Tag: DCU

So James Gunn has finally dropped the plans for the DC movies going forwards and it was a bit of a mixed bag and frankly overall somewhat disappointing. Not that I’m going to join the Snyder fans or Henry Cavill fanclub in calling it DOA before a single trailer or even casting decision. But my enthusiasm has certainly lowered. But let’s have a look at what was announced. There were three main categories (Technically two but I’m adding a third reading between the lines).

The Elseworld movies that won’t relate at all to the DCU and likely Gunn won’t have any involvement in; The legacy movies inherited from the previous regime that need to play out and lay the groundwork for the full reboot and finally the new movies that start to paint a picture of the direction Gunn wants to go. Obviously I’m going to focus more on those but we’ll cover it all so let’s get started!

Elseworlds

The first thing to note is that there basically seems to have been some kind of deal to continue to support The Batman (Which also has a couple of TV show side projects in the work), The Joker (Which was DC’s biggest film since Dark Knight) and Teen Titans Go (Which I gather is also very successful). The deal means they are labelled as “Elseworlds” a title used in the comics to designate an entirely self contained universe where anything goes. These are likely decisions not directly involving Gunn and basically the directors/show runner has free reign with them.

It’s interesting to note Gunn didn’t mention any other Elseworlds stuff or future plans. However there is a rumour the dreaded JJ Abrams Superman project may still be in the works as an Elsewords story. Can’t say I’m pleased to hear that since it sounds dreadful but it’s possible they are committed to make it through old contracts. That Gunn didn’t mention it means he likely wants to wash his hands of it if it is happening.

Sadly, I get the impression the Elseworlds tag is basically there just to support contractual obligations and milk relatively successful IP’s for a bit longer. There doesn’t seem to be any real creative drive behind it and it’s a shame because I’d love to see something like Gotham by Gaslight or Batman Vs Dracula. Maybe they’ll get creative with it later. It actually could have been a useful tool for supporting the main DCU if used properly.

The Gunn Show

The second thing are the legacy films/shows. These can be split into two separate categories, the ones that Gunn listed as part of his “Gods and Monsters” chapter and the ones that aren’t. Likely the key difference between the sets are that those that are included are shows Gun is behind and those that aren’t are ones he had nothing to do with. But just how much the legacy Gunn projects will actually be worked into the Gunnverse remains to be seen.

It’s worth noting there was no mention of the Peacemaker crew here except as being a part of the Waller series so it may their second season will effectively be merged into that show. Creature Commandos is being written by Gunn and likely will be a testing ground that can be ignored in the DCU if none of the characters get over. Basically it’s a Groot/Grogu generating machine. See what is marketable, then move it to live action.

Remnants Of The Past.

The more immediate legacy shows though come with them big question marks too. How much will they relate to the new DCU? Will the actors still be employed after the theatrical run? The Flash is marked as the point that changes the whole DCU which means that the Gunnverse is effectively a spin off of the Snyderverse. Not sure how smart that is. But the main question is will they carry over the PR nightmare and frankly terribly cast Ezra Miller into the DCU?

It’s worth noting Gunn has made no mention of The Flash, Aquaman or Shazam outside of their originally scheduled movies. But it’s also interesting to note that Aquaman 2 is released after The Flash, so will it be set before those events or does that mean Momoa is still Aquaman going forward? That wouldn’t seem to fit with the actors own hints about perhaps switching to playing Lobo in the DCU.

That just leaves Blue Beetle which is new and far enough off to scrub any reference to the DCEU, meaning the character could well have a place in Gunns’ DCU. But if it doesn’t perform they can just forget about the character without too much worry. So on to the important stuff and what should suggest a direction for the DCU moving forward and raise potential issues. Let’s look at this first chapter of the DCU or as Gunn calls it: “Gods and Monsters”.

Superman: Legacy (2025)

The first real movie of the “DCU”/Gunnverse. All we know about this is that it features a younger Superman meeting the people at The Daily Planet for the first time. Presumably day 1 in Metropolis. It’s likely you won’t see his Smallville upbringing and possibly if you see him departing Krypton it’ll be relatively brief. Gunn clearly didn’t want Henry Cavill in the roll and it’s not clear how much of that is a desire to sweep out the Snyderverse (We’ll know when we find out if Shazam, Flash and Aquaman are remaining the same).

If he just didn’t picture Cavill in the role it makes me wonder what kind of actor he did picture for it. It’s worth noting he literally said this was a 7-10 year plan, so the age factor does come into it and how long they can expect actors to commit. Still, Cavill seems so well suited for the role it does raise alarm bells that he wasn’t even considered to continue.

Supposedly (according to a press release) the film will be about Kal/Clark balancing his Kryptonian heritage with his human upbringing. There is potential there for character growth, I just hope it goes in a way of establishing Superman as he really should be and not just deconstructing and subverting his story for the sake of it. If it involves his Kryptonian heritage it suggests that Lex Luthor probably isn’t going to be his main focus.

It also seems unlikely they’ll bring in Zod or Doomsday since they’ll want to differentiate it from Zack Snyders’s Superman films. It’s also probably too close to Aquaman 2 to be Momoa as Lobo and I don’t think they’d want to start with Lobo anyway. Maybe we’ll see Braniac. Honestly we won’t likely know until they start filming.

Lanterns (2025)

The first legit live action show of the DCU is one that has been in the works for a while but seems to have changed form enough to become a key part of Gunn’s plans. It is supposed to lead into a key story piece perhaps setting up the first big team up. The series was originally supposed to air in 2023, but went through a lot of re-writes before Gunn even came on board. It’s an obvious show to do though and it’s not linked to the old DCEU so made sense for Gunn to convert it.

While it’s great news they are using both the most popular Lanterns (Interestingly, neither is the original) it seems a strange choice to do such obviously CGI intensive characters in a TV show. The suggestion seems to be it is going to be a bit of a buddy cop mystery, but with Lantern powers. The two are somewhat strange bedfellows, but on a TV show budget you can’t throw CGI out there every five minutes so I guess focusing on detective work helps, but will it satisfy fans? I think a lot of that will be down to if they can find the balance with the CGI and don’t end up with a show that looks as bad as She-Hulk did.

The Authority (Movie – probably 2025)

Based on the Wildstorm characters, which originated outside of DC but are now part of that family, though a fairly isolated part. It’s interesting that the second official movie out of Gunn’s DCU is based on characters that originated elsewhere. It’s also odd that they’ve basically decided to introduce what is effectively a subverted version of the Justice League (Even including a blatant Superman character (Apollo) and a blatant Batman character (Midnighter)… except these guys are gay and dating each other) before introducing the actual Justice league. Hopefully they’ll try and make them a bit more different to the characters they are blatant subversions of, otherwise it’ll damage the credibility of the originals.

There’s also the issue that they are basically all Black Adam and so when they engage with the actual Justice League it’s basically going to be that same story again. Again, a strange choice. However, they are obscure enough that Gunn probably feels he can do whatever he wants with them and figures he can turn them into another GOTG or Suicide Squad. Honestly though I’m not interested in this. I’m bored with subverted superheroes, popular culture has been swamped with them for a decade. We need to get back to the roots to remind us what is even being subverted. If I was more cynical I’d say they only picked this one because of the gay superheroes.

Paradise Lost (TV Show 2025/26)

Described as Game of Thrones but set in Themyscira. Game of Thrones isn’t easy to pull off, indeed not even Game of Thrones always managed it. Indeed it failed spectacularly in the end. So unless they have very talented show runners and actually get George R.R. Martin to write it (Which he’d probably do; anything to avoid actually finishing the next GOT book), it is likely the only thing it will have in common is the boring bits. I mean imagine all the conspiracies in gardens without anyone pulling off the shock factor. It’d basically be like all the scenes from The Witcher season 2 without Geralt in. Boring. Really boring. So I don’t hold much hope.

There is potential to set up some big events here, but the trouble is (As I think Marvel are discovering), most people will watch the movies, but very few will watch all the shows and all the movies. So if you don’t want to put people off the movies, you can’t make it a prerequisite to enjoy those movies to have watched the shows. So the truth is there is only so much they really can set up. If I was more cynical I’d say they just wanted a show with a majority female cast so they could say “Look, female characters!”.

The Brave and the Bold (Movie probably 2026)

Based on Grant Morrison’s work featuring Damian Wayne. Damian is Bruce Wayne’s biological son with Talia Al Ghul. He was raised to be an assassin, so he’s a little broken psychologically. In the comics, Bruce “Died” and Dick Grayson took over as Batman for a period and Damian became Robin. When Batman returned from the “Dead” he continued as Robin and after Flashpoint reset the universe and Bruce became Batman again, he continued to be his sidekick.

Now the question is, how does that possibly work for a first Batman movie for this new universe? You need a Batman old enough to have a kid and chances are he won’t be a ten year old like he was in the comics when he becomes Robin. So we’re probably looking at a Batman no younger than 35. Likely already well established. Meanwhile Gunn is apparently aiming for a younger Superman’s first day at the Daily Planet. This younger Superman, older Batman dynamic is suspiciously similar to Zach Snyder’s set up. It seems like a missed opportunity to pair two younger actors together. I can only hope that they won’t place this Batman too close to the end of his career.

One of the most frustrating things about Batman in the old DCEU was that they were constantly hinting at stories that were in the past and that sounded far more interesting than what they were actually putting on screen and largely made Batman seem like a has been. That’s not the way you should treat your top IP and make no mistake, these days Batman is way more important than Superman. DC’s tactic right now seems to be to hammer it with three separate franchises, “The Batman” with a younger Batman, but no larger DCU, “The Joker” with no real Batman but in a variation of his world and this older DCU version. I’m not sure this is a smart play.

Honestly as far as “The Batman” goes, they should really have either scrapped the film series or merged it into the new DCU. Having it run alongside it makes no sense. This isn’t exactly a really out there “Elseworlds” Batman, it’s just another darker, grittier Batman. While I didn’t like the movie, the casting was fine and nothing was broken. But if Gunn really wants his Batman he should have scrapped the future plans for that one. Instead it looks like they are trying to contrast them by making the character older again and this is disappointing. Still, we’ll see, maybe the movie will be good. At least they are actually introducing their Batman in a stand alone.

Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow (Movie probably 2026)

Based on Tom King’s work. That’s not good. That’s never good. The guy has written some of the most hated DC comics in recent years and it’s not bad writing but what he actually does with the characters that puts people off. This Supergirl will be a bitter twisted mess. It does contrast her with Superman of course, but not sure how likeable people will find the character. I also feel like introducing Supergirl so fast is a mistake, but it’s notable that Gunn talked about the “Bat Family” when talking about his Brave and the Bold movie. So if that movie sets up the Dark Knights family, this sets up Superman’s. Of course we also have multiple Lanterns right out the gate too.

I’m not sure diluting the water is that sensible, when you have such a variety of superheroes to draw from, putting all these “Family” characters into the shared universe right away seems the wrong way to go. In the case of Batman and the Lanterns it perhaps is just to pad numbers for epic fight scenes down the road, but Supergirl is being introduced in her own movie, she could have just as easily been Wonder Woman, Black Canary or Zatanna. Unique characters that don’t need life trauma to make them different from Superman. I get that Supergirl would eventually need to join the DCU, but this seems rushed.

Booster Gold (TV Show probably 2026)

Booster Gold is a very obscure character only DC comic fans will know, but he is popular amongst those. Gunn describes it as basically being the story of a loser from the future that goes back in time to the modern day so he can use future technology to be a Superhero and be popular. The character is an obvious one for Gunn really since it’s basically all his male leads. But that’s a problem too, how is this character going to feel unique if someone like Peacemaker is still in this shared universe and with his own TV show?

My feeling on this one is it will probably be funny, but it’s also yet another subverted Superhero character. When everything is a subversion, nothing is a subversion and Gunn needs to be careful not to make the majority of his DCU a subversion of superhero tropes. This seems to be the way it is going so far and that is not what is going to turn DC into a true rival to the MCU. I’ve said it many times before, but we are so far into subversion and deconstruction that these originally interesting writing tactics have just become clichés and what the public really needs, especially in a time when people are so divided is actual, traditional superheroes that are aspirational and universal.

Swamp Thing (Movie 2026/27)

Said to be “Tonally different to the DCU” but a key part of events (So not Elseworlds, despite the fact some media outlets are claiming it is). This I am looking forward to. It was a real shame the Swamp Thing series got axed right out the door (due to a messed up tax break situation I believe). Swamp Thing is a great character and I hope they focus this on the Alan Moore run and use it (though not in the first film) to introduce John Constantine to the DCU.

The thing is though, so far the trend has been for Gunn to follow Marvels current direction of adapting far more recent material instead of the more popular classics. So we will have to see if we get Moore’s version of the character or something else. Either way though, if they really double down on the horror tone this could be a great movie. On the other hand, I hope Gunn doesn’t direct this or if he does he doesn’t make it a comedy horror like his previous horror films (Remember Gunn started out at Troma). This needs to be a more serious affair.

But then this is a constant worry with Gunn. All his work so far has had a similar tone to it and that’s not what you want for every DC project. There are a lot of modern directors out there that simply can’t stop themselves from making every film about themselves (e.g. Taika Waititi who has made some good films, but every film has his stamp all over it, often to the point where it is more about him than the franchise he’s working in), if Gunn is going to make his DCU a success he needs to be a little bit more invisible and just provide what the film needs instead of showcasing James Gunn tropes and style all the time. If he can do that, he can do well.

Red Flags.

Ultimately while this is a fairly disappointing reveal with a large amount of red flags and one that will likely stir extreme anger from Snyder fans and the more obsessive Henry Cavill supporters, all that really matters is that they nail Batman and Superman. Those two have to be the main pillars of any shared DC universe and that universe can only ever be as strong as those characters. It really can’t be overstated, if they want to rival Marvel they need to weaponize their top assets. While neither of their movies scream “Masterpiece” just from the pitch they don’t sound terrible either. I don’t see any reason for them not to be able to pull them off and if they do they don’t need everything else to land. So with that in mind they announced the films and that is what matters.

The next tier of DC heroes (The B-List if you will) is Wonder Woman, The Flash and Green Lantern. Wonder Woman is the third most popular hero in DC and the most popular female superhero there is full stop, but the only mention of Wonder Woman at all is through the Game of Thrones knock off show in her homeland. It seems Gal Gadot isn’t continuing in the role, so there must be plans to introduce a new actress as some point, but probably not in that TV show (As Gunn would have mentioned that and it’d be silly to relegate your third most popular hero to a TV show anyway). It’s odd too that they are introducing Supergirl before Wonder Woman, again pushing duplicate “family” characters instead of embracing variety.

The Flash Situation.

The fourth most important character in DC is The Flash and this is a big, big issue for Gunn. Ezra Miller is both a terrible Flash and someone that constantly attracts terrible publicity to the point that many people will simply boycott his movies just because he is in them. This is guy that is mentally unstable and is regularly in trouble with the law (For everything from grooming, kidnapping, breaking and entering, theft, assault and running a cult… I should add most of that is accusations, but he was found guilty of the B&E and at least one of the assaults was captured on camera). If Superman and Batman can be pillars, Ezra Miller has the potential to be a fault line under which those pillars are built.

Currently Warner is publicly suggesting they support the actor but they really need The Flash movie to be a success as it sets up the new DCU. It was be logical to dump the actor after the film, but you still need a Flash. They need to find a way to justify the character changing the timeline in such a way it actually radically changes his own appearance. Either that or just switch actors like Marvel did with Hulk and War Machine and not even mention it. Whatever they pick, they need to get Miller as far away from their plans going forward as possible.

Underappreciated Heroes.

As for Green Lantern, this is a character that has never been given the respect he deserves on screen. The Fifth most popular DC hero and yet all he’s had is a bad movie and now a TV show that has to have multiple Lanterns in. This seems a waste, but hopefully the pair can move over to the big screen at a later date. At least they will be in place and with two there they have two chances to get it right.

After the top five, DC should really embrace it’s variety. There is a very big C tier including the likes of John Constantine, Hawkman, Zatanna, Martian Manhunter, Green Arrow, Cyborg (Safe to say that will have a change of actors), Aquaman (We still don’t know if Momoa is continuing in the role, though he’s hinted he isn’t) and Shazam (Likewise and Black Adam being canned possibly bodes badly). It would be a mistake to ignore this tier just so Gunn can try and find the next Guardians of the Galaxy. Many of these characters have never had movies either.

Missing An Open Goal.

There are two Superman related characters that would actually be perfectly well suited to James Gunn’s style and neither of them got a mention. Those are Bizarro and Lobo. Films with those two could be incredibly fun and Gunn would have been perfect to write and direct them. So I can’t help but feel a little disappointed he hasn’t opted yet for either, but I still suspect after the Aquaman film comes out they will announce Momoa is departing that role but will be Lobo instead. I hope that is the case anyway.

So that’s my thoughts on the announcements. Ultimately there were a lot of strange choices and disappointing omissions but there is potential here so I’m not rage quitting just yet. I will give them at least until their Superman film has a trailer and that will be a long time off. At the same time though I don’t feel at all enthusiastic about the various remnants of the previous regime we have to get through before we get a sniff of the direction of this new DCU. If other people feel like I do on this, that’s at least three movies likely to flop in a row, maybe four if no one gets on board with Blue Beetle.

Then we have the new Superman movie sandwiched between two Elseworld Batman movies (Joker II and The Batman II). That’s a good run of films, but if DC has four flops before that, will it be able to recover? Also will it confuse the audience to place the launch of the new DCU between two movies not even set in the DCU? Honestly, Warner still largely seem like they don’t know what they are doing. Time will tell however.