James Gunn, co-CEO of DC Studios, layed out the strategy to coalesce a connected universe between gaming, comics, cartoons, television, and movies in a video on his instagram today.
Kicking it off will be the already announced Shazam! Fury of the Gods, which is expected to be released March 17th. Following that the Flash is set to release, despite the delays and controversies surrounded lead Ezra Miller. Blue Beetle is expected to come out with an August 18th release for the Summer film season. Followed by Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom. the sequel to 2018’s Aquaman, which wraps up the releases of which we knew and expected.
Gunn then discussed the first chapter of what he and co-CEO Peter Safran, along along with many other writers, have mapped out as part of an 8-10 year plan for DC properties. This first chapter Gunn said is titled ‘Gods and Monsters’.
Gods and Monsters will kick off with Creature Commandos which is an animated series written by James Gunn. Gunn says this demonstrates their wish to develop stories and characters that can come in an out of animation, voiced by the same actors from the live-action series.
Waller is to be released next and will focus on the character Amanda Waller, played by Viola Davis and introduced in the 2016 film Suicide Squad. After announced departures from actors playing existing characters, such as Henry Cavill’s departure from the role of Superman, its of note that Viola Davis will continue the role. Waller has been written by Chrystal Henry (Watchmen) and Jeremy Carver (Doom Patrol).
Gunn then declared that Superman Legacy is the true beginning of the DCU. This film is set to be released July 11th, 2025 with an as yet unannounced actor for Superman.
Following the kick-off of the DCU, Lanterns will premiere as an HBO TV series featuring John Stewart, Hal Jordan, and other Green Lanterns. Gunn shared that this series will be like True Detective with a couple of lantern space cops watching over Earth.
Next there’ll be a project featuring The Authority is based on Wildstorm characters. Wildstorm has included characters such as Christine Trelane, Deathblow, The Engineer, Flint, Freefall, Grifter, Jack Hawksmoor, The High, Rainmaker, Swift, though its yet to be seen who will be included. Gunn emphasized this will bring characters from The Authority into DCU and that they will interact with all of the characters in the DCU. According to Gunn, The Authority believes the world is broken and want to fix it by any means necessary.
Wonder Woman’s world (and perhaps Wonder Woman) will then be included in the fold with a TV series called Paradise Lost about Paradise Island, the birthplace of Wonder Woman.
Batman will then make his introduction to DCU with The Brave and the Bold featuring the character’s son Damian Wayne based on Grant Morrison’s run with Damian as Robin.
Next up is TV series called Booster Gold, who Gunn calls a fan favorite. Gunn states Booster Gold is a loser from the future who uses future tech to return to present day to get loved. This will be presented as a HBO Max series.
Tom King’s Supergirl of Tomorrow Gunn promises will become an epic film with a story centered around Supergirl’s alternate upbringing. Gunn says that while Superman is sent to earth and razed by loving parents Supergirl was raised on Krypton, had to watch everyone perish, and therefore is much more jaded.
Rounding off the start of DCU’s Chapter 1, Gods and Monsters – of which there’ll be more to come Gunn promises – Swamp Thing will get a dark origin story – totally outside of the DCU – but which will still feed into the rest of the stories.
Gunn emphasized “I’ve loved the DC characters since I was a child. They’re incredibly important to me. I knew that this was a once in a lifetime opportunity to do something very different.” He promised too “the directors vision, and the vision of the writers, is unique and something special. Storytelling is always king. That’s all that matters to us. I want to give you something different than you’ve ever seen before.”
