It’s been more than two years since DC Studios co-chief James Gunn announced the official lineup for Chapter One of his rebooted DC Universe (DCU). Since then, not a lot has changed – indeed, only one project has been released (that being Creature Commandos season 1) while two more (Clayface and Dynamic Duo) have added to the DCU’s current slate.
That was the case until the latest DCU press event was held last Friday (February 21), anyway, with Gunn and fellow studio CEO Peter Safran providing the most significant update yet on their DCU Chapter One plans. Here are the six biggest takeaways from the presentation:
1. Robert Pattinson won’t be the DCU’s Batman
After months of speculation, Gunn and Safran confirmed that Robert Pattison’s Bruce Wayne/Batman won’t be integrated into the DCU. The pair’s stance on the matter comes after numerous reports that Matt Reeves’ Batman Universe, dubbed The Batman Epic Crime Saga, would be folded into the DCU. Apparently, that would have seen Reeves installed as the main creative voice for the Caped Crusader’s big- and small-screen adaptations at DC Studios, and seen forthcoming films like The Batman Part II merged into Chapter One’s lineup.
That won’t be happening, though. Gunn told reporters (per IGN) that Reeves’ Bat-Verse will continue to sit independently of the DCU, and that progress is being made on the DCU Chapter One’s upcoming Dark Knight movie, aka The Brave and the Bold. Indeed, a writer has been hired and, once they’ve filed a script, it’ll be looked over by Gunn, Safran, and the film’s director Andy Muschietti to determine whether it’s good enough to enter full production.
2. Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow and Lanterns get significant filming updates
Gunn’s Superman movie is the next DCU project that will be released – it’ll fly into theaters on July 11 – but two other Chapter One productions I’m really excited about received big production updates at last week’s presentation.
Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow, which will launch in cinemas worldwide in June 2026, is midway through its shooting schedule (per Deadline). That flick will star House of the Dragon alumnus Milly Alcock as the titular hero, who we got our first look at in an image that’ll be very familiar to DC comic book fans, with Jason Momoa recently cast as immortal anti-hero Lobo.
On the TV front, Lanterns, which is being billed as a ‘new weird’ sci-fi take on HBO’s acclaimed anthology crime series True Detective, just wrapped its first week of filming. According to the same Deadline article in the previous paragraph, it could be released on Max in early 2026. It’ll star Aaron Pierre and Kyle Chandler as co-leads Jon Stewart and Hal Jordan, too, who are two of the most recognizable characters to have held the Green Lantern moniker.
3. New details emerge about Mike Flanagan’s Clayface movie
One of the more recent projects that was greenlit for DCU Chapter One, horror auteur Mike Flanagan’s Clayface film is due to start filming in mid-2025, according to Gunn and Safran. Per IGN, it’ll also be an R-rated flick, with Gunn adding that it’ll be “pure f***ing horror, like, totally real. Their version of that movie, it is so real and true and psychological and body horror and gross.”
Gunn and Safran confirmed reports that James Watkins, the filmmaker behind 2024’s Speak No Evil movie, is on board to direct Clayface. It’s currently penciled in for release in September 2026.
4. Paradise Lost, Booster Gold, and Swamp Thing are all still in development…
Given the length of time that’s passed since DCU Chapter One’s lineup was revealed, fans have started to grow concerned that some of the announced projects won’t get made after all. Well, Gunn and Safran have moved to allay some of those fears.
For starters, the duo revealed that Paradise Lost, a Game of Thrones-esque series that could introduce Dian Prince/Wonder Woman to the DCU, is still in the works. No writer has been found to pen its scripts yet, though.
Meanwhile, while a showrunner/head writer had been found for Booster Gold, another DCU TV show, Safran revealed (per The Hollywood Reporter) that the unnamed individual eventually walked away from the project. A new scribe has been found, so it sounds like it’s full steam ahead on this one again.
Then there’s Swamp Thing, another horror-fueled film that’s coming from James Mangold (Logan, A Complete Unknown). Safran said (via Deadline) that the ball is firmly in Mangold’s court about its development, but added that he and Gunn are confident he’ll get around to it in the near future.
5. …but it’s not great news for Waller or The Authority
Two DCU productions that are in trouble, however, are Waller and The Authority.
Where the former is concerned, Safran admitted: “We’ve taken a couple of cracks at it but still haven’t been able to land [it]”, so this follow-up to 2021’s The Suicide Squad, last year’s first season of Creature Commandos, and this year’s Peacemaker season 2 (it’s set to arrive sometime in August) is on ice for the time being.
As for The Authority, Gunn told the assembled press: “(It’s) the one that got messed with through all of the other things that were happening. The script had a harder time coming along”. The reason? Gunn and Safran said it’s difficult to make a superhero movie or TV show that takes a cynical approach to the comic book medium, which The Authority‘s source material does. Despite the huge success that The Boys‘ TV adaptation has had at Prime Video, the pair added that audiences may have grown tired of such projects, hence the decision to put The Authority on the back burner.
6. There could be up to seven DCU releases every year
Ever since he became DC Studios’ co-CEO, Gunn has consistently stated that DCU projects won’t be greenlit unless he and Safran believe they’re ready to go.
It seems that the pair are slowly changing his tune. In quotes attributed to Safran by Collider, there could be up to seven (!) DCU productions released every year. That includes new movies of the live-action and animated variety (two of the former, one of the latter) and four TV shows (two live-action and two animated) every 12 months. It was no great surprise to learn, then, that Gunn and Safran have greenlit a number of new animated productions, including My Adventures With Green Lantern and Starfire.
Given the current climate around superhero fatigue, the possibility of seven DC Studios projects launching each year will raise a few eyebrows. Of course, there will be people who don’t watch every single one of those but, considering that some Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) fans have lost interest in it, there’s every chance that potential DCU fans may grow weary of feeling like they have to consume every film and series for fear of missing key storylines, character introductions, and more. Hopefully, we’ll get some clarity soon as to whether all of these movies and TV shows are officially part of the DCU or not.
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tom.power@futurenet.com (Tom Power)
