DC Studios heads James Gunn and Peter Safran delighted comic book fans on Tuesday when they made a plethora of announcements about the first chapter in their planned DC shared universe. Titling the first chapter “Gods and Monsters,” Gunn and Safran announced and described some of the new DC Universe’s first installments across television and film, both in live-action and animation, as well as their philosophies on production and how the new projects will relate to the current version of the DC Extended Universe.
A Single Universe, With Extras
Gunn and Safran’s most heavily emphasized assertion was that going forward most DC media will be much more closely linked than past projects, taking place in a single universe that encompasses film, television, animation, and video games — with the latter being a platform that even the Marvel Cinematic Universe hasn’t officially embraced yet. Gunn reiterated that DC’s continuity will be tighter going forward, stating that for the most part, the DCU’s characters will be played by the same actors across different mediums, whether in animation or live-action. However, he did clarify that some standalone projects outside the DCU will continue but that they will be clearly labeled as “Elseworlds” stories, appropriating the name DC Comics uses for its own stories set outside its main continuity. Some of the Elseworlds projects already in development are Matt Reeves and Robert Pattinson’s Batman projects, Todd Phillips’ Joker sequel, and Ta-Nehisi Coates and J.J. Abrams’ Superman film featuring a black version of the character.
The Big Guns Are Front and Center
Indecision over whether to bring back DCEU stars Henry Cavill and Ben Affleck as Superman and Batman have led DC’s biggest characters to be largely absent from the franchise for the last few years. Under Gunn and Safran this will be changing. The duo has frequently emphasized that the characters will be cornerstones to the new version of the franchise and both are receiving new films during the first chapter. Superman: Legacy, which is being written and possibly directed by Gunn himself is set for release in 2025 and Gunn describes it as, "the true beginning of the DCU," even though a couple of other projects may actually be released sooner. Gunn confirmed that the film is not an origin story but that his Superman, who will be played by a new actor — not Cavill — will be a young adult who is still new to his crime-fighting career. Batman: The Brave and the Bold will be released sometime after and likewise will not star Affleck. The DCU Batman is expected to be older than Pattinson’s version, as the film will feature one of the many Robins, Bruce Wayne's biological son, Damian. In addition to the Man of Steel and Dark Knight, other A-list heroes confirmed to be part of “Gods and Monsters” include Green Lanterns Hal Jordan and John Stewart, who will co-star in the HBO series Lanterns, which Gunn describes as having major implications for the whole franchise, as Hal and John discover "a terrifying mystery that ties into our larger story."
No One Is Too Obscure
But while the World’s Finest are set to return to their rightful places at its center, the DCU will also be bringing far less famous characters into the spotlight, much as Gunn has already done during his time as a writer and director for both the DCEU and MCU. The first chapter will feature both a Booster Gold HBO Max show and a Swamp Thing film. These characters may be beloved by comic book fans, but they don’t have much name recognition with the general audience and the DCU versions will likely be the first time many viewers have ever come across them. There’s also Creature Commandos, the franchise’s first announced animated series, and the titular team of that show is even more obscure. It's likely that Gunn’s announcement of the series is the first time even many dedicated comic book fans heard of them, and yet he and Safran seem equally passionate about exploring lesser-known figures like them as they are about playing with the big icons.
All Imprints Are Welcome
One of the more surprising announcements was that there will be a film adaptation of The Authority, an adult-oriented comic about a team of heroes similar to the Justice League, but who are much more ruthless, willing to cross many moral lines for what they believe is the greater good. While the new franchise bringing in obscure anti-heroes so early is surprising enough, using The Authority sends a specific message about the limits, or lack thereof, on Gunn and Safran’s DCU. The Authority series were published by Wildstorm comics, a creator-owned comic book imprint that DC later purchased. Because of this, The Authority and other Wildstorm characters were often isolated from the rest of DC’s titles, not crossing over with the mainstream heroes. In recent years, however, Wildstorm figures including The Authority have been integrated into the main DC Comics universe along with characters from other tangentially connected imprints like Vertigo and Milestone. Giving The Authority their own film suggests that the DCU will follow suit, not only having access to these characters but using them as major parts of the new franchise with Gunn confirming that The Authority "will interact with all of our primary DCU characters."
A Magical Universe
“Gods and Monsters” is also the title of a wild DC animated film set in an alternate timeline. But it seems unlikely the DCU’s first chapter will really have much in common with that film, with the title instead seeming to suggest specific ideas about the genre influences on the chapter. Superhero stories almost always draw from the wider crime and science fiction genres, but they also often dip into the realms of fantasy and the supernatural and these look to be recurring elements of “Gods and Monsters.” Many of the announced projects and characters featured in Gunn and Safran’s announcements are as deeply connected to mystical forces as they are to sci-fi phenomena.
HBO Max series Paradise Lost is a prequel to the Wonder Woman franchise, which is itself inherently tied to Greek mythology; Swamp Thing’s comic books famously evolved from a sci-fi monster story into an elaborate tale full of complex magical world-building; and the Creature Commandos are literal occult monsters. In addition, the emotional spectrum that powers the Green Lanterns’ rings is essentially a form of cosmic magic, and Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow, the comic book that inspired the developing movie of the same name, was noted for placing Supergirl in a story that blended space opera with high fantasy. These connections suggest that the supernatural will be a recurring, important part of the DCU’s first chapter and will allow it to draw from the fantasy and even horror genres for stylistic influence, which should help differentiate projects from those of the MCU.
Some Familiar Faces Will Return
Despite all the information Gunn and Safran released, the biggest questions about DC’s live-action future remain those being which actors from the DCEU will continue to play their roles and which characters are going to be recast. While Affleck and Cavill are confirmed to be finished playing their parts, their DCEU co-star Viola Davis is returning as Amanda Waller in an HBO Max series devoted to the character. While describing Waller, Gunn stated that characters from his DCEU series Peacemaker, many of whom Davis’ Waller has already interacted with, will appear in the series. This effectively confirms that those characters will not be recast and suggests that the same may be true for characters that played big roles in Gunn’s other DCEU project The Suicide Squad, such as Margot Robbie’s Harley Quinn. But the fates of other DCEU stars like Gal Gadot’s Wonder Woman, Ezra Miller’s Flash, and Jason Momoa’s Aquaman remain uncertain. Gunn stated that Miller’s upcoming Flash film resets the live-action DCU continuity, but that doesn’t necessarily mean Miller or his co-stars, which include Michael Keaton and Sasha Calle, will continue in their roles beyond the film.
Again, there remains much uncertainty around the DCU. And possible future developments, like Gadot and Momoa potentially leaving their roles, will not be popular with large contingents of fans. But overall the titles announced, the promise of a more closely-connected universe and the continued existence of standalone Elseworlds stories mean the new era is off to a good start.