It’s been a while since James Gunn and Peter Safran took control of the DC universe and have had time to formulate a plan for the future of the DC universe and the first part of their timeline for the universe titled “Chapter 1: Gods and Monsters” has finally been revealed.
Movies
Superman: Legacy
Superman: Legacy is set to open on July 11, 2025. Superman: Legacy will mark the start of the DCU according to Safran, however, this movie will not be an origin story of the Man of Steel.
“It focuses on Superman balancing his Kryptonian heritage with his human upbringing,” Safran said. “He is the embodiment of truth, justice, and the American way. He is kindness in a world that thinks of kindness as old-fashioned.”
Gunn is writing the project, and Safran said he hopes Gunn “can be persuaded, perhaps, to direct it as well.”
The Authority
Superman: Legacy will lead directly into “The Authority”, an ensemble movie about superhumans with less-than-idealistic approaches to saving the world.
“It isn’t just a story of heroes and villains, and not every movie and TV show is going to be about good guy versus bad guy,” Gunn said. “There are people that are very questionable, like the Authority, who basically believe that you can’t fix the world in an easy manner, and they take things into their own hands.”
Gunn said the film “is being written now,” but declined to say who was the screenwriter.
The Brave and the Bold
The DCU will introduce a new Batman, who will exist separately from the version of Batman played by Robert Pattinson in “The Batman” movies. The Brave and the Bold will introduce the Bat Family, Gunn said.
First among them is Robin, who is returning fully to live-action movies for the first time since 1997’s ill-fated feature “Batman and Robin.” This version of Robin is Damian Wayne. Gunn described him as “our favorite Robin, a little son of a bitch, an assassin, and a murderer.”
Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow
Based on King’s comics run of the same title from 2021 and 2022, “Woman of Tomorrow” features Superman’s cousin, Kara Zor-El, who, as Gunn explained, “is a very different type of Supergirl.”
“We see the difference between Superman, who was sent to Earth and raised by loving parents from the time he’s an infant, versus Supergirl, who was raised on a rock chip off of Krypton, and watched everyone around her die and be killed in terrible ways for the first 14 years of her life.”
Gunn said that this Supergirl is “much more hardcore” though King’s series also involves Krypto.
Swamp Thing
Swamp Thing will “investigate the dark origins of Swamp Thing,” said Safran. By way of explaining further, Gunn referenced the initial reactions to the Guardians of the Galaxy joining the Marvel Cinematic Universe and initial questions about how Rocket Raccoon would work standing next to Thor. “That mashup quality” wound up being one of the highlights of “Avengers: Infinity War” and “Avengers: Endgame,” Gunn argued.
Gunn said that they are “one-upping” that approach with Swamp Thing.
“This is a much more horrific film, but we’ll still have Swamp Thing interact with the other characters,” he added.
Television
Creature Commandos
This animated series for HBO Max is the very first project greenlit by Safran and Gunn, who have written every episode. The show is already in production.
The Creature Commando characters were first launched in 1980. The premise features Frankenstein’s monster teaming up with a werewolf, a vampire, and a gorgon to fight Nazis in World War II. It doesn’t appear that Gunn’s version takes quite the same approach — Weasel, one of the characters from Gunn’s 2021 film “The Suicide Squad,” is one of the Commandos, along with Rick Flag’s father, Rick Flag Sr.
Gunn also stated that the actors cast to voice the characters on the show will also play the roles in live-action later on in the DCU.
Waller
With Gunn focused on “Superman: Legacy” for the foreseeable future, Season 2 of “Peacemaker” has been put on hold. Instead, “team ‘Peacemaker’” will appear alongside Davis as a “continuation” of that show, Gunn said — which (spoiler alert for Season 1 of “Peacemaker”) ended with Waller’s daughter Leota Adebayo (Danielle Brooks) outing Task Force X (a.k.a. the Suicide Squad) and Waller’s role running it to the world.
Both “Creature Commandos” and “Waller” are expected to debut before “Superman: Legacy”; Safran called them the “aperitif” for the DCU.
Lanterns
Out of the TV series, Safran and Gunn seemed most excited for “Lanterns,” which Safran described as “a huge HBO-quality event” that is “very much in the vein of True Detective.”
The show will focus on the two best-known members of the Green Lantern’s Hal Jordan and John Stewart, who investigate a mystery that Safran said: “plays a really big role leading us into the main story that we’re telling across our film and television.”
“So this is a very important show for us,” Safran continued.
The project is separate from a Green Lantern series that was being developed by Greg Berlanti for HBO Max, which now is no longer moving forward.
Safran stated that “Greg’s vision was more of a space opera, Our vision is much more ‘True Detective,’ terrestrial-based investigation story.”
Paradise Lost
This “‘Game of Thrones’-ish story,” Safran said, is set on the island of Themyscira before the birth of Diana (a.k.a. Wonder Woman).
Safran continued: “It’s really about the political intrigue behind a society of all women.”
Gunn added: “How did that come about? What’s the origin of an island of all women? What are the beautiful truths and the ugly truths behind all of that? And what’s the scheming like between the different power players in that society?”
Booster Gold
Booster Gold is coming to the DCU. While he may not be familiar to casual fans of DC, the character, also known as Mike Carter, is a fan favorite among devoted readers. Safran called Booster “a loser from the future who uses basic future technology to come back to today and pretend to be a superhero.”
Mike who hails from the 25th century, Mike is a disgraced former football star who uses a time machine on display in the Metropolis Space Museum.
Gunn stated that “Basically, ‘Booster Gold’ is imposter syndrome as a superhero.”
You can check out James Gunn’s tweet below;
People will have stuff to say, people will be negative about this new era in DC. I have to say, this list does sound really fun. Especially this new Superman movie, as well as the Damian Wayne stuff. I’m excited to see the future.
