David Corenswet’s Superman with Krypto in James Gunn’s ‘Superman.’ –Warner Bros. PicturesIt has been a while since James Gunn and Peter Safran announced their initial DC Studios slate of “Gods and Monsters,” and in that time, a lot has changed. Superman is out, and was a big enough success for Warner Bros. to greenlight a sequel; Peacemaker is about to wrap up its second season, and has introduced DC’s multiverse in a very specific and limited way; and we are less than a year away from the second-ever Supergirl feature film.
It’s not easy to keep track of more than a dozen film and TV projects, ranging from an announcement and a logo all the way up through stuff that’s already in post-production, so we’ve sat down to try and make sense of Gunn’s public comments, and bring you an update on the state of the DC Universe (as of right now).
The original “Gods and Monsters” slate is as good a place to start as any, so here’s what was initially announced:
Movies
Superman
Supergirl
The Brave and the Bold
The Authority
Swamp Thing
TV
Creature Commandos
Peacemaker
Lanterns
Waller
Paradise Lost
Booster Gold
In the time since, a number of projects have been added to that slate. Now-planned feature films include Wonder Woman, Clayface, Teen Titans, Sgt. Rock, and the Superman sequel Man of Tomorrow. Also added: an animated Blue Beetle series, which is set to bring back Xolo Maridueña as Jaime Reyes, and an animated adaptation of Tom King’s Mister Miracle comic.
So…where are we?
Well, Creature Commandos came out to strong reviews and great numbers on HBO Max. The streamer has already ordered a second season of the show, which introduced Frank Grillo as Rick Flag, Sr. Flag, who appeared in Gunn’s Superman film this summer, is set to be the Nick Fury of the DC Universe, showing up in various projects and acting as the de facto representative of the government.
Superman earned more than $600 million at the global box office — not exactly Avengers numbers, but pretty strong in the post-COVID theatrical environment. It’s the year’s biggest superhero movie, beating out Fantastic Four: First Steps, and was enough of a success that Warner Bros. greenlit a sequel — Man of Tomorrow — already.
Per the Superman commentary track, the Justice Gang is a “proto version” of what might eventually become the Justice League. Gunn also explained that there are three groups vying for power: corporations, metahumans, and the government — and the events of Superman tipped the scales in a way that the government doesn’t like.
That, and a Peacemaker cameo by Lex Luthor (Nicholas Hoult), will set the stage for the events of Man of Tomorrow.
Peacemaker debuted its second season and six episodes in, has controlled social media buzz on its release days. Last week’s episode revealed the “big twist” of the season, setting up the conflicts for the final two episodes. According to Gunn, who has been hosting a Peacemaker after-show podcast with cast members Steve Agee and Jennifer Holland, characters to show up elsewhere – not necessarily in a third Peacemaker season, although he hasn’t ruled that out.
Peacemaker, if you’ll recall, is an outlier in the DC Universe because it ties back to The Suicide Squad, which was set in the DC Extended Universe — in other words, the “old” DC Universe that got retconned out of existence following Gunn and Safran’s takeover of DC Studios. It’s tempting to chalk all that up to the time-altering events of The Flash — Damn it, Barry! — but really, there’s no in-universe explanation. This is just…not the same universe.
That said, The Suicide Squad is “soft canon” for the DC Universe. Gunn has said he wants to see Idris Elba‘s Bloodsport again, and has resisted commenting directly on whether Margot Robbie‘s Harley Quinn might return. A “previously on Peacemaker” section at the start of season two revealed that the events of Peacemaker‘s first season happened more or less as viewers remember them, with except that the Justice Gang were the ones who made a cameo in the finale, not Zack Snyder‘s Justice League cast.
(Also, apparently, the line about Bloodshot sending Superman to the hospital with a Kryptonite bullet is now out-of-continuity. Fans picked up on that line and asked about it repeatedly after the opening text in Superman indicated he had never lost a fight before.)
Recently, Gunn said in an interview that he has no interest in exploring the relationship between Peacemaker and his former teammates on The Suicide Squad. They were likely surprised to learn he wasn’t dead — maybe when he appeared on a news broadcast, as seen in Superman — but Gunn says he’s already exploring the fallout of Peacemaker’s betrayal with the character of Rick Flag.
Writer Tom King’s presence looms large with both Mister Miracle and Supergirl in the works, although the extent to which Supergirl will be a literal adaptation of Woman of Tomorrow is anybody’s guess. The project, originally announced as Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow, lost its subtitle a few months ago…but did Woman of Tomorrow lose its subtitle because it was less of a direct adaptation of the comic — or because Gunn wanted to use “Man of Tomorrow” for Superman without creating brand confusion?
The Authority and Waller have reportedly been moved to the back burner. Gunn has said that, even with already-announced projects, he won’t greenlight a film or TV series until he is satisfied with the state of the script, and apparently neither of those projects are there yet.
The Authority, in particular, feels like a hard property to fit into the DC Universe as it exists so far. That movie feels like it could fall off the schedule entirely — or maybe become an Elseworlds project like Matt Reeves’s The Batman Part II, which is finally ready to shoot soon.
Booster Gold was also in limbo for a while, but seems to be humming along better since DC announced that Our Flag Means Death creator David Jenkins will serve as showrunner for the project. Still, don’t believe all those casting rumors until you see something actually come from the studio or at least a credible trade.
The first live-action TV project after Peacemaker will be Lanterns, which is is in post -production already and expected to release next year along with the Supergirl and Clayface movies. Supergirl is also in post, while Clayface is in production. That movie will be directed by Mike Flanagan, who is on one of Hollywood’s hottest winning streaks lately.
What does that leave us with?
Swamp Thing, coming from writer/director James Mangold (Logan), is in development.
Batman: The Brave and the Bold is expected to introduce a new version of the Dark Knight to the DC Universe, independent from the “Elseworlds”-branded version played by Robert Pattinson. The script isn’t ready yet and nobody has been cast as Batman, but it’s obviously a big corporate priority…because Batman. The movie is supposed to be directed by The Flash and It director Andy Muschietti. Gunn recently revealed that he has heard from a number of big-name actors who want to play Batman in the DCU.
Paradise Lost, a TV series expected to center on the Amazons but not star Wonder Woman, hasn’t been updated in a while, although Gunn did confirm it’s still in the works. Along the way, he revealed that they are working on a script for a new Wonder Woman film, although it’s unlikely Gal Gadot will reprise the role.
Teen Titans is also in the works from Ana Nogueira, who wrote Supergirl and is also working on Wonder Woman. No word yet on what characters will comprise the Titans’ lineup.
Sgt. Rock, which was to star Colin Farrell, has fallen off the development calendar for the time being, although the studio may pick it back up. Apparently, Challengers director Luca Guadagnino was ready to roll on the film, but it got delayed by practical concerns — according to Variety, they need to shoot during the summer, and it didn’t get started soon enough. Now, they may lose Guadagnino, which could hurt their chances of getting it back up and running next year.
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