new DCEU: under the gunn

[The NZA]

DC Slate Unveiled: New Batman, Supergirl Movies, a Green Lantern TV Show, and More from James Gunn, Peter Safran

The DC Studios bosses shared ten projects, talked the exit of Henry Cavill and the potential future of Ezra Miller as The Flash as they introduced a slate of big heroes and lesser known characters. "The stakes are massive for us and for Warner Bros. Discovery," says Safran.

www.hollywoodreporter.com

 

 

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A new Batman movie without Robert Pattinson (but featuring Bruce Wayne's murderous son). A Superman movie on the release schedule (mark your calendars for July 11, 2025). A Game of Thrones-style drama set on Wonder Woman's home island of Themyscira (Amazonian palace intrigue). And an animated series already in production (Creature Commandos … wait, what?).

Superman: Legacy: The movie featuring the Man of Steel that Gunn is writing and may direct, although no commitments on that end have been made. While the two previous titles are meant to be "aperatifs," in Safran's words, Superman is the true kick off for the duo's DCU plans. "It's not an origin story," Safran said. "It focuses on Superman balancing his Kryptonian heritage with his human upbringing. He is the embodiment of truth justice and the American way. He is kindness in a world that thinks that kindness as old-fashioned." A release date of July 11, 2025 has been penciled in.

The Brave and the Bold: "This is the introduction of the DCU Batman," said Gunn. "Of Bruce Wayne and also introduces our favorite Robin, Damian Wayne, who is a little son of a bitch." The movie will take inspiration from the now-classic Batman run written by Grant Morrison that introduced Batman to a son he never knew existed: a murderous tween raised by assassins. "It's a very strange father-and-son story."

And, importantly, it will feature a Batman not played by Robert Pattinson…

Paradise Lost: The duo describe this HBO Max series as a Game of Thrones-style drama set on the all-female island that is Wonder Woman's birthplace, Themyscira, filled with political intrigue and scheming between power players. It takes place before the events of the Wonder Woman films.

The Authority: a movie based on a team of superheroes with rather extreme methods of protecting the planet that first originated in the late 1990s under an influential imprint known as Wildstorm, run by artist and now head of DC publishing, Jim Lee. "One of the things of the DCU is that it's not just a story of heroes and villains," said Gunn. "Not every film and TV show is going to be about good guy vs. bad guy, giant things from the sky comes and good guy wins. There are white hats, black hats and grey hats." Added Safran: "They are kinda like Jack Nicholson in A Few Good Men. They know that you want them on the wall. Or at least they believe that."

Lanterns: Greg Berlanti's long-in-the-works Green Lanterns TV series has been scrapped and the duo have parted ways with the longtime DC series steward. In its place will be a new take on the space cops with power rings. "Our vision for this is very much in the vein of True Detective," Safran described. "It's terrestrial-based." It will feature prominent Lantern heroes Hal Jordan and John Stewart and is one of the most important shows they have in development. "This plays a really big role in leading into the main story we are telling across film and TV."

Creature Commandos: An animated seven episode series, written by Gunn, that is already in production. Originally a team of classic monsters assembled to fight Nazis, this is a modern take on the concept. The voice actors have yet to be cast but the executives are looking to find people who can voice the animated characters and also portray the live-action versions when the anti-heroes to show up in movies and shows.

Waller: A spin-off of Gunn's own HBO Max hit series, Peacemaker, Viola Davis will return as the ruthless and morally ambiguous head of a government task force. It is being written by Christal Henry (Watchmen) and Jeremy Carver, the creator of the Doom Patrol TV series.

Booster Gold: an HBO Max series based on a unique and lower-tiered hero created in 1986. Safran said of the series, "It's about a loser from the future who uses basic future technology to come back to today and pretend to be a superhero." Gunn described it as "imposter syndrome as superhero."

Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow: Taking its cues from the recent Tom King-written mini-series, this movie project promises to have a different take than what most think of when the idea of Superman's cousin comes to mind. "We will see the difference between Superman, who was sent to Earth and raised by loving parents from the time he was an infant, versus Supergirl, raised on a rock, a chip off of Krypton, and who watched everyone around her die and be killed in terrible ways for the first 14 years of her life and then come to Earth. She is much more hardcore and not the Supergirl we're used to."

Swamp Thing: a horror film that promises to close out the first part of the first chapter.

 

 

Reeves' The Batman sequel is alive:

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The Batman sequel: Pattinson will continue to portray the Dark Knight in at least one more crime saga movie directed by Matt Reeves. That movie, the executives revealed, will be released Oct. 3, 2025 and is being titled The Batman Part II.

"2025 is going to be a very big year for DC," crowed Safran. "Superman and Batman within the same year."

 

Gunn addresses the Cavill situation once more:

 

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"We didn't fire Henry. Henry was never cast," said Gunn. "For me, it's about who do I want to cast as Superman and who do the filmmakers we have want to cast. And for me, for this story, it isn't Henry."

He added: "I like Henry, I think he's a great guy. I think he's getting dicked around by a lot of people, including the former regime at this company. But this Superman is not Henry, for a number of reasons."

 

The duo are putting a premium on screenplay writing, saying that would prevent the dreaded feeling of "superhero fatigue" and also give the projects a tonal and thematic difference from each other. Gunn called out the degradation of screenwriters in Hollywood and also said that the duo wanted to be respectful of the voice of filmmakers they were working with … up to a point.

"It's not the Gunnverse, it's not," Gunn said. "It's got to be all these different feels from all these different stories. That's what makes it so fun. The stories are completely different and each has the individual expression of the writers and the director that are making those projects."

But, he added, "We're not stupid. Not every filmmaker is going to be happy. Because if someone is doing something that isn't working, we're going to be honest."

 

 

[the division of joy]

Lets hope they find a sense of humour at some stage during all of this as most DC projects so far have been so, so turgid and humourless.

[The NZA]

i really need to watch birds of prey, suicide squad 2 & get on with peacemaker, those are the last batch i've sat on (passing on ww84)

[the division of joy]

Birds of Prey and SS2 are very good (and a lot of fun, especially for DC flicks). Not gotten around to peacemaker yet but I've been told repeatedly to watch it by a couple of friends (Who are mostly trustworthy with things).