The next generation of DC Movies & TV shows from DC Studios has finally been announced and we couldn’t be more excited! On Tuesday, January 31, 2023, James Gunn and Peter Safran announced the first part of their 10 year plan by reveling the first 10 new interconnected projects for the DCU. The first slate is called Chapter 1: Gods and Monsters.
The new Flash movie coming out this Summer will reset most things, but not everything, according to James Gunn. That will lead into the new Blue Beatle movie and Aquaman 2, which will be set in its own world and be more of a stand-alone movie. From there, we will get the first projects of the new DCU, 5 new movies and 5 new TV shows.
Don’t worry though, projects like The Batman from Director Matt Reeves and Joker from Todd Phillips will still be around but will be DC Elseworlds stories. This will allow DC to have a main universe as well as other projects outside of that universe so they are not limited to the stories they can tell.
βThe DCUβs a multiverse, but weβre going to be focusing on one universe from that multiverse,β explains Safran. βAnd if something isnβt DCU, weβre going to make that very clear. So, strictly adult fare like Todd Phillipsβ Joker, or kids animation like Teen Titans Go!, weβre going to make it very clear that those are DC Elseworlds, just the same way that they do it in the comic books.β
Chapter 1 Gods and Monsters
The first chapter of the DCU will include 5 new movies and 5 new tv shows that will all be interconnected. Here is a list of all 10 new projects Chapter 1: Gods and Monsters, in order as they will come out.
Creature Commandos
Creature Commandos will be the first TV series for the new DCU. It will be an animated series on HBO Max, and we will see the return on Weasel!
James Gunn:Β The first series that weβre doing, and Iβve already written the entire series, isΒ Creature Commandos.Β This is an animated TV series and this is art from the animation company thatβs doing it.Β Creature CommandosΒ is based on the great team from DC.
What weβre doing with the DCU is weβre having animation tied directly into live action. Television, movies and games all intertwine within the same universe. Weβre going to cast actors that are going to be able to play the characters in this, as well as in other things, some of which weβve already cast. Iβve written all seven episodes of this show and itβs in production now.
In the image (going from left to right), that’s Rick Flag, Sr. He’s going to show up in other stuff. Then Nina Mazursky.Β Doctor Phosphorus, a Batman villain.Β FrankensteinβEric Frankenstein, specifically.Β The Bride of Frankenstein, who’s the lead. Finally,Β G.I. Robot and Weasel.
Waller
Waller will be the first live-action TV series of the new DCU and will also be on HBO Max.
Gunn: Viola Davis is coming back as her character, Amanda Waller. This is also going to have some of the Peacemaker team in it as regulars on the show. This basically follows up Peacemaker. We have two great creatives working on it: Christal Henry, who was a writer on Watchmen, and Jeremy Carver who created Doom Patrol. They have this incredibly marvelous story worked out that I think is really fantastic.
Peter Safran: This series will sit between Peacemaker season one and season two.
Superman: Legacy
The first movie in the new DCU will be Superman: Legacy, which will be written and directed by James Gunn himself. Let us know in the comments who you think would be a great casting for Superman.
Safran:Β (This) is really the launch of the DCU. The first two projects are an amuse-bouche for whatβs coming up withΒ Superman: Legacy.Β James is currently writing it. Weβre hoping that he will direct it. Itβs not an origin story. It focuses on Superman balancing his Kryptonian heritage with his human upbringing. Superman represents truth, justice and the American way. He is kindness in a world that thinks of kindness as old fashioned.
Gunn:Β With our stories, we want to take it away from good guy vs. bad guy. There are really goodβalmost saintlyβpeople and Superman is among them. There are really terrible villains like Gorilla Grodd or the Joker. And then thereβs everybody in between them, so there are all these shades of gray which allow us to tell complex stories.
Safran:Β And we have a release date for thisβJuly 11, 2025.
Lanterns
Lanterns is one of the new projects that we are most excited to get. This will be a live-action TV series on HBO Max and will feature both John Stewart and Hal Jordan!
Safran:Β Our next project is another television series. We call itΒ LanternsΒ and it is starring two of our favorite Green LanternsβHal Jordan and John Stewart. Itβs going to be with HBO Max, as all of our series are that weβre going to talk about today. It is more of aΒ True Detective-type mystery with our two Lanterns. A terrestrial-based mysteryβ
Gunn:Β βthat leads into the overall story that weβre telling throughout the different movies and television shows. We find this ancient horror on Earth, and these guys are basically supercops on βPrecinct Earth.β
Safran:Β The story is going to weave back and forth between the films and the television shows.Β PeacemakerΒ is a good example of how that works, and thatβs what weβre going to do with this big overarching story that weβre telling.
The Authority
The next live-action movie will be The Authority.
Gunn:Β This is one of my real passion projects. Iβve been working really hard on it with the writers and weβre starting to put together the entire story. This is a big movie. I donβt know how many of you are familiar with the Authority. Theyβre WildStorm characters. WildStorm was a comics imprint that was bought by DC that I really love. Weβre moving a lot of these WildStorm characters into the DCU.
The AuthorityβsΒ a very different kind of superhero story. They are basically good-intentioned, but they think that the world is completely broken and the only way to fix it is to take things into their own hands, whether that means killing people, destroying heads of state, changing governmentsβbasically, whatever they want to do to make the world better. Weβll see how that journey goes for them.
There are morally gray characters (in our DCU), of which these are.
PS:Β We love that they think the ends justify the means and theyβre the ones that decide what the right ends are.
Paradise Lost
Paradise Lost looks to be a fun new live-action tv series on HBO Max that will feature Themyscira/Paradise Island at a time before Wonder Woman.
Safran:Β This is aΒ Game of Thrones-type story about Themyscira/Paradise Island, home of the Amazons and the birthplace of Wonder Woman. This involves all of the darkness, drama and political intrigue behind this society of only women.
Gunn:Β Itβs an origin story of how this society of women came about. What does it mean? What are their politics like? What are their rules? Whoβs in charge? What are the games that they play with each other to get to the top? I think itβs really exciting.
Safran:Β The events really take place before Dianaβs birth.
The Brave and the Bold
We can’t hold back our excitement for this one! The introduction of the DCU’s Batman! The next DCU live-action movie will be The Brave and the Bold.
Gunn: This is the introduction of the DCUβs Batman. It is not Robert Pattinson. It is not Ben Affleck. Weβre working with Robert on The Batman β Part II with Matt Reeves, and weβre working with Ben Affleck, who has been a part of our team trying to bring things together and he really wants to direct one of our projects. Weβre excited for him to do that.
This is a story of Damian Wayne, whoβs Batmanβs actual son that he didnβt know existed for the first eight to ten years of his life. He was raised as a little murderer and assassin. Heβs my favorite Robin. Itβs based on the Grant Morrison comic run, which is one of my favorite Batman runs. Weβre putting it all together right now.
Safran: This is going to feature other members of the extended Bat-Family. Just because we feel like theyβve been left out of the Batman stories in the theater for far too long.
Booster Gold
Booster Gold will be a fun new live-action TV series on HBO Max. We are excited to see who they cast for this one!
Safran:Β A total fan favorite, as you know. A loser from the future who uses his basic future technology to come back to today to pretend to be a superhero.
Gunn:Β I think of it as basically the story of a superheroβs imposter syndrome. How do you deal with that? (Itβs about) how he tries to use this future technology to be loved by the people of today and what is really at the base of that. Itβs a character story thatβs going to be a very different type of show, and weβre talking to an actor about it now.
Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow
Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow is looking to be the best new project from the new DCU and we can’t wait to hear more about it.
Gunn: This is based on Tom King (and Bilquis Evely)βs wonderful comic. Tom has been one of the architects of this entire situation. Heβs been one of the guys in the room with us, along with four or five other writers. I love his take on these characters. He just turns them slightly to be something very unique.
In our story, we have Superman who was sent to Earth and raised by incredibly loving parents. Kara was on Krypton. She was on a piece of Krypton that drifted away from the planet and she lived there for the first fourteen years of her life in a horrible situation where she watched everyone around her die. So, sheβs a much harsher and more fucked up Supergirl than youβve been used to thus far.
Swamp Thing
We are so excited to hear that there will be a live-action Swamp Thing movie in the new DCU. Hopefully this will lead to a Justice League: Dark movie!
Safran:Β The final film we wanted to talk about isΒ Swamp Thing.Β We bring it up because itβs important to point out that in these stories, although theyβre interconnected, theyβre not all tonally the same. Each set of filmmakers bring their own aesthetic to these films, and the fun is seeing how these tonally different works mash up in the future.
This is a film that will investigate the dark origins of Swamp Thing.
Gunn:Β We are actually developing a few other things as well, but for one reason or another, we canβt say them. This is the first batch of stuff, but there may be a couple of surprises to come.
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