All Of The DCU’s First 6 Releases Are Teasing One Justice League Hero’s Debut

The DC Universe has already covered alternate dimensions and the far flung reaches of space in its first few releases – which makes it all the more impressive to note that all of the DCU’s first six installments point towards one Justice League hero becoming a part of its story. While not all of its movies and shows have been as popular as others, the DCU release slate has thus far done a solid job of balancing the types of releases audiences are set to get one after another, ensuring the cinematic universe feels particularly fresh during this first stage.

The choice to give this roster both adult releases and more family-friendly releases – as well as to experiment with genre, since Clayface is a body horror story, and Lanterns looks to be a sci-fi detective tale – also seems a pertinent move for the franchise as it begins to become reality, since it leaves plenty of room to experiment and see what audiences respond most positively to.

Despite the differences between these releases, they still clearly mesh together for some unified purposes, such as establishing the lore of the DC Universe overall as a world, and in terms of setting up some major DC characters we’ve yet to see – which appears to be the case for one Justice League hero and all of the DCU’s first six releases, even though some of them haven’t even released yet.

The DC Universe Timeline Has Repeatedly Set Up Martian Manhunter For Its Story

Ever since DC Studios co-CEO James Gunn teased that Chocos – a DC comic equivalent to Oreos, effectively – would be a part of the DC Universe, fans have been adamant that DC hero Martian Manhunter would soon appear in the franchise, since the snacks are most tied to the character and his intense predilection for the sweet treat.

A Choco office appearing in Superman when it’s damaged by Ultraman – who is at the time pretending to be the Hammer of Borovia – further made this seem viable, though of course a snack alone appearing in the DCU is far from introducing the Manhunter himself.

Then, Supergirl and Lanterns revealed portions of the DCU’s early story would tie into space, making Martian Manhunter’s debut more possible again for the franchise, before Lanterns went the full distance and revealed in the latest Lanterns trailer that Manhunters will be appearing on Earth in the show in some form or another.

Given Creature Commandos, Peacemaker season 2, and Clayface all make an adamant point of introducing characters who’ve been criminally underused in DC’s live-action movies and shows into the DCU, the franchise is also primed for Martian Manhunter to play his own key role in the world’s proceedings overall.

Clayface is particularly crucial in this regard, too, as the live-action movie shows the DCU is willing to go all out when it comes to letting less well-known characters still get the full live-action treatment in terms of showing their powers off – and is willing to feature DC’s shapeshifting characters – which otherwise could have been the one deciding factor in keeping Martian Manhunter off-screen, given the more visually demanding nature of his own shapeshifting abilities.

Lanterns’ Story Makes It Hard To Imagine Martian Manhunter Won’t Appear In The DCU Soon

Lanterns revealing Manhunters will be part of the series’ story – with characters shown shapeshifting in the new trailer, and it being implied they may be behind the mysterious murders Hal Jordan and John Stewart are investigating – effectively sets up Martian Manhunter in a way no other tease really could have, though it also means the hero’s arrival on-screen may involve some challenges for J’onn Jonzz.

While the DCU may not hold to the hero’s comic lore, the fact J’onn is a Mars law enforcer – known as a Manhunter – who becomes a police officer or detective when he arrives on Earth means it would make a lot of sense if Martian Manhunter is introduced trying to help the Green Lantern protagonists get to the bottom of what’s going on, revealing either that the suspicion placed on the Manhunters is a red herring, or otherwise revealing a twist such as the murderous “Manhunters” being the A.I Manhunters shown in the comics, who also went rogue there.

Even if Martian Manhunter ends up appearing later, this colossal point of DCU setup – and the franchise’s trajectory meaning all signs point towards J’onn appearing sometime soon – does look as though it would be best capitalized on sooner rather than later, particularly because the character that has never been explored in the live-action movie world, and the DC Universe could seriously benefit from changing this, both in terms of adapting specific comic stories, and in terms of introducing the wider Martian Manhunter lore to movie audiences.