Keepers of the DCU.
Photo: Stewart Cook//Warner Bros. via Getty Images
In 2022, James Gunn and Peter Safran were named co–biggest boys of DC Studios. Shortly thereafter, the pair announced that they had an “eight- to ten-year” plan for how the DCU would be connected across movies, TV, and video games. In that initial press conference, the duo unveiled the first part of their universe, Chapter One: Gods and Monsters, the big keystone of which was Superman. Or, as it was known then, Superman: Legacy. Other pieces set to follow included an Amanda Waller cartoon, some live-action Green Lantern shenanigans, and the film debut of Damian Wayne. So how has Gunn and Safran’s ten- (or eight-)year plan been going?
Before Gunn and Safran could get their vision underway, they had to finish out the projects already chugging along the Warner Bros. Discovery assembly line. Okay, not all of them. A third Wonder Woman film was axed in December 2022.
It was always unclear how much of the old DCEU would be making it into the Gunniverse. Viola Davis has played Amanda Waller across the Suicide Squad movies, but after the underperformance of Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom, Jason Momoa transitioned from Ocean Man to Space Bounty Hunter. He’s playing Lobo in the upcoming Supergirl film. Then there’s The Flash. In his initial rollout video, Gunn said the film “resets the entire DC Universe.” But that reset ended with George Clooney as Batman, so how central to the continuity can it be?
The first official release from the ten-/eight-year plan was the animated Creature Commandos. It was Gunn’s trial run in having the same actors play characters across animation and live-action. Frank Grillo plays Rick Flag Sr. on the show and in Superman. The show introduced animated Amanda Waller, voiced by Viola Davis, cementing her place in the nüDCU. It also means G.I. Robot can fight Nazis in live-action, should the need arise.
But obviously, the most important release for this ten-year plan was Superman. And now that it’s breaking box-office records, Gunn & Co. can unclench a little. The film sets up the Green Lantern Corps. and Supergirl, and even brings Hawkgirl from Peacemaker into moviedom.
Guy Gardner (Nathan Fillion) sets up the Green Lantern Corps. for HBO’s Lanterns. The show will be a double-hander between Lanterns Hal Jordan and John Stewart, “very much in the vein of True Detective,” per Safran and Gunn. The show is expected to come out in early 2026. Kyle Chandler will play Jordan, opposite Aaron Pierre as Stewart, per Deadline. Created by Damon Lindelof and Tom King, the show will follow noob Lantern Stewart and veteran Jordan as they solve a murder in flyover America. And those boys can fly.
The ending of Superman sets up Milly Alcock as Supergirl, a hot mess Kryptonian party girl. Turns out Krypto is her dog, and Clark was pet-sitting while she got shit-faced off-world. Gunn has already said the film will closely follow the Woman of Tomorrow arc, with outer-space high jinks with her protege Ruthye (Eve Ridley) and the dark ’n’ gritty Lobo (Jason Momoa). Supergirl lands in theaters June 26, 2026.
David Zaslav indicated that the Clayface movie is imminent in his statement celebrating Superman’s box-office success obtained by THR. “Over the next year alone, DC Studios will introduce the films Supergirl and Clayface in theaters and the series Lanterns on HBO Max, all part of a bold ten-year plan,” he wrote. “The DC vision is clear, the momentum is real, and I couldn’t be more excited for what’s ahead.” Clayface is reportedly shooting in Liverpool right now, with a tentative release date some time in 2026.
While the world waits for Supergirl, her cousin’s next adventure is already being worked on. James Gunn told Collider that he’s “totally done with the treatment” for the Superman sequel. “We’re scheduling it now,” he explained. “My treatments are incredibly intense. They’re not regular treatments. They’re 60-page treatments with dialogue and everything. And so, now I’m just turning that into a script. We’re planning out when we’re going to shoot that. It’s going to be much sooner rather than later.” On September 3, Gunn announced that the upcoming Supes sequel will be titled Man of Tomorrow and come out July 9, 2027. Start your Doomsday clocks now.
Gunn has been sharing some details about The Brave and the Bold, the DCU’s introduction to the entire Batfam. It’s going to be a father-son flick about Bruce and his son, Damian Wayne. All we really know about this movie’s casting, however, is that Robert Pattinson won’t be BatDad.
We haven’t heard much about the planned Waller animated show since November 2024, when Gunn bleeted that the show was still in development. But on August 30, Gunn told People the show was still on his To-Do list. “We’re working on it, so we’ll see what happens,” he said. “Some things have moved faster than others. Waller’s not been the fastest.” In a since-deleted tweet, Gunn had previously attributed the delay on Waller to script issues. “Unlike most studios, we’ll never start production on a process if the script isn’t finished. Quality is the utmost priority,” he wrote in a very obvious dig at Disney’s MCU.
James Gunn confirmed that Supergirl and Teen Titans writer Ana Nogueira is working on the script for the upcoming Wonder Woman movie. Gunn also denied the rumor that the movie’s being fast-tracked by the studio: “It’s a priority, but I wouldn’t call that fast-tracked. Nothing is going to be shot unless we’re as sure as we can be that the script is good.” Sorry, Gal Gadot, DC Studios is eyeing a new Diana Prince for the next generation of supes. So we’re probably still a few years away from revisiting Themyscira.
Some shows and movies seem to have moved to the back burner, if they’re happening at all. There’s been very little info about The Authority (a “by any means necessary” alternative to the Justice League), Paradise Lost (a Game of Thrones–look-alike set on Wonder Woman’s homeland), the Booster Gold HBO Max series, or whatever Gunn and Safran are/were planning to do with Swamp Thing. But, hey, there are still five to seven years to go!
