On January 31st, James Gunn gave us a list of some of the projects from the first chapter of the DCU, and he also told us that this Chapter will be called, “Gods and Monsters,” which is really intriguing, and it makes me think that this chapter will have a lot to do with regular humans perspective about these super powerful beings. Here’s a list of all of the projects announced, and some of my thoughts about them.
The first few projects that James Gunn lists are the already planned DC movies which are: Shazam! Fury of the Gods, The Flash, Blue Beetle, and Aquaman: The Lost Kingdom. It sounds like all of these characters can potentially be involved in the future of the DCU, and I’m guessing that has a lot to do with how well they perform in the box office.
This is only the beginning of the first chapter so any other projects involving these characters aren’t really necessary to talk about at this point. However, if James Gunn and Peter Safran already have ten years planned then they probably know whether they want these characters or not. My guess is that even though they have ten years planned, there will be some wiggle room to change things around depending on how certain projects perform. Of course, I’m just speculating, but that’s enough of the four projects that we already knew about, now, let’s get into the new DCU stuff.
Creature Commandos
This one definitely has James Gunn written all over it, and I think that is a good thing. It looks like fun. I doubt that it will be anywhere near my favorite project, as I typically gravitate toward the big stuff like Superman, and Batman, but I’m hoping that it is a great story with great comedy, and that it is action packed. Weasel from The Suicide Squad will be joining the rest of the crew.
Waller
This project sounds good for many reasons. First of all, I see this as not necessarily a sequel to the Peacemaker series but more as a follow up. At the end of that series, Amanda Waller was about to face some serious heat because her daughter just blew the whistle on her activities, so it makes sense that we would go directly from Peacemaker’s story to Amanda Waller’s. It is similar to how Peacemaker was a follow up from The Suicide Squad. Amanda Waller does have a big influence in the DC world, and it will be interesting to see what her character is up to and how she handles the newfound attention.
My guess is that James Gunn had Creature Commandos, and Waller ready to go before he even knew that he was the co-head of DCU. He said that he didn’t write Waller, but that doesn’t mean that it wasn’t his idea. These two projects feel like they go right along with The Suicide Squad, and Peacemaker.
I understand the hesitation that some people have about keeping some of the characters and actors, but I also think that keeping the characters and actors from James Gunn’s projects makes sense. It seems like he was tasked with making The Suicide Squad and Peacemaker in a way that they could easily be integrated into the DCEU, but they could also be separated from it and become a part of something new. Now that we are getting James Gunn’s full vision, it seems fitting that his first two projects would be included as well. So it would seem that Creature Commandos and Waller finish up James Gunn’s original side of the DCEU, and now we get into the defining DCU project and that is:
Superman Legacy – July 11, 2025
I am excited for this movie, but I will be honest, I am still saddened about losing Henry Cavill. I’m still in support of this movie, but I am waiting to truly see why Henry Cavill wasn’t brought in to play Superman. Bringing over Viola Davis makes sense because she is kind of like the Money Penny character from James Bond, but more devious. And I can understand the Suicide Squad characters because they were part of James Gunn’s vision in the first place, but if some of the Justice League actors are staying, I am still going to be looking for why Henry Cavill is out.
Having said that, I am happy that they are finally making another Superman movie, and it sounds like they have a good judge of the character. Peter Saffran said that, “he is kindness in a world that thinks of kindness as old fashioned.” Those words give me faith in their iteration of Superman, and I look forward to what else they have in store for the character. And as far as villains, I would like to see Brainiac. We haven’t seen him in a live action movie and it’s about time that we did.
Lanterns
Hal Jordan and John Stewart partnered up together as space cops investigating strange things on Earth sounds like one of the best premises that I’ve heard in a while. As I mention in my video about this project, I see these two Green Lanterns like two Jedi in Star Wars who have been sent out on a mission.
There are a lot of other comparisons I make on different levels, but of course, James Gunn’s own comparison of True Detective is the best one to go off of since he is behind the creative process of this show. I’ve yet to watch True Detective, but I’ve heard a lot of great things, and I’ve liked the clips that I have seen.
Two lanterns can definitely be better than one, and I think these two characters will play well off of each other. I know Johnathan Majors will probably be too busy with all of his Kang variant appearances in the MCU, but I could see him and Glen Powell from Top Gun Maverick as these two Lanterns. Of course, that may just be because they seem to work well together in the short clips that I’ve seen of Devotion. Whoever they get, I’m sure they will both be great. James Gunn, and Peter Safran’s casting decisions in the past have been wonderful.
James Gunn said this will be a terrestrial based show, but hopefully we will get to see a little bit of outer space, and some interaction with other earthly heroes too. I also like that they will discover something that plays a major role in this first DCU chapter. Along the way to this discovery, it will be fun to watch these two Green Lanterns use their powers and see how they go about using their powers in their own unique ways. It will also be interesting to see what similarities they have especially considering they are both military men.
The Authority
I think James Gunn is most excited by The Authority, and that’s judging by the enthusiasm in his voice and the fact that he says it is a passion project of his. It seems that James Gunn is a big comic book fan, and he likes to not only read a lot of the mainstream stuff, but a lot of the lesser known stuff as well. The fact that he made Guardians of the Galaxy such a hit gives me confidence in this project.
I had honestly never heard of The Authority before this announcement, but apparently, they are fairly new to the DC Comics Universe and they started out at Wildstorm Comics. From what I can tell, they are a darker, more brutal version of The Justice League, and they do have some run ins with Superman.
My guess is that the Authority will form because they have had enough of supervillains running around wild. Their viewpoint may be that heroes like Superman and Batman capture the bad guys only to have them escape later and it becomes a vicious cycle.
Chances are, this brutal Authority team will show Superman that superheroes do need organization as well as guidelines if not rules to follow. He will look to veteran crime fighters like Batman, the Lanterns, and Wonder Woman for help in forming the Justice League to stop the Authority. But, I’m getting ahead of myself. I’ll need to do more research on this one.
Paradise Island
Speaking of Wonder Woman, Paradise Island sounds like the fun fantasy story that the DCU needs. My only trepidation is that Wonder Woman herself might not actually be in it. I know that it is set during the time of the early days of Themyscira, but they could have Wonder Woman in the present day learning the truths of her origins through flashbacks.
The comparison to Game of Thrones gives me a lot of hope since most of that series was made really well. There are so many stories in Greek mythology that can be tied into the stories of Paradise Island, and it will be interesting to see how this civilization of only women operates. I’m also a sucker for a story that has warrior’s fighting and even just training for battle.
Paradise Island
This is the introduction of the Bat-family into the DCU, and that gives me hope. I know a lot of people are skeptical about bringing in any of the robins into the movies, especially after Batman Forever, and Batman and Robin, but I think it can be done right. I was hoping that they would start off with Dick Grayson already fighting alongside Batman as an 18 something college student. I think having him around that age would be best even for when he started fighting crime.
As for this story, we know its about Batman and Damian Wayne Robin. As the name indicates, Damian Wayne is the son of Bruce Wayne, and he doesn’t find out about him until he is a preteen or young teen, I can’t remember. Either way, Batman does end up training Damian when he is young and has him fight alongside him. By the time Batman meets his son, Damian has already been trained as an assassin by the league of shadows since his mother is Talia Al Ghul, and his grandfather is Ras Al Ghul. This makes Batman’s job even harder.
There is a lot of conflict in this story and I think that is why James Gunn and Peter Saffran chose it above many other Batman stories that they could tell on the big screen. This story also provides a great chance for them to bring in characters like Nightwing, the Redhood, Tim Drake Robin, and Batgirl. It goes without saying that we should see Alfred, and Commissioner Gordon. It would be great to see a Nightwing movie come out of this and in that movie, we could see some of Dick Grayson’s adventures as Robin during flashbacks. There is a lot of potential with this start.
Booster Gold
The more I see and hear about Booster Gold, the more I like his story. I think I was first introduced to the character in the show Smallville. Smallville is one of my favorite shows of all time, and this was a good iteration of the character at least for the television level. Booster Gold in Smallville reminded me a lot of Chris Evans performance as The Human Torch in the Fantastic Four movies that he was a part of. He’s a cocky guy, looking to make money and fame off of heroism.
There are several differences between these two characters, but a big one is that The Human Torch is really powerful and good at what he does. Booster Gold has a lot of power too, but that is only because he came from the future so his technology is far superior to that of most people in the present day. Using his knowledge of the present day, and his fancy gadgets, Booster Gold is able to create his own destiny and rewrite his past. Of course, his arc as a character is about learning that he actually does have worth, and he doesn’t need to chase fame and fortune by pretending to be a hero, but he can actually be a hero. At least that’s how I see it.
With this series, I hope to see Booster Gold interacting with characters like Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, or the Green Lanterns. I think a big part of what makes him appealing is his interactions with other heroes and seeing his insecurities come out even though he tries so hard to hide them. I’d also like to see the characters give serious discussion about the implications of Booster Gold traveling back in time and rewriting his history. Will other superheroes like Superman be okay with Booster Gold compromising the space time continuum?
Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow
I’m not familiar, with the Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow story line, but from what I’ve heard, Supergirl has a lot of character development to go through. She has been through some hard times, and it is nice to hear that they are focusing on the differences between her character and her cousin. While it is sad that Superman came from a home that he’ll never see, Supergirl’s struggle is difficult because she did see that home, grew up there, and then lost it all.
The versions of Supergirl that I know mostly are from her appearances in Superman the Animated Series, The Justice League Animated Series’, and of course Smallville. I’ve also seen a little bit of her story in the Arrowverse. All of those versions are great, and I’m excited for the potential of a Supergirl movie. Hopefully they get her story right. I personally hope that they don’t focus on Brainiac for her story unless he is also involved in an upcoming Superman story.
I also wonder if they will eventually do something similar to what was done in the Justice League Unlimited Animated Series where she traveled to the future and chose to stay there with Brainiac 5 and the Legion of Superheroes. Her and Booster Gold could potentially make a swap, but again that would still seem to have harmful potential to the space time continuum.
Swamp Thing
This is another one that I get more excited about the more I hear about it. I’m traditionally not a big horror fan, but there are some that I enjoy and I appreciate the genre. I also do appreciate it more when blended with super powers. I can get on board for stories about vampires, and mummies, and Swamp Thing sounds like something fun that we haven’t really seen before except for the viewers of the 2019 series. I don’t know a lot about Swamp Thing, but I want to know more.
I’m intrigued to learn the story of a man who gets powers in the swamp and becomes one with nature. I have no idea what kinds of conflicts Swamp Thing is going to run into but I am interested in finding out. I hope that there is a connection back to the real world and that the entire story doesn’t take place in the swamp, but if done right, that could be very entertaining.
And that concludes the list of upcoming projects for the DCU’s first Chapter. I’ll be honest, that list is much longer than I was expecting and I am overall happy about these announcements. I’ll be going over the Elseworld projects in a separate post. For now, those are The Batman Part 2, Joker 2, and Teen Titans Go. I’ll mention again that James Gunn has said the whole list of movies here are only a few of the projects in the first Chapter of the DCU, and that chapter is titled, “Gods and Monsters.” My guess is that this is the first third of this first Chapter which would mean that there are many more projects to come and hopefully they will be announced this year or the next.
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