The DC movies have long struggled to keep up with Marvel at the box office. In recent years, DC has spun out several different movies that seemingly exist in different universes with no storytelling relationship to one another, including the Todd Phillips Joker film, Matt Reeves’ Batman movie, Patty Jenkins’ Wonder Woman sequel, and James Gunn’s Suicide Squad reboot. That ends now.
In an attempt to streamline DC storytelling and compete with Marvel, Warner Bros. poached Gunn, director of Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy movies, from Disney to rebuild the DC universe alongside producer Peter Safran. Slowly, rumors have trickled out about the future of the DC movies: Despite his appearance in an end-credits scene for Black Adam, it doesn’t seem that Henry Cavill will return as Superman after all; Patty Jenkins’ third Wonder Woman movie has been scuttled; and even though the Aquaman sequel is due out this year, the studio may ask Jason Momoa to play a different DC character going forward.
Today, Gunn and Safran finally announced the initial steps for their 10-year plan for what they are calling the DCU at a press conference and in social media posts. Four already planned DC movies are set to release in the next couple of years: Shazam! The Fury of the Gods, The Flash, Blue Beetle, and Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom. None of these movies are officially a part of the new DCU, and the fate of their characters after this reset remains unclear. However, they are using The Flash movie, due on June 16, to reset the timeline in the DCU and essentially wipe the slate clean.
Safran briefly spoke to the controversy surrounding Ezra Miller’s starring role in The Flash following a series of arrests and accusations of abuse against the actor. “Ezra is completely committed to their recovery. We’re fully supportive of that journey that they’re on right now,” he said, according to Deadline. “When the time is right, when they feel they are ready to have the discussion, we’ll all figure out what the best way forward is. But right now, they are completely focused on their recovery.”
A few movies will be spared from annihilation and categorized as “Elsewhere” movies, or movies outside the main DCU. Both Matt Reeves’ BatVerse starring Robert Pattinson and Todd Phillips’ Joker franchise starring Joaquin Phoenix and, in the next film, Lady Gaga, will continue to exist in parallel timelines to the main DCU. Reeves will complete a Batman trilogy with Pattinson as well as the TV spinoff The Penguin starring Colin Farrell. The sequel to The Batman will release on Oct. 3, 2025.
But on to plans for the new DCU: Five new movies and five TV shows are in development. Some focus on famous characters like Superman and Green Lantern. Others are plucking more obscure IP like Creature Commandos and Booster Gold. They have dubbed this first chapter of the new DCU “Gods and Monsters.” Here’s what’s on the docket for the DCU.
Here are just a few of our plans. Up, up, and away! #DCStudios #DCU @DCComics pic.twitter.com/8XNDNLUEPq
— James Gunn (@JamesGunn) January 31, 2023
Read more: Ezra Miller and the Future of The Flash and the DC Extended Universe
Superman: Legacy
How to watch
July 11, 2025 in theaters
What we know about the plot
Superman is getting a reboot. The first movie in the new DCU will center on a young Clark Kent, though the creative duo emphasized it’s not an origin story. “It focuses on Superman balancing his Kryptonian heritage with his human upbringing,” Safran told reporters. Presumably the movie will not star Henry Cavill and will cast a new, younger actor to play Superman.
A separate movie about the Man of Steel by writer Ta-Neihisi Coates is in development though J.J. Abrams’ production company Bad Robot. It will exist outside the DCU.
The Authority
How to watch
TBA in theaters
What we know about the plot
Safran and Gunn intend to follow up Superman with a lesser-known property, The Authority. Based on characters from Wildstorm, an imprint of DC comics, The Authority will be an ensemble film about cynical superheroes who hold the philosophy that the ends justify the means. As in the comics, the characters will be incorporated into the larger DC world of superheroes onscreen. Safran compared the group to Jack Nicholson’s role in A Few Good Men, a morally dubious and self righteous character.
The Brave and the Bold
How to watch
TBA in theaters
What we know about the plot
There will be at least two Batmen on the big screen going forward. Safran and Gunn are introducing a new Caped Crusader, separate from the one played by Robert Pattinson in last year’s The Batman. Presumably this new Batman will make his debut in The Brave and the Bold, a story bout the “Bat family,” which includes Robin.
Many different comic-book characters have taken on the mantle of Robin over the years. The DCU will adapt the Damian Wayne version, who in the comics is the son of Bruce Wayne and Talia Al Ghul (the latter of whom you may remember as the character played by Marion Cotillard in The Dark Knight Rises). Bruce doesn’t know about Damian until about midway through the boy’s childhood. Gunn describes the Damian Wayne Robin as an “assassin that Batman tries to get in line.” The movie will be based on a run of the Batman comics written by Grant Morrison.
Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow
How to watch
TBA in theaters
What we know about the plot
Supergirl is finally getting her own live-action movie. Based on Tom King’s Supergirl comics that ran from 2021 to 2022, the movie will focus on Superman’s cousin, Kara Zor-El. Gunn described Kara as very different from Clark. “We see the difference between Superman, who was sent to Earth and raised by loving parents from the time he’s an infant, versus Supergirl, who was raised on a rock chip off of Krypton, and watched everyone around her die and be killed in terrible ways for the first 14 years of her life.” Gunn went on to call this Supergirl “hard core.”
King’s series does involve a superdog named Krypto. Unclear as of yet whether the canine will make a live-action film appearance.
Swamp Thing
How to watch
TBA in theaters
What we know about the plot
Gunn and Safran are also planning a dark horror movie origin story for the elemental superhero Swamp Thing. Gunn compared ushering Swamp Thing into the DCU to the inclusion of a character like Rocket Raccoon in Avengers: Infinity War, offering a “mashup quality” by juxtaposing the talking animal next to Thor. Gunn said they are “one-upping” that approach in Swamp Thing.
Creature Commandos
How to watch
TBA on HBO Max
What we know about the plot
James Gunn has written every episode of this upcoming animated series on HBO Max. The original comics centered on monsters, including Frankenstein’s monster, a vampire, a werewolf, and a gorgon fighting Nazis during World War II. Gunn is adding characters from other parts of the DCU to the group, like Weasel from his 2021 movie The Suicide Squad. Gunn said the actors who will be cast to voice the characters in the show will appear in the roles in later live-action DCU films.
Waller
How to watch
TBA on HBO Max
What we know about the plot
Amanda Waller from both Suicide Squad films is getting her own television series. Created by Doom Patrol showrunner Jeremy Carver and Watchmen writer Christal Henry, the show will presumably star Viola Davis, who has played Amanda Waller across previous DC properties. The characters from another Suicide Squad spinoff show, Peacemaker, will appear in Waller. (Gunn has hit pause on the second season of Peacemaker while he focuses on writing Superman.) Both Creature Commandos and Waller will debut sometime before the first movie in the new DCU, Superman: Legacy.
Lanterns
How to watch
TBA on HBO Max
What we know about the plot
The Green Lantern Corps. have a mixed record in live-action: Ryan Reynolds starred in a version that flopped. Now the group of superheroes is getting a fresh start on streaming. The show will focus on two of the most famous members of the Green Lantern Corps, Hal Jordan (the character once played by Reynolds) and John Stewart, one of DC’s first Black superheroes.
Gunn describes the duo as “space cops” who watch over planet Earth. The two will investigate a mystery that Safran said “plays a really big role leading us into the main story that we’re telling across our film and television” and thus will be a key to the relaunch of the DCU.
This show will replace the Green Lantern series that was being developed by Greg Berlanti for HBO Max. “Greg’s vision was more of a space opera,” Safran said. “Our vision is much more True Detective, terrestrial-based investigation story.”
Paradise Lost
How to watch
TBA on HBO Max
What we know about the plot
Another riff on a famous HBO property, Paradise Lost is being described as a Game of Thrones-type story by Gunn and Safran. Set on Wonder Woman’s home of Themyscira before her birth, it will focus on the political intrigue of the island populated entirely by women.
“How did that come about? What’s the origin of an island of all women?” Gunn asked. “What are the beautiful truths and the ugly truths behind all of that? And what’s the scheming like between the different power players in that society?”
Booster Gold
How to watch
TBA on HBO Max
What we know about the plot
Based on a cult-favorite comic book, the comedy Booster Gold centers on the 25th century character of Mike Carter, a disgraced former football star who uses technology from the future to travel to our present day and pretend that he’s a superhero. “Basically, ‘Booster Gold’ is imposter syndrome as a superhero,” said Gunn.
