James Gunn Reveals New DC Studios Slate With Superman, Batman, Swamp Thing, and A Lot More
James Gunn and Peter Safran's new vision for the DC Studios franchise is starting to take shape, and we now know Superman is leading the charge. The filmmakers revealed a shocking slate for the future, which will include movies like Superman: Legacy, The Brave and the Bold, Swamp Thing, and The Authority. TV series will also be included on HBO Max and will involve shows like Lanterns, Creature Commandos, Booster Gold, Waller, and Paradise Lost. There is also a Supergirl project in the works, though there's no word if it will include the same version of the character in The Flash. Gunn and Safran began their jobs as Co-CEO's of DC Studios last year and it's safe to say that the future of DC is looking bright.
Superman: Legacy will be heavily influenced by the iconic storyline of All-Star Superman and is being written by Gunn himself, and there are hopes he will direct the project. The Brave and the Bold is said to be a new take on Batman which will feature a new actor in the role, though it won't affect plans for The Batman Part 2 or Joker: Folie à Deux. Instead, it will be a movie that includes the entire Bat-Family and focus on the team-up of Bruce Wayne and his biological son Damien Wayne. Swamp Thing is said to be a reboot separate from the HBO Max/DC Universe series that premiered in recent years, and The Authority will introduce a brand new super team into the franchise.
On the TV Series side, Lanterns is a reworked vision of the Green Lantern Corps series that will not involve Greg Berlanti but will instead focus on Hal Jordon and John Stewart in a series that was described as DC's version of True Detective. And the next followup to Gunn's The Suicide Squad and Peacemaker forays will unsurprisingly feature Amanda Waller in Waller. Paradise Lost will focus on Wonder Woman's homeland of Themyscira before she was born. Booster Gold will focus on, well, you know, the time-traveling Booster Gold. And Creature Commandos is the only confirmed animated series with seven episodes already written by Gunn himself, who promises the lead actors who are cast as the voices will also appear in live action.
Warner Bros. Discovery has been hard at work changing up some of the ways the company conducted business before its big merger. Newly appointed CEO David Zaslav canceled a bunch of to-be-released movies like Batgirl and Wonder Twins in order to get tax write-offs and even promised DC Comics that they would bring Superman back to the forefront of the cinematic universe. Zaslav also revealed that he was on the hunt for a Kevin Feige-type executive to lead their DC Studios arm and ended up hiring James Gunn and Peter Safran in that position. As co-CEOs, Gunn and Safran have been hard at work on developing a ten-year movie slate, and the duo promised to release some of that slate this month. Today, the DC Studios co-CEOs have officially revealed a slate that will hit theaters and HBO Max over the next three to four years.
After the new Warner Bros. Discovery boss announced the duo of Safran and Gunn, they released a statement on their excitement for the job.
"We're honored to be the stewards of these DC characters we've loved since we were children," Gunn and Safran added in a joint statement. "We look forward to collaborating with the most talented writers, directors, and actors in the world to create an integrated, multilayered universe that still allows for the individual expression of the artists involved. Our commitment to Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, Harley Quinn, and the rest of the DC stable of characters is only equaled by our commitment to the wonder of human possibility these characters represent. We're excited to invigorate the theatrical experience around the world as we tell some of the biggest, most beautiful, and grandest stories ever told."
The next DC Studios movie to hit theaters will be Shazam! Fury of the Gods. The film is being directed by David F. Sandberg (Shazam!, Annabelle: Creation) and produced by Peter Safran. Fury of the Gods was written by Henry Gayden and Chris Morgan. Shazam! Fury of the Gods hits the theater on March 17th!
What do you think about the new slate? Are you excited for the future of DC Studios? Let us know in the comments below or by hitting up our writer @NateBrail on Twitter!
