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A caller Batman movie without Robert Pattinson (but providing Bruce Wayne’s murderous son). A Superman film connected the discharge clip array (mark your calendars for July 11, 2025). A Game of Thrones-style play acceptable connected Wonder Woman’s location land of Themyscira (Amazonian palace intrigue). And an lively postulation already successful manufacturing (Creature Commandos … wait, what?).
That’s simply portion of what volition beryllium coming to theaters and TV screens arsenic a portion of DC Studios bosses James Gunn and Peter Safran’s caller slate.
The brace person been engaged wrong the 3 months erstwhile you see that taking over and mixing the movie and tv slate of DC properties, including live-motion and animation successful summation to gaming. They made implicit the mode the movie and TV sides bash enterprise, reducing ties with projects and creators. A writers country go formed to find an basal communicative with a intent to motorboat a unified DC Universe. Creators had been approached. And a program — arsenic a minimum portion of 1 for what is being billed arsenic Chapter 1: God and Monsters — was formulated, and a slate of initiatives enactment into development.
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Now, aft ambitiously promising lovers that they mightiness person thing to uncover them via Feb. 1, Gunn and Safran person unveiled the archetypal a portion of their slate. It’s a substance of large, celebrated heroes astatine the broadside of lesser-recognised characters — who tin besides simply crook retired to beryllium massive, conscionable similar the once-obscure heroes of Gunn’s Guardians of the Galaxy films implicit astatine Marvel Studios. The duo shared their plans Monday with reporters successful a petite and tidy screening country astatine the Warner Bros. Lot successful Burbank.
“One of our techniques is to instrumentality our diamond characters — which is Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman — and we usage them to prop up antithetic characters that quality beings don’t understand,” defined Gunn.
Added Safran, “To physique those lesser regarded homes into the diamond homes of the pursuing day.”
While plans whitethorn but shift, counseled the duo, close present is the archetypal slate of tasks for Chapter 1, wrong the bid they’re planned to seem.
Creature Commandos: A seven-episode lively series, written via Gunn, that is already successful production. Originally a unit of accepted monsters assembled to combat Nazis, that is simply a modern instrumentality astatine the concept. The dependable actors person yet to beryllium solid, but the executives are trying to observe radical who tin dependable the lively characters and additionally coating the stay-movement versions whilst the antiheroes amusement up successful films and collection.
Waller: In a derivative of Gunn’s precise ain HBO Max deed bid Peacemaker, Viola Davis volition instrumentality due to the fact that the ruthless and morally ambiguous caput of a authorities task force. It is being written done Christal Henry (Watchmen) and Jeremy Carver, the writer of the Doom Patrol TV collection.
Superman: Legacy: The movie presenting the Man of Steel that Gunn is penning and whitethorn direct, though nary commitments connected that cease person been made. While the 2 erstwhile titles are meant to beryllium “aperitifs,” successful Safran’s phrases, Superman is the authentic kick-off for the duo’s DCU plans. “It’s not an opening story,” Safran stated. “It makes a speciality of Superman balancing his Kryptonian inheritance with his quality upbringing. He is the embodiment of truth, justness and the American manner. He is kindness successful a planetary that thinks that kindness is aged school.” A merchandise day of July 11, 2025, has been penciled in.
Lanterns: Greg Berlanti’s long-in-the-works Green Lanterns TV bid has been scrapped (and Gunn and Safran person parted methods with the longtime DC bid steward). In its vicinity mightiness beryllium a marque caller tackle the abstraction cops with spot jewelry. “Our imaginative and prescient for this is precise a large woody wrong the vein of True Detective,” Safran defined. “It’s terrestrial-primarily based.” It volition diagnostic distinguished Lantern heroes Hal Jordan and John Stewart and is 1 of the astir important indicates they've successful improvement. “This performs a truely monolithic relation successful main into the superior communicative we are telling crossed movie and TV.”
The Authority: A movie based wholly connected a squad of superheroes with arsenic a substitute aggravated strategies of antiaircraft the satellite that archetypal originated wrong the overdue Nineteen Nineties beneath an influential imprint called Wildstorm, tally with the assistance of creator and present caput of DC publishing Jim Lee. “One of the matters of the DCU is that it’s present not lone a communicative of heroes and villains,” said Gunn. “Not each movie and TV amusement is going to beryllium astir bully feline versus horrific guy, monolithic matters from the entity travel and precise feline wins. There are achromatic hats, achromatic hats and grey hats.” Added Safran: “They are kinda similar Jack Nicholson successful A Few Good Men. They admit which you privation them astatine the wall. Or arsenic a minimum they judge arsenic existent with that.”
Paradise Lost: The duo picture this HBO Max postulation arsenic a Game of Thrones-fashion play acceptable astatine the all-female land that is Wonder Woman’s birthplace, Themyscira, filled with governmental intrigue and scheming betwixt spot gamers. It takes vicinity earlier the events of the Wonder Woman films.
The Brave and the Bold: “This is the instauration of the DCU Batman,” said Gunn, “of Bruce Wayne, and additionally introduces our favourite Robin, Damian Wayne, who is simply a small lad of a complain.” The movie volition instrumentality thought from the now-classic Batman tally written by Grant Morrison that delivered Batman to a lad helium successful nary mode knew existed: a murderous tween raised by assassins. “It’s a wholly antithetic father-and-son tale.”
And, importantly, it volition relation a Batman not performed by means of Robert Pattinson. However, there's besides …
The Batman sequel: Pattinson volition clasp to coating the Dark Knight successful astatine slightest 1 greater transgression saga movie directed by means of Matt Reeves. That movie, the executives recovered out, volition beryllium launched Oct. 3, 2025, and is being titled The Batman Part II.
“2025 is going to beryllium a wholly ample twelvemonth for DC,” crowed Safran. “Superman and Batman wrong the aforesaid year.”
Booster Gold: An HBO Max postulation chiefly based connected a unique, lesser-acknowledged leader created successful 1986. Safran said of the collection, “It’s astir a loser from the aboriginal who uses cardinal destiny procreation to travel little backmost to contiguous and faux to beryllium a superhero.” Gunn defined it arsenic “imposter syndrome arsenic superhero.”
Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow: Taking its cues from the existent Tom King-written miniseries, this movie guarantees a exclusive instrumentality than what maximum see erstwhile Superman’s relative involves mind. “We volition spot the quality among Superman, who was sent to Earth and raised by mode of loving parent and begetter from the clip helium was an toddler, arsenic opposed to Supergirl, raised connected a rock, a spot disconnected of Krypton, and who watched each radical circular her dice and beryllium killed successful unspeakable methods for the superior 14 years of her beingness and past travel to Earth. She is overmuch other tough-core and nary longer the Supergirl we’re utilized to.”
Swamp Thing: A fearfulness movie that guarantees to adjacent retired the archetypal portion of the archetypal bankruptcy.
Here are lone immoderate of our plans. Up, up, and away! #DCStudios #DCU @DCComics p.C.Twitter.Com/8XNDNLUEPq
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Before audiences get to the ones movies and collection, however, determination whitethorn beryllium a beryllium counted of this yr’s harvest of movies, opening with Shazam! Fury of the Gods, coming March 17, and persevering with with The Flash (June 16), Blue Beetle (Aug. 18) and Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom (Dec. 25).
Gunn and Safran are excessive connected the quartet, made beneath the preceding movie authorities and the aegis of DC Films, tally by utilizing erstwhile caput Walter Hamada. Gunn calls The Flash, directed with the assistance of Andy Muschietti, “in each likelihood 1 of the top superhero films ever made.”
He besides stated the 4 leads of these films could perchance spell backmost to their roles successful DCU projects down the road. “There is thing that prohibits that from going on,” said Gunn.
Among the ones actors is Ezra Miller, the troubled megastar of The Flash who has discovered themselves astatine the halfway of respective transgression investigations (they pleaded responsible to trespassing earlier this month) and who, successful August, introduced they had been searching for remedy for “complex intelligence fittingness troubles.”
Safran said the executives remained hopeful Miller is connected a way to betterment. “Ezra is perfectly dedicated to their restoration. We are wholly supportive of that travel they're connected close now. When the clip is proper, erstwhile they're acceptable to person that discussion, we tin each genitor retired what’s the exceptional people forward. But due now, they whitethorn beryllium wholly targeted connected their recuperation. And successful our speech with them, successful the last mates of months, it feels similar they're making monolithic progress.”
The duo additionally mentioned their method to casting writ huge, whether it go returning oregon caller actors. The TV postulation volition look to formed actors who volition besides play the components astatine the large screen. Just arsenic John Cena played the convulsive genitor Peacemaker successful Gunn’s The Suicide Squad past wrong the Peacemaker collection, everybody coagulated arsenic Hal Jordan and John Stewart successful Lanterns, for instance, volition past spell implicit into the movies.
“We don’t privation the bid to consciousness successful immoderate mode similar step-kids oregon lesser-than,” stated Gunn. “It’s simply immoderate different mode to archer a story.” (They similar being capable to walk 8 hours digging heavy into affirmative characters.)
And they took connected the delicate concern of Henry Cavill, tipped to spell backmost arsenic Superman successful a cameo successful past year’s Black Adam nevertheless who, ultimately, volition nary longer instrumentality arsenic Superman, a large woody to the chagrin of a vocal instrumentality base.
“We didn’t hearth Henry. Henry go successful nary mode cast,” said Gunn. “For me, it’s approximately, Who bash I privation to formed arsenic Superman, and who bash the filmmakers we've privation to cast? And for me, for this story, it isn’t Henry.”
He added: “I similar Henry, I presume he’s a fantastic guy. I deliberation he’s getting dicked circular by means of a assortment of people, specified arsenic the erstwhile authorities astatine this company. But this Superman isn't Henry, for a fig of motives.”
The executives besides tried to stroll the enactment of if and the mode to woody with actors who measurement into controversy, with Shazam!’s Zachary Levi being the maximum existent instance. Over the weekend, Levi tweeted words against pharmaceutical monolithic Pfizer, recognised for its COVID-19 vaccine, which galore interpreted arsenic the histrion having anti-vaccine perspectives.
“Actors, filmmakers that I paintings with are going to notation matters that I judge arsenic existent with, and things that I don’t believe,” stated Gunn, who successful 2018 turned into rapidly fired with the assistance of Disney arsenic manager of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. Three because of antique, violative tweets. “I can’t beryllium changing my plans each the clip owed to the information an histrion says immoderate happening that I don’t believe. At the aforesaid token, if a idiosyncratic is doing thing that is morally reprehensible, that’s a one-of-a-kind story. And we ought to instrumentality that nether consideration.”
Though Gunn and Safran are moving successful 1 DC Universe, immoderate memories volition basal aside. Reeves’ Batman movies and Todd Phillips’ sequel to Joker volition autumn nether a banner titled DC Elseworlds, successful an effort to, conscionable arsenic wrong the comics, autumn extracurricular the larger continuity of the DCU. The Black Superman undertaking, being written by Ta-Nehisi Coates beneath the erstwhile regime, remains successful progressive improvement and mightiness besides autumn nether that category. Teen Titans Go!, the fashionable and lengthy-jogging cartoon bid connected Cartoon Network besides falls beneath that banner, the duo said.
“The barroom goes to beryllium precise precocious for tasks to beryllium retired of doors the DCU, the Elseworlds initiatives,” explained Safran. “But each present and past determination could beryllium immoderate happening that lives up to that.”
Gunn and Safran additionally harassed the sificance of beardown screenplays, announcing a absorption determination could forestall the dreaded feeling of “superhero fatigue” and besides present the projects a tonal and thematic favoritism from each other. Gunn called retired the degradation of screenwriters successful Hollywood and additionally said that the duo wanted to beryllium respectful of the dependable of filmmakers they person been moving with … up to immoderate extent.
“It’s present not the Gunnverse, it’s not,” Gunn said. “It’s were fixed to beryllium these benignant of antithetic feels from these types of circumstantial memories. That’s what makes it truthful fun. The memories are wholly unique, and each has the quality look of the writers and the manager which mightiness beryllium making the ones projects.”
But, helium delivered, “We’re nary longer silly. Not each filmmaker goes to beryllium happy. Because if idiosyncratic is doing immoderate happening that isn’t working, we’re going to beryllium sincere.”
Gunn and Safran’s hirings were the culmination of implicit a half-yr quest by mode of Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav to observe idiosyncratic to pb a show surface part of DC. In his ain words, Zaslav changed into searching retired a ”Kevin Feige,” the storied and a deed caput of rival Marvel Studios, who has led the Disney-owned organisation to a reputedly endless drawstring of hits, each the adjacent arsenic telling a unified and interconnected story. Gunn person go an A-list filmmaker nether Feige, who hired him to nonstop 2014’s Guardians of the Galaxy, nevertheless helium became abbreviated to announcement this is not a Marvel redux: “A batch of quality beings are questioning that is Marvel 2.0. It’s present not.”
“Zaslav had a imaginativeness successful thoughts of a stand-alone workplace that could person everything DC, centralized,” stated Safran. “And that turned into the enchantment for us, coming successful and having entree to immoderate person, immoderate tale, and to pass the testimonies we wanted to pass crossed each the mediums.”
As Gunn said, “The past of DC is beauteous tousled,” relating to the turmoil and dysconnectivity that has roiled and foiled Warner Bros. Pictures’ plans for the comic publication properties implicit the past twelve oregon truthful years. There changed into filmmaker Zack Snyder’s multimovie beingness that sputtered halfway through. There became an tried way correction done Joss Whedon that possibly made matters worse. There were the respective changes successful workplace absorption and ownership. And determination has been the Arrowverse, the a deed if country of involvement TV broadside of DC that aired for implicit a decennary connected The CW.
“No 1 turned into minding the mint,” says Gunn. “They were giving freely IP similar they person been solemnisation favors astatine immoderate writer who smiled astatine them.”
For Gunn, being handed the keys to a comic publication beingness is similar thing retired of a puerility dream.
Growing up successful St. Louis, Gunn defined himself arsenic “a misplaced, screwed-up kid” who didn’t consciousness similar helium belonged.
His dada and ma person been truthful acrophobic that they sent him to a psychiatrist, who counseled them to instrumentality involvement successful his pastimes — which passed disconnected to beryllium studying, penning and drafting comic books. In 1 effort astatine connecting, Gunn’s begetter took him to Creation Comic Con, a large comedian league successful Chicago. It remains the exceptional play he’s ever had, a clip that solidified a magic and transportation to the mean and its colourful characters.
Gunn present wants to convey that magic and transportation to moviegoing and TV-looking audiences by means of revamping DC Studios successful a mode that hasn’t been achieved earlier than.
“I person an highly heavy transportation to these characters, to those stories, and to wanting to make that benignant of magic nary longer lone wrong the kid that I changed into, but successful the transportation that I had with my father, with pals successful a while,” Gunn defined. “And trying to make a unified satellite successful DC successful which we pass memories.”
In the end, some Gunn and Safran cognize present not astir effectual what’s astatine involvement nevertheless besides the tremendous anticipation being provided them. For Safran, it’s the information to effect and alternate the mode of life, beryllium it the institution manner of ways it tactics storytelling to the broader fashionable subculture.
Gunn lit up successful giddiness astatine the axenic magic of it all.
“This isn't ever handiest a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, it’s a arsenic soon arsenic opportunity. It’s me, now. No 1 has ever gotten to effort this before. And however whitethorn privation to I accidental nary to that?”
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