Fire from the Gods (and Monsters): DC Studios Rebooted (Again)

It's been a rocky road for DC Studios for the past decade or so, with the implosion of Zack Snyder's Justice League plans and the mixed results of an slate of films eclectic in tone, continuity, and quality. But the third time just might be the charm, as just this week new DC Studio heads writer/director James Gunn and producing partner Peter Safran unveiled their initial slate of upcoming DC film and television projects, titled "Chapter One: Gods and Monsters". So let's take a look at this exciting yet unusual slate of superhero projects.

The New Pantheon

Gunn and Safran highlighted ten upcoming projects, five TV shows and five films. Among those are some familiar franchises including a Superman reboot, titled Superman: Legacy, written by Gunn and said to focus on the Man of Steel balancing his Earthly upbringing and his Kryptonian heritage (the announcement also came with a tentative release date of July 11th, 2025). We're also getting a new Batman in Brave and the Bold which will feature Bruce Wyane's long lost son Damian Wayne, a "real son of a bitch" raised by assassins and who takes on the role of Robin.

On the TV side, they announced Lanterns, a sci-fi detective show centered around Hal Jordan and John Stewart, human members of an intergalactic peacekeeping organization with superpowered rings who protect Earth. Also in the mix is Paradise Lost, a Game of Thrones inspired show focused on the politics and conflicts of Wonder Woman's homeland, Themyscira. There's also Waller, all about the morally dubious leader of Task Force X (aka The Suicide Squad) Amanda Waller, with Viola Davis expected to reprise the role and characters from The Suicide Squad and Peacemaker to return as well.

Odd Gods

Then there are the projects based on some more obscure, oddball characters, because leave it to the guy who transformed the D-list galactic superteam The Guardians of the Galaxy into a global sensation and made Rocket Raccoon a household name to get a little weird. First up is Creature Commandos, an animated TV show about a group of monster fighting Nazis in World War Two, because hell yeah!! There is also the Booster Gold show, a fan favorite character who's a loser in the 31st century who takes a bunch of future tech back in time to the present to become a superhero. Back to the film side of things, they announced a film about The Authority, a team from Wildstorm, a comic company DC acquired in the late 90s, of superheroes who go to extreme lengths to protect the planet. We're also getting a Swamp Thing movie, with Logan director James Mangold in talks to direct, and a film adaptation of Tom King's miniseries Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow,which follows Superman's jaded, reckless cousin Kara Zor-El as she goes on an intergalactic quest for revenge.

The Pen is Mightier

That last project is of particular interest of me, not only because the original miniseries is particularly great (side note: it's crazy because I literally picked it up from my local library a couple days ago and now after the announcement it's completely sold out everywhere), but it highlight a particular tenet to Gunn and Safran's approach to cinematic universe management: putting writers at the forefront. Gunn had this to say on the quality of writing in today's blockbuster landscape:

“People have become beholden to [release] dates, to getting movies made no matter what... I’m a writer at my heart, and we’re not going to be making movies before the screenplay is finished. I’ve seen it happen again and again — it’s a mess. It’s the primary reason for the deterioration in quality of films today, versus 20-30 years ago. The degradation of the writer in Hollywood has been a terrible story... It’s gotten much worse since I first moved here 23 years ago. Writers have been completely left out of the loop in favor of actors and directors, and making the writer more prominent and more important in this process is really important to us.”

That focus on quality writing is very promising in an age where audiences are starting to contend with superhero fatigue. Gunn and Safran have already assembled an all-star team of writers to craft the new direction of the DCU, including Drew Goddard, Christina Hodson, Jeremy Slater, Christal Henry, and Tom King. There is also a noted reverence for the original source material as well, pulling a lot of inspiration from noted comics writers such as Alan Moore and Grant Morrison.

Continuity Conundrum

Of course, when you announce a new era of a popular and widespread franchise, the first question is obviously, what about the old stuff?! Well that's a bit complicated. This year, four films from the previous DC Studios regime will be released in theaters: Shazam: Fury of the Gods, The Flash, Blue Beetle, and Aquaman: The Lost Kingdom. Gunn explained that The Flash, set to release this July, will serve as a catalyst for franchise reboot and Superman: Legacy will be the proper kick off to the new era of DC films, but the projects released in between are a bit more muddled. Gunn mentioned that characters such as Shazam and Blue Beetle exist in their own little bubble and could cross over into the new DC continuity. On the other hand some characters are expected to be recast, while others are still up in the air. Henry Cavil is already out, Ben Affleck and Gal Gadot are also expected to be on the chopping block, but other actors such as Jason Mamoa and Ezra Miller may continue to reprise their roles in the future (though the latter's recent mental health struggles and run ins with the law that put's their future in the DCU at risk).

There are also projects that are decidedly outside the canon of the DCU, such as Todd Phillip's Joker sequel and Matt Reeve's The Batman universe (including the upcoming HBO series The Penguin and The Batman: Part II, which was confirmed and dated for October 3rd, 2025 at the same event). These are still happening, under the umbrella of "Elseworlds Projects" (the same name as out of continuity comics from DC) and there could be more if the projects are up to snuff, as Safran explained:

“The bar is going to be very high for projects to be outside the DCU, the Elseworlds projects. But every now and then there will be something that lives up to that.”

Into the Unknown

Of course, there's the big question looming over all of this: Is it any good? Is this going to work? Is this really going to stick? Are they just going to reboot everything again in five years?

Well, from this inital teaser of things to come, I'm optimistic. The slate has a solid mix of classic icons, fan favorite charcters who are due for a chance in the spotlight, and some true curveballs that'll keep audiences on thier toes. Gunn is a major comic nerd who knows best how to bring these characters to the big screen and with a writing-first focus and over two decades of filmmaking and blockbuster experience, I'm sure he has the vision and the skill to assemble an incredible team of filmmakers to craft an exciting and unique cinematic universe. It's still too early to tell how this will all play out, but the future's looking bright for DC.