Everything we know about all 10 of DC’s film and TV announcements – Superman, Batman, Swamp Thing and more!
In case you missed the massive announcement earlier today, DC Studios Co-Chairmen/CEOs James Gunn and Peter Safran have unveiled details of their first 10 film and television projects under the new DC banner.
The pair are looking to deliver a long-term interconnected story, and the first phase… sorry, “chapter”… is being dubbed “Gods and Monsters”, with 5 new films and 5 new HBO television series already in development!
All 10 of the new projects will take placed in the same shared DCU, and we’ve included what we know so far about each of them below:
Creature Commandos (Animated Series)
A seven-part animated series written by Gunn and based around Amanda Waller putting together a Black Ops squad out of a collection of monstrous prisoners.
The roster, which you can feast your eyes on above, features (from left to right) Rick Flag Senior, Nina Mazursky, Batman villain Doctor Phosphorus, Eric Frankenstein, The Bride of Frankenstein (who’s the lead), G.I. Robot and Weasel.
Speaking about the series, Gunn said: “What we’re doing with the DCU is we’re having animation tied directly into live action. Television, movies and games all intertwine within the same universe. We’re going to cast actors that are going to be able to play the characters in this, as well as in other things, some of which we’ve already cast. I’ve written all seven episodes of this show and it’s in production now.”
Waller (Live Action TV Series)
Set between series 1 and 2 of Peacemaker, this new HBO Max series sees Viola Davis returning as Amanda Waller.
“This basically follows up Peacemaker. We have two great creatives working on it: Christal Henry, who was a writer on Watchmen, and Jeremy Carver who created Doom Patrol. They have this incredibly marvelous story worked out that I think is really fantastic”, said Gunn.
Superman: Legacy (Movie)
A full-length feature film, also written by Gunn, which promises to “focus on Superman balancing his Kryptonian heritage with his human upbringing.”
In an interview with DC.com, Safran described this movie as “really the launch of the DCU.”
He continued, adding “The first two projects are an amuse-bouche for what’s coming up with Superman: Legacy. James is currently writing it. We’re hoping that he will direct it. It’s not an origin story. It focuses on Superman balancing his Kryptonian heritage with his human upbringing. Superman represents truth, justice and the American way. He is kindness in a world that thinks of kindness as old fashioned.”
Superman: Legacy will hit cinemas on 11th July, 2025.
Lanterns (Live Action TV Series)
Another live action show, this series will features fan-favourite Green Lanterns Hal Jordan and John Stewart, and Gunn describes it as “a True Detective-type mystery.”
Gunn and Safran also used this show as a prime example of the interconnected nature of the new projects, confirming that this terrestrial-based mystery will lead into the overall story being told, with an as-yet-unconfirmed “ancient horror” being discovered and Hal and John effectively becoming supercops on “Precinct Earth”.
The Authority (Movie)
In an interesting addition which Gunn calls a “passion project”, the WildStorm characters will take center stage in their own live action movie.
Speaking about the movie, Gunn said “The Authority’s a very different kind of superhero story. They are basically good-intentioned, but they think that the world is completely broken and the only way to fix it is to take things into their own hands, whether that means killing people, destroying heads of state, changing governments—basically, whatever they want to do to make the world better. We’ll see how that journey goes for them.”
Definitely the most leftfield of the announcements made today, but still one with a lot of potential.
Paradise Lost (Live Action TV Series)
Another interesting announcement, this HBO Max series, set before Diana’s birth, will take us to Themyscira/Paradise Island and promises to deliver a Game of Thrones-esque tale of darkness, drama and political intrigue.
Gunn describes it as “an origin story of how this society of women came about. What does it mean? What are their politics like? What are their rules? Who’s in charge? What are the games that they play with each other to get to the top?” and honestly, that does sound kinda interesting to us.
The Brave and the Bold (Live Action Movie)
Now this is an interesting one, and possibly the one that’s going to get a lot of people talking. Introducing “the DCU’s Batman” – i.e., not Pattison or Affleck – and based on the critically acclaimed Grant Morrison comic book run, this movie will be based around Damian Wayne, Batman’s biological son that he didn’t know existed for the first eight to ten years of his life.
Excitingly, Safran also mentioned that the movie “is going to feature other members of the extended Bat-Family. Just because we feel like they’ve been left out of the Batman stories in the theater for far too long.”
No release date yet for this one, but expect the casting speculation to go into manic overdrive until both roles are confirmed.
Booster Gold (Live Action TV Series)
After a ton of speculation over the last decade or so, fan favourite Booster Gold finally gets the live action treatment in this new HBO Max series, which will focus on the character who, in Safran’s own words, is “a loser from the future who uses his basic future technology to come back to today to pretend to be a superhero.”
Gunn continued adding, “I think of it as basically the story of a superhero’s imposter syndrome. How do you deal with that? (It’s about) how he tries to use this future technology to be loved by the people of today and what is really at the base of that. It’s a character story that’s going to be a very different type of show, and we’re talking to an actor about it now.
Really excited about this one, if we’re honest. The casting is going to be key, though.
Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow (Movie)
The fourth of five movie announcements, this one is based on the popular comic book series from Tom King and Bilquis Evely, and both Gunn and Safran spoke about King’s extensive involvement in the formulation of the DC shared universe, alongside four or five other writers.
In this story, Superman was sent to Earth and raised by incredibly loving parents. Kara was on Krypton. She was on a piece of Krypton that drifted away from the planet and she lived there for the first fourteen years of her life in a horrible situation where she watched everyone around her die. So, she’s a much harsher and more f*cked up Supergirl than you’ve been used to thus far.
Definitely a unique approach, and it’s going to be interesting to see how it intersects with Superman: Legacy, which will hit cinemas first.
Swamp Thing (Movie)
Last but by absolutely no means least, we’re finally getting a Swamp Thing movie!
Promising to investigate the “dark origins” of the character, this movie was cited as a prime example of the difference in tone that viewers can expect across all the different new projects, with each set of of filmmakers bringing their own aesthetic into the mix.
No release date for this one either.
So there you have it. A huge amount to digest, and a lot of other announcements still to come by the sounds of it, including casting, directors, release dates, etc.
Let us know in the comments which of these new projects you’re most excited about, and stay tuned for more details as they become available.
The writer of this piece was: Craig Neilson-Adams (aka Ceej)
Article Archive: Ceej Says
You can follow Ceej on Twitter
BIG COMIC PAGE 
There’s a lot of good and promising stuff in Gunn’s announcement, especially a new Superman film, along with alive action GL series. The one I’m most excited about though is the Swamp Thing movie, big fan of that character. Not so keen on Tom King’s Supergirl Woman of Tomorrow being adapted into a movie, that comic series was awful.