James Gunn Announces 11 New DC Projects Including New Batman & Superman Movies
James Gunn just announced his first slate of projects for the new DC Universe, and I gotta admit, my bedroom looks like this right now....
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There's a couple predictable entries and plenty of shocking ones, but most importantly, for the first time in a long time, it feels like there's hope for DC.
James Gunn and Peter Safran are laying out a long-term plan and they're not just rushing into a Justice League franchise for the sake of catching up with Marvel - they're taking a deep breath and thinking about everything for a little bit first.
Let's look at the full list of projects for Phase 1 (titled: Gods & Monsters) and break it down….
CREATURE COMMANDOS: a seven-episode animated series about a team of classic monsters fighting Nazis. Apparently some of the characters from this series WILL appear in live action, played by their eventual voice actors. Already written and in production.
Sounds like a nice fun watch to me. I'm always down to watch Nazis get their asses kicked.
WALLER: a Peacemaker/Suicide Squad spinoff for Viola Davis' Amanda Waller (one of the few who have survived the DC transition), written by Christal Henry (who wrote the fourth episode of HBO's 'Watchmen') and Jeremy Carver (the creator of the fan-favorite 'Doom Patrol' show that was recently cancelled on HBOMax).
I'll be honest, I don't know that Amanda Waller needed her own series….buuuut I said the same thing about John Cena's Peacemaker after seeing 'The Suicide Squad', and I was DEAD WRONG about that one.
Gunn has already put together a great duo of writers on this, he's promised team-ups with the 'Peacemaker' cast, and with Viola Davis in the lead role - I'm sure it's bound to be awesome.
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SUPERMAN: LEGACY: this is the Superman movie that James Gunn has been writing for months, and he may end up directing it as well. It'll be released July 11, 2025, and Gunn considers it the "true beginning" of he and Peter Safran's DCU.
They've made sure to stress that this is NOT an origin story, as that's been overdone to death, but instead just a story about Superman in his earlier days as a hero.
This is the big one. You kick off the DCU with a shitty Superman movie, you'll never live it down. You kick it off with an AWESOME Superman movie, though? You could just set the rest of the universe up for success in an instant.
I want this Superman movie to be fun, bright, colorful, and full of joy. That's the Superman I grew up with in the cartoons and Christopher Reeve movies, and Zack Snyder seemed to suck a lot of that out of Clark Kent over the last decade. Hell, even in 'Superman Returns' (before Snyder's time) they didn't even let the guy throw a punch!
Just let Superman be Superman. Have him save the day a couple times. Let him smile and be nice to people. Make sure he takes down the bad guys in the end. No snapping necks, though!
LANTERNS: a 'True Detective'-style series about Green Lanterns Hal Jordan and John Stewart watching over Earth and discovering a mystery that unravels into the larger DCU.
YES! I've been asking for a show about the Lanterns for YEARS on My Mom's Basement (subscribe now)!
James Gunn coming right out and saying this series is going to be in the same vein as True Detective takes some BALLS. I mean, are you kidding me?! If we're talking True Detective Season 1, that's a pretty damn high bar to clear.
I'm in, though - drama/mystery has probably become my favorite genre over the past few years, and I have an early feeling this'll wind up being one of my favorite DCU projects.
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THE AUTHORITY: a "passion-project" for James Gunn based on characters from the Wildstorm comics; Gunn says 'The Authority' are a team of superheroes who believe the world is broken and that they need to fix it by any means necessary - called it a very different look at superheroes.
I have no idea who or what any of these characters are, but if this is Gunn's "passion project", could it wind up being the Guardians of the Galaxy of the DCU? I didn't know any of them except Rocket Raccoon (from Marvel vs Capcom games) at the time!
Guess we'll just have to wait and see.
PARADISE LOST: the story of Paradise Island, the birthplace of Wonder Woman, set before Diana was born. This one was compared to Game of Thrones, with politics and backstabbing and ladder-climbing and all that nonsense involved.
As Paradise Island, aka Themyscira, is home to exclusively women, I'm predicting this one as "Most Likely To Get Review Bombed Before Release On Rotten Tomatoes" out of all the projects. Seriously, though, the Themyscira stuff was always pretty awesome in the movies, and I'll take as many shows "like Game of Thrones" as I could get while we wait another decade for 'House of the Dragon' to come back. I'm starving for medieval-esque politics in my life.
P.S. That's twice now that Gunn has compared one of his upcoming shows to some of the greatest HBO shows of all time, which he's gotta know is gonna give people some crazy high expectations. He must just be ultra-confident in them.
THE BRAVE AND THE BOLD: the introduction of the DCU's Batman (NOT played by Robert Pattinson) and his son, Damian Wayne - aka ROBIN. This is based off one of my favorite comic runs by Grant Morrison and Gunn promises that this is only the start of the Bat-Family.
This is the one that really got the juices flowing for me. I absolutely LOVE that Batman & Robin run by Grant Morrison and LOVE the Damian Wayne character. Damian is the FOURTH Robin - after Dick Grayson, Jason Todd, and Tim Drake (if you don't count Carrie Kelly) - and he's a complete badass, trained as an assassin by his mother, Talia al Ghul.
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In the comics, Dick Grayson actually takes over as Batman for a while with Damian by his side, but it sounds like this movie will be more about the Bruce/Damian father/son dynamic, so that'll probably get changed.
More than anything, though, I wanted to see a Bat-Family in this DCU, and knowing we're gonna get just that in a few years makes me so happy. Just look to The Animated Series or even the Arkham games for how great it could be - or pick up that Grant Morrison run here.
Oh, and 'The Brave And The Bold' is a GREAT name for this one - that phrase has always symbolized the lighter side of Batman to me, and that's what this movie should be while Matt Reeves focuses on the dark/gritty side of Batman.
BOOSTER GOLD: an HBO Max series that tells the story of imposter syndrome through Booster Gold, a loser from the future who uses technology to become a superhero in the past so that people will like him.
I don't know much about Booster Gold, but I've seen those books around comic shops for years and I know he's got a super loyal fanbase who must be thrilled about this! I mean - that quick description sure sounds funny to me, so I'll give it a shot of course. It almost feels like the plot of an 80s movie!
THE BATMAN: PART II: the sequel to Matt Reeves' 'BATMAN' movie, slated to come out October 3rd, 2025. Movies like this and the Joaquin Phoenix 'Joker' movies will now be classified as 'Elseworlds' titles, as they don't take place within the main DCU continuity, which I think is a great move.
FINALLY! Confirmation on 'The Batman: Part II' with a release date!
I'm still pushing for Matt Reeves to bring in the 'Batman & Robin' rogues duo of Mr. Freeze and Poison Ivy for this one. With Gotham City as flooded as it is by the end of the first movie, I could see half of the city getting frozen over and the other half becoming overgrown, can't you?
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Aside from the fact that 'THE BATMAN: PART II' will focus a little more on Bruce Wayne than the first, we don't know much about this highly anticipated sequel at all….
SUPERGIRL: WOMAN OF TOMORROW: Gunn promises a "sci-fi epic" in 'Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow', based off Tom King's comic book run of the same name. In this story, Supergirl is raised on a chunk of the destroyed planet Krypton and watched everyone around her perish, making her a much more jaded/hardened character than we're used to.
Supergirl was always my favorite of the Greg Berlanti CW shows, and although this sounds like a much different take on the character, I also think it could be one of the strongest projects on this early slate.
Melissa Benoist was so good as Kara Zor El I actually wish they could just recast her as Supergirl here.
I wouldn't even be shocked if they went with the Supergirl who will be making her debut in 'The Flash', though, because early reports indicate that movie FUCKS….
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SWAMP THING: the final project of James Gunn's 'Gods & Monsters' slate, which he describes as a "very dark horror story" about the origins of Swamp Thing, which exists outside of the DCU, but will still feed into the DCU stories - whatever that means!
I love Swamp Thing. I think he's got one of the coolest, most badass designs in all of comic books, and I really enjoyed the (quickly cancelled) HBO Max series based on him a couple years ago. Leaning into the horror aspect of the character here sounds awesome, and I love that it seems like they're chasing a bunch of different genres/styles to avoid making the same formulaic superhero movie over and over again.
I could already see the opening scene: some evil raiders wade into the dark and foggy swamp, waist-deep, and one is pulled under super abruptly. Gunshots erupt, but are quickly silenced as the rest of them are each pulled under, one-by-one until a sole raider remains. We cut to his face, terrified, looking in every which direction, just to see the shadow of a monstrous creature cast over him. Title card: SWAMP THING. Then the movie starts, you know?
Overall, I think this was a fantastic announcement for DC Studios, and I loved how much focus James Gunn put on the actual comic books they're about to take all their inspiration from.
My personal 'Top 5 Projects I'm Most Excited About' list….
1. THE BATMAN: PART II/THE BRAVE AND THE BOLD
2. SUPERMAN: LEGACY
3. LANTERNS
4. SWAMP THING
5. PARADISE LOST
Okay I cheated and put six - don't make me choose between Batmen.
What about you guys? What are the Top 5 you're most excited by?!
P.S. Clem and I are going to record My Mom's Basement later tonight breaking down this announcement even further/discussing The Last of Us Episode 3, so SUBSCRIBE NOW and you'll be the first to know when it goes live!