James Gunn explains his new DCU across movies, TV, and animation

Writer-director James Gunn, who serves as DC Studios co-chairman and CEO with Peter Safran, outlined the duo’s plan for a new chapter of the DC Universe on Tuesday — a plan that will span eight to 10 years across 10 initial projects, and will attempt to unify DC’s comic properties across film, television, gaming, and animation. The new DCU slate includes a cinematic reboot of the Superman franchise and a brand-new Batman movie that’s not a sequel to 2022’s Batman.

But Gunn and Safran’s new plan doesn’t nullify the worlds of the four still-to-be-released DC Studios movies (Shazam! Fury for the Gods, The Flash, Blue BeetlePlease see the following: Aquaman and Lost Kingdom) nor will it apparently alter plans for sequels to Matt Reeves’ Batman and Todd Phillips’ Joker. Gunn explains the plans in detail and gives more information on the newly announced projects starring Supergirl and Green Lanterns.

Gunn announces Warner Bros.’ goal via an announcement video. Discovery is to “make sure the DCU is connected in film, television, gaming,And animation” and that “characters are consistent, played by the same actors, and it works in one story.” Anything that doesn’t work within that DCU continuity, including The Batman – Part II and Joker: Folie à DeuxDC Elseworlds, the new brand that will represent it, was created by. (That label is familiar to many DC fans, as it’s where creators tell alternate universe “What if…?” stories outside of the comics’ continuity.)

Gunn also explains that the remaining DC movie slate, which draws on characters borne of the Zack Snyder-led era at DC, will lead directly into Gunn and Safran’s new projects. “Shazam has always been off kind of in his own part of the DCU so he connects very well,” Gunn says. “That moves directly into The FlashA fantastic film that is worth watching. […]The entire DC Universe is reset, then […]To Blue Beetle, about a kid who’s a marvelous part of the DCU, and then into Aquaman 2.”

The first of Gunn’s new DCU projects is Creature CommandosThe gang of monstrous misfits that will be under Amanda Waller’s watch (played in Viola Davis) Suicide SquadAnd Peacemaker). We’ll see Davis return as Waller here, as Gunn explains, “We’re gonna have characters move into animation, out of animation, usually having the same actor play their voice as who plays them in live-action.” That will be a major change for the DCU, in which multiple actors portray heroes like Batman, The Flash, and Superman across media formats.

Gunn then explains some of his other projects. LanternsThe same as True Detective but with “Green Lanterns who are space cops overseeing precinct Earth;” The Authority “a passion project” for Gunn that will welcome the superhero team to the DCU for the first time; and Booster Gold, a Very Gunn character in that he’s “a loser from the future” who becomes a superhero in the present day so that people will love him — “basically the superhero story of imposter syndrome,” Gunn says.

Additional projects including movies Superman: Legacy, The Brave and the BoldPlease see the following: Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow, get a bit more color as well, because Gunn namechecks the comic book writers and series that those films will draw from, including Grant Morrison’s and Tom King’s runs on Brave and the Bold and Supergirl. (Interestingly, Gunn’s video breakdown shows artwork from Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely’s All-Star Superman(When discussing Superman, he said that the film will be released in 2025.