James Gunn unveils new direction and vision for DCEU
After much speculation, writer-director turned co-chairmen and co-CEO of DC Studios, alongside Peter Safran, has finally given audiences an update on where the direction of this new DCEU will go in the near future.
Speaking on Instagram, Gunn unveiled an ambitious new slate of titles that will relaunch the DCEU and bring it together into a more cohesive unit connected across film, television and gaming.
Watch the full reveal video below:
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Gunn openly talked about how disconnected the former DCEU has been and that his job is to bring it together the DCEU and ensure consistency across the narrative with the same actors so that everything feels like one connected story.
As part of the announcement, Gunn. has outlined the first phase of what is a 10-year plan for DC Studios, with this first section being titled: ‘Gods and Monsters’. ‘Gods and Monsters’ will start roll out in 2025 and will go through 2027.
Existing DCEU films including the upcoming Shazam! Fury of the Gods, The Flash and Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom, along with the forthcoming Joker: Folie a Deux and Matt Reeves’s highly anticipated sequel to The Batman starring Robert Pattinson have been labelled DC Elseworlds and will exist outside of Gunn and Safran’s new DCEU within DC Studios.
The plan for DC Studios will focus on two film releases per year, along with a handful of TV releases each year and Gunn outlined the list of projects that will serve as a part of ‘Gods and Monsters’.
The full list includes:
Creature Commandos – animated TV series. “Animation will lead into live action and back into animation,” said Gunn. “It’s a way to tell stories that are gigantic and huge without spending $50M an episode. Gunn has written this, it’s done. Creature Commandos is comprised of military superhumans including a human leader, a werewolf, a vampire, Frankenstein’s monster and a gorgon. Gunn pointed out that Weasel from his Suicide Squad will be on the show. This band of misfits were introduced in Weird War Tales #93 (November 1980), created by J. M. DeMatteis and Pat Broderick.
Waller – HBO Max live action series, the spinoff of Peacemaker. “We’re using the same actors, this is a continuation of Peacemaker. I’m working on Superman, so we can’t do Peacemaker season 2. We’re working on Waller in between,” Gunn told the room. Christal Henry (Watchmen) is writing the show and Jeremy Carver (creator of Doom Patrol). While none of the features aren’t rated R, the TV series could lean into being more adult.
Superman Legacy – feature film. “This is really the start of the DCU,” says Safran. The project was already announced by the duo Gunn writing. No director attached, but Safran was elbowing Gunn yesterday that he’d really like him to helm. The release date is July 11, 2025. “It’s not an origins story, it focuses on Superman’s balancing his Kryptonian heritage with his human upbringing. He’s the embodiment of truth, justice and the American way, he’s kindness in a world that thinks of kindness as old fashioned.”
Lanterns – HBO Max live action series. “Our vision for this is True Detective,” Safran says, “It’s terrestrial-based, it’s got two of our favorite Green Lanterns –Hal Jordan and John Stewart…it plays a really big role in the main story that we’re telling across our film and Television. This is a very important show for us.” Safran specified that this version is different from one that Greg Berlanti had in the works; the latter’s being a space opera.
The Authority – feature film. “There’s great wildstorm characters that were popular for a long-time and we’re incorporating them into the DCU,” says Gunn. He loves the property because it’s a mix of antiheroes, who take matters into their own hands despite what governments advise. A basic story is being written out. The Authority was created after StormWatch, a planetary defense force against aliens, was destroyed. The former member of that group, Jenny Sparks, created the Authority with her StormWatch Black teammates Swift and Jack Hawksmoor. The team includes The Engineer (Angela Spica), Jeroen Thornedike (the latest Doctor), Apollo and Midnighter.
Paradise Lost — HBO Max live action series. “It’s going to be a Games of Thrones-ish story about Themyscira, the home of the Amazons and the birthplace of Wonder Woman. This drama is really about the political intrigue behind the society of all women. How did that come about?” says Safran. “What’s the beautiful truths and the ugly truths behind all of that and what’s the scheming like between all the power players in that society?” adds Gunn. The series will take place before the birth of Diana (aka Wonder Woman).
The Brave and the Bold – feature film. This will be Gunn and Safran’s version of the DCU Batman outside what Matt Reeves already created. The movie will feature Batman and his son, Damien Wayne, as Robin “who is a little son of a bitch,” bills Gunn. “Assassin, murderer who Batman takes on, who is Batman’s actual son that he doesn’t know exists for the first 8-10 years of his life….it’s a strange father and son story about the two of them and based on Grant Morrison’s run of the Batman.”
Booster Gold HBO Max TV series is about a loser from the future, who uses future technology to come back to today, and pretend to be a superhero. “Imposter syndrome as a superhero,” describes Gunn.
Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow feature based on Tom King’s comic book series from 2022. “In our series we see the difference between Superman who was sent to Earth and raised by loving parents from the time he was an infant, versus Supergirl who was raised on a rock, a chip off Krypton, and watched everyone around her die and be killed in terrible ways for the first 14 years of her life, and then came to Earth when she was a young girl. She’s much more hardcore, she’s not exactly the Supergirl we’re use to seeing.”
The Batman sequel which will see the return of director Matt Reeves and Robert Pattinson which is currently being developed under the title Batman II will arrivein cinemas on October 3, 2025. While Pattinson will continue to portray Bruce Wayne/Batman in this universe of films, a new actor will be sought to portray Batman across DC Studios new continuity which will start with The Brave and the Bold.
Some rules that the duo will abide by in creating their universe:
– Anyone cast on the DC TV side as a character will also respectively play that character on the film side.
– No one actor will play two parts.
It’s a very interesting announcement from DC Studios and James Gunna and we’ll be watching with plenty of curiosity as to where DC Studios goes to from here.
Source: Deadline
