We’re about to enter a new era of DC entertainment after James Gunn and Peter Safran acquired the reins of the franchise with the ascent of DC Studios and the new DCU. Many aspects of the fledgling franchise are currently under wraps as fans await the imminent announcement promised by Gunn to arrive by the end of January. While we wait for said news, we’re going to pull together just about every piece of info known about what’s to come in the next 8-10 years as Gunn and Safran look to welcome us back to the stories of the world’s finest comic book characters, said to span film, television, animation, and even video games.
Who’s Sticking Around in James Gunn’s DCU?
The answer to that question is… We don’t know exactly. Reports from sources such as The Hollywood Reporter have suggested that we could see the entire Justice League recast, with Gunn having already confirmed that Henry Cavill will indeed no longer be sporting the iconic House of El crest for DC Studios. It has been confirmed before, and even just recently that Peacemaker will continue with its second season renewal, with Gunn confirming the entire cast will indeed return for the sophomore outing, hinting that Christopher Smith, Vigilante, Emilia Harcourt and all their ARGUS friends will continue their wild outings. Many seem to think the Suicide Squad corner of the old DC Extended Universe will be what sticks around, drawing criticisms that Gunn is just keeping his friends around.
DC Films like Shazam: Fury of The Gods, Aquaman and The Lost Kingdom, Blue Beetle, and The Flash are all still set to release in theaters this year, with Gunn confirming the new slate will not begin until after the release of the Aquaman sequel, likely placing Season 2 of Peacemaker on the new slate.
Gunn went on to say that he is involved in the post-production process for these upcoming releases, offering notes on the projects.
Gunn himself has been known to be a bit cryptic in the information he provides, often providing statements that could have multiple meanings or later be revealed to mean something completely different than anyone thought. The co-head of DC Studios responded to rumors that everyone would be recast besides those involved with The Suicide Squad, quickly shooting down that rumor.
What many may wonder is: what EXACTLY did he mean by that? Did he mean that more than just the Suicide Squad actors would be staying? Or that just about everyone would getting the boot. With Peacemaker Season 2 going into production sometime this Summer, we have to assume those actors would be sticking around with the series second season most likely being part of the new slate.
A New Superman
Gunn and Henry Cavill took to social media to confirm the news that the actor would no longer be playing the role of Clark Kent, even after his return in Black Adam. Gunn confirmed that the new film, written by him, will be part of the new slate and will follow a younger superman in the early days of his career in Metropolis at the Daily Planet as a newbie reporter. Variety reports that the film will see Clark Kent meet key characters from his mythos such as the one and only Lois Lane.
While the door on Henry Cavill as Superman may be shut, Safran and Gunn are 100% open to keeping Cavill around the DCU but would attempt to find a new role suitable for the actor within the universe. The director confirmed that they had a “great meeting” with the actor and are “big fans”
Where is Batman in All of This?
While Gunn has not given any details on just what the status of the caped crusader would be in this new universe he has gone on the record to confirm that the character would obviously play a major role in the new slate while staying quiet on just what the plans are for the character.
Many wonder just how Batman would work in the DCU and how the new universe will handle having two Batman existing alongside each other. At one point Variety reported that Gunn and Safran were privy to the idea of folding Matt Reeves’ and Robert Pattinson’s The Batman franchise into the DCU and using it as a sort of launching point for the new slate. The report was quickly shot down by James Gunn, claiming the news as “entirely untrue”.
Matt Reeves himself later got backed up Gunn’s reply to said news confirming once again that the news was seemingly untrue.
Wondering About Wonder Woman?
If you’ve been living under a rock you wouldn’t know that the third entry in Patty Jenkins and Gal Gadot’s Wonder Woman franchise is no longer moving forward at Warner Brothers Discovery. The numerous changes at the studio resulted in the project being shelved indefinitely with Jenkins moving onto continue developing Rogue Squadron for Disney and Lucasfilm. Jenkins herself released a statement on the situation while Gadot remains mum on the topic. It’s unknown if Gadot will continue in the role but the shelving of the third film and the official exit of Cavill would point towards a poor fate for the iteration of the character.
Just a few weeks ago a rumor began to circle the internet that Gunn and Safran’s slate for the DCU did not involve the princess of Themiscyra at all but was quick to denounce the rumor as not true, meaning the character will most definitely still have a role in whats to come for the franchise, but remains unknown just who will wield the Lasso of truth.
Familiar Faces?
James Gunn is notorious for loving the people he works with and keeping them around, after doing an “asshole check” of course. Most recently Gunn himself brought Peacemaker actor Chukwudi Iwuji back to play the main foe in Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 3 as the High Evolutionary. Promoting GOTG Vol. 3, Gunn expressed just how much he loves working with the cast and just doesn’t want to stop, talking about how close he is with each and every one of them even going as far to say that he will probably bring a handful of them with him to the DCU.
“This cast are like my family. I cannot tell you how close I am to Chris Pratt and Pom [Klementieff] and Dave [Bautista] and Zoe [Saldaña] and Karen [Gillan]. But I also know I will work again with all those people individually again. Probably at my other job.”
James Gunn
Green Lanterns Get the Greenlight!
A group of characters that have struggled to make a comeback following the 2011 dud starring Ryan Reynolds is the Green Lanterns, having little to no presence in the original DC Extended Universe (RIP Yalan Gur) with a film that found itself in development hell, initially rumored to be a buddy cop film in space with Hal Jordan and Jon Stewart. It’s unknown just whats in store for the lanterns but Gunn has confirmed that they’ll play an important part in his DCU.
Before HBO Max even launched it was announced that a Green Lantern series would be made exclusively for the service, as it would span decades within the DC Universe and feature Green Lanterns of multiple generations. It seems the project may indeed remain a part of what James Gunn has planned for the DCU as a recent rumor that the series had been scrapped was shot down by the man himself who confirmed the show had not been scrapped
The series has reportedly went through quite a lot of changes during the period in which we did not hear much about the project, with the focus reportedly shifting from a handful of different lanterns to solely focusing on Jon Stewart. It’s unknown if this is still the case considering the Lanterns could be poised for a major film franchise with such a rich history in comics and tons of source material to pull from.
Black Adam is Imprisoned Again
Prophecy foretold the Hierarchy of power would change upon the reemergence of Black Adam, as he brought his thundery wrath upon the DC Universe. Black Adam Star Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson had high hopes for the anti-hero film, planning to spawn a franchise of his own within the DCEU with Black Adam and the Justice Society of America, hoping to one day butt heads with the man of steel himself. Unfortunately Gunn and Safrans plans didn’t line up with Johnsons hopes and aspirations leading to Johnson making a statement confirming that Adam would not being playing a part in upcoming future of the DCU.
Gunn would later respond to Johnsons statement with high aspirations for the future, hoping to collaborate sometime down the line but with no specifications if that entails the return of Johnsons Black Adam.
Rumors Beneath the Seven Seas
Rumors have swirling that while many of those within the Hall of Justice would be sent packing, some may be repositioned in the dawn of the new DCU, specifically Jason Momoa, the Aquaman of the DC Extended Universe. A report by The Hollywood Reporter stated that Momoa would depart the seven seas to sail the stars as the intergalactic bounty hunter known as Lobo, the actor’s personal favorite character and a popular fancast by many for the character. No official statement has been posted on this by Gunn, but Momoa did comment on the rumor.
“Well I have to obviously blink, so there’s no way I can get out of this without blinking, but you know that would be amazing if that happened, I’m just happy that [James] Gunn is at the helm and [Peter] Safran, who is just like my heart. So I’m in good hands and I think comic book fans around the world are going to be very excited.”
Jason Momoa
A while back Momoa teased that his “dream DC project” would be happening, but of course, he wouldn’t be able to talk about the project just yet. It’s unclear if that project was put into development before Gunn and Safran took over. Momoa recently teased more about what’s to come for him in the DCU, claiming that he will always be Aquaman, but that it wasn’t out of the question on the topic of him playing more than one character within the shared universe.
“I’ll always be Aquaman. Ain’t anyone coming in there and taking shit. There might be some other characters, too. I can play other things, too. I can be funny and savage and charming.”
Jason Momoa
