Gunn and Peter Safran’s tenure at DC Studios kicks off with 10 new projects
DC Studios has revealed its full slate of movie and TV projects coming soon under the leadership of James Gunn and Peter Safran. The list includes five feature films and five television series for HBO Max, headlined by two Batman movies and a Man of Steel reboot, Superman: Legacy, in 2025.
The lineup includes some of the comics publisher’s most recognizable and famous heroes and franchises, as well as some offbeat choices — which shouldn’t surprise anyone familiar with Gunn’s résumé, which includes the 2022 HBO Max show Peacemaker and Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy trilogy.
Here’s a look at all the new movies and shows coming to the DC Universe:
NEW DCU MOVIES
SUPERMAN: LEGACY
This is the only project with a release date: July 11, 2025. Written by Gunn, Superman: Legacy will follow Kal-El as he reconciles his extraterrestrial origins with his human family and upbringing. It sounds like a reboot of 2013’s Man of Steel (directed by Zack Snyder) with one important proviso: Henry Cavill is not coming back as Superman. So expect a lot of anticipation and hype as Gunn gets close to finding his lead.
THE AUTHORITY
This superhero ensemble dates to a 1999 comic book series published under DC’s WildStorm imprint. The Authority is a group of seven heroes with very high-concept super powers (one, Jack Hawksmoor, is psychically bonded to cities, drawing his strength from them). It will be the first appearance of WildStorm canon in the DC Universe.
THE BRAVE AND THE BOLD
The Brave and the Bold is a silver-age DC Comics title that, for about 15 years (1967 to 1983) starred Batman and Robin in crossover stories with other DC characters. It was also the title of a three-season Batman animated series airing on Cartoon Network from 2008 to 2011. DC Studios’ news release says “the DCU will introduce its Batman and Robin in this unusual father-son story inspired by Grant Morrison’s comic series.” That series was inspired by the animated show.
SUPERGIRL: WOMAN OF TOMORROW
DC Studios says this picture, based on Tom King’s award-winning comics stories, “presents a Supergirl viewers are not used to seeing.” Truthfully, they’re not used to seeing Supergirl on a big screen at all. Her only theatrical appearance so far is 1984’s Supergirl, starring Helen Slater as Kara Zor-El, and Faye Dunaway as her nemesis.
SWAMP THING
Believe it or not, Swamp Thing (whose first appearance was in 1971’s House of Secrets #92) appeared in two movies back in the 1980s, the first one (1982’s Swamp Thing) directed by horror master Wes Craven. DC Studios’ lineup announcement says only that this movie “will investigate the dark origins of Swamp Thing.”
NEW DCU TV SHOWS
CREATURE COMMANDOS
Gunn is the writer for this series, already pegged at seven episodes. In it, Amanda Waller (the director of the Suicide Squad) forms another super-team out of “monstrous prisoners.”
WALLER
If Creature Commandos wasn’t enough, this series dedicated to Amanda Waller stars Viola Davis in the lead role. DC Studios says the show will feature Team Peacemaker, and is written by Watchmen’s Christal Henry and Supernatural’s Jeremy Carver.
BOOSTER GOLD
DC Comics’ longtime comic-relief character is a time traveler who uses basic technology and consumer appliances from the future to make himself a superhero in present day.
LANTERNS
The Green Lantern Corps have been the galaxy’s foremost law enforcement agency since 1959, making Hal Jordan (the Silver Age Green Lantern) and John Stewart (first appearance, 1971) perfect for a buddy-cop team-up. DC Studios said it will be an “enormous TV event series” focused on the two unraveling “a dark mystery.”
PARADISE LOST
It’s set in Themyscira, so you know this show will touch Wonder Woman’s history and character arc. It’s not clear if she will star in it, though. “This drama focuses on the genesis and political intrigue of an island of all women,” DC Studios said, which sounds very Game-of-Thrones-y.
Gunn and Safran took over as heads of the DC Universe in October, when they were both announced as coequal chiefs of DC Studios. The two will lead all movie, television, and video game products for the company, with Gunn likely to take on the writing and directing of other projects as well. 2023 will also see the release of a number of pre-DCU films, including Shazam: Fury of the Gods, The Flash, and Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom.
