique, lesser-known hero created in 1986. Safran said of the series, “It’s about a loser from the future who uses basic future technology to come back to today and pretend to be a superhero.” Gunn described it as “imposter syndrome as a superhero.”
Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow: Taking its cues from the recent Tom King-written miniseries, this movie promises a different take than what most think of when Superman’s cousin comes to mind.
“We will see the difference between Superman, who was sent to Earth and raised by loving parents from the time he was an infant, versus Supergirl, raised on a rock, a chip off Krypton, and who watched everyone around her die and be killed in terrible ways for the first 14 years of her life and then come to Earth. She is much more hardcore and not the Supergirl we are used to.”
Swamp Thing: A horror film that promises to close out the first part of the first chapter. – The Vibes, February 1, 2023
