James Gunn announced the next phase of DC Comics at Warner Bros, called Chapter 1: Gods and Monsters. Can James Gunn (and Peter Safran) finally deliver films and TV shows that can rival their Marvel counterparts? Can DC produce filmed entertainment that will stand the test of time? The Con Guys weigh in on which announcements resonated the best with us, whether we believe that DC is entering a new Golden Age, and which projects we can’t wait to see. Go James Gunn! Here’s what we think! #dccomics #warnerbros #jamesgunn #superman #batman
DC 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. It’s being called Chapter 1: Gods and Monsters.
THE MOVIES
SUPERMAN: LEGACY
July 11, 2025. Written by Gunn, Superman: Legacy will follow Kal-El as he reconciles his extraterrestrial origins with his human family and upbringing. Henry Cavill is not returning.
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. The DCU will introduce its Batman and Robin in this unusual father-son story inspired by Grant Morrison’s comic series.
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.” 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
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, seven episodes. 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
Featuring the Green Lantern Corps, DC Studios said it will be an “enormous TV event series” focused on Hal Jordan (the Silver Age Green Lantern) and John Stewart (first appearance, 1971) unraveling “a dark mystery” together.
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. A Game of Thrones-style drama.
DC ELSEWORLDS
Reeves’ Batman movies and Todd Phillips’ sequel to Joker will fall under a banner titled DC Elseworlds, which will, just as in the comics, fall outside the larger continuity of the DCU. The Black Superman project, being written by Ta-Nehisi Coates under the previous regime, remains in active development and would also fall under that category. Teen Titans Go!, the popular and long-running cartoon series on Cartoon Network also falls under that banner, the duo said.
MOVIES THIS YEAR – 2023
Shazam! Fury of the Gods, coming March 17, and continuing with The Flash (June 16), Blue Beetle (Aug. 18) and Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom (Dec. 25).
The Flash movie is a time-travel movie and may be used to help wipe the slate clean of everything that’s come before. Or not. James Gunn says it’s one of the best super-hero movies he’s seen.
