Two years after becoming the co-heads of DC Studios, James Gunn and Peter Safran brought us up to speed on their vision of an interconnected DC across TV and film, a phase that they entitled “Gods and Monsters.”
Mostly everything they announced back in January 2023 is intact in some form or fashion, and we’ve provided an update on projects below. The duo’s plan moving forward is to release two live-action and one animated DC film per year. They’re also targeting two-live action and two animated series for Max per year. However for 2025, there’s only one series, that being Season 2 of Gunn’s Peacemaker premiering in August.
“We’ve unified the brand, greenlit five theatrical films, made three live-action series and [are] producing five animated series. We’ve also acquired and distributed a BAFTA- and PGA-winning documentary,” said Safran in a Friday press conference on Warner Bros’ Burbank lot.
The duo’s m.o. was to course correct how properties are exploited across TV and film. Quite often a superhero such as Superman would get double exposure on the big screen and on TV, but under two different mythologies (read CW’s 2001-2017 series Smallville and Zach Snyder’s 2013 movie Man of Steel).
“The DC brand was being defined by different creative teams at the company, and each was pursuing their own distinct vision of the characters, the stories, and it left very little room to collaborate or cross over, so it wasn’t one DCU but many,” Safran said. “Ultimately this fracture proved very challenging for consumers and chipped away at the very identity of our brand. So, this is part what brought us to DC Studios, bringing a sense of unity, cohesion, consistency to this universe, not only makes sense to us as storytellers, but it has to be the future of the DC brand. People want to see these iconic characters interacting, they want to experience this timeless IP as one.”
“I know what my basic plan is over the next six years,” Gunn teased, hinting that ultimately there’s some form of an Avengers-like feature project in store, though he provided no details.
Summed up Safran at the end of Friday’s presser, “Everything that DZ [Warner Bros Discovery president and CEO David Zaslav] promised us two years when we took the job, it’s all been a reality since we’ve been in the job.”
Here’s where the DC projects stand:
Movies
Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow — Gunn and Safran said the Craig Gillespie-directed, Milly Alcock-starring movie based on Tom King, Bilquis Evely and Matheus Lopes’ Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow is halfway through production. The release date as previously announced is June 26, 2026.
Clayface — With James Watkins in talks to direct and a solid Mike Flanagan script turned in, the goal is to start filming this summer. Said Safran: “Clayface isn’t widely known as Penguin or Joker, but we think his story is as deeply resonant, thrilling and even more terrifying.” The release date, September 11, 2026, is in the post-Labor Day frame, where Warner Bros has rallied with genre movies like It, The Nun and Beetlejuice Beetlejuice. The pic is set in Hollywood and Gotham, but it’s not clear if it will shoot in Southern California after the L.A. wildfires ala Lanterns.
The Batman 2 — Matt Reeves has yet to turn in a script, but from what Gunn and Safran have read, they love it. Production outlook is end-of-year 2025. The release date is October 1, 2027, a weekend on which Warner Bros still owns the domestic opening record with 2019’s Joker ($96.2 million).
Batman Brave and the Bold — Gunn’s other-universe Batman, separate from Reeves’ universe, remains in development. Andy Muschietti will be the first one to see a script, said Gunn and Safran. They have a writer but didn’t want to name him “as it puts too much pressure on the guy.” Batman Brave and the Bold centers on the Dark Knight and his son, Damien Wayne, as Robin, who is quite the firecracker. The
je ne sais quoi in the project is that Batman is unaware he has a son. Project is based on Grant Morrison’s run of Batman.
Luca Guadagnino
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SGT Rock — In the wake of Daniel Craig stepping away from the Luca Guadagnino-directed World War II movie scripted by Challengers scribe Justin Kuritzkes, the DC duo are looking for actors to play the title protag (Gunn and Safran said they never met with Craig, and “he was never attached”). Added Safran, “What we love about SGT Rock is the opportunity to tell a story about heroism and conflict in compelling and unique way. Justin really wrote a wonderful screenplay and that’s what catapulted that project to the forefront.” The movie will shoot this summer if they can find the right actor.
Swamp Thing — The feature, which will investigate the dark origins of the mud-water creature, has five-time Oscar nominee James Mangold attached. “The ball is really in his court,” said Safran about the project moving forward. There was a Swamp Thing movie in 1982 starring Adrienne Barbeau, which also spawned a 1989 sequel. Then there was a 2019 CW series.
Teen Titans — Ana Nogueira turned in a draft. “Ana is working on a script, it’s something she was really impassioned about, she turned over an amazing script to us. She’s fiddling with that now. It’s definitely not a finished script.”
Matthew Orton screenplay — The rumor is he’s penning a screenplay about Deathstroke and Bane. Neither Gunn or Safran would confirm. Still, they’re waiting on Orton’s draft.
The Authority — The feature, which was announced two years ago, is set to follow a group of antiheroes who take matters into their own hands despite what governments advise. The Authority was created after StormWatch, a planetary defense force against aliens, was destroyed. The former member of that group, Jenny Sparks, created the Authority with her StormWatch Black teammates Swift and Jack Hawksmoor. The team includes The Engineer (Angela Spica), Jeroen Thornedike (the latest Doctor), Apollo and Midnighter. Slow go for the project, but Gunn and Safran still believe in it. Gunn says “it’s not the furthest along.” Adds Safran, “It is a very big movie, if you’re going to do it properly. Some of the story elements perhaps that are in Superman and some of the other films we fast-tracked, step a little on The Authority. Gunn further notes, “(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.”
TV
Peacemaker — Season 2 of the Gunn-penned show is premiering August.
Waller — The Viola Davis Suicide Squad and Peacemaker spinoff about the espionage director without scruples remains in the works despite a bumpy development road impacted by the strikes.
Lanterns — Gunn and Safran noted they could safely say it will premiere in early 2026.
The Penguin — Season 2 is TBD. “There’s a lot of moving pieces, including Colin (Farrell) himself,” said Safran about the next phase of the hit Max series about The Batman villain.
Paradise Lost — The Max live-action series, which Safran billed as a “Games of Thrones-ish story about Themyscira, the home of the Amazons and the birthplace of Wonder Woman,” is still in the works. No writer has been announced.
Booster Gold — The series follows a loser from the future who uses future technology to come back to today and pretends to be a superhero. Updates Safran, “We love Booster Gold. There was a particular showrunner/creator we were waiting on who expressed interest. We waited a really long time; ultimately he fell out of love. We pivoted. It’s still one that’s important to us. It’s moving forward with somebody else.”
Blue Beetle animated series — Deadline’s Rosy Cordero first told you about this. Safran says the project from Angel Manuel Soto and Gareth Dunnet-Alcocer (the director and screenwriter of the 2023 film) is “getting to a place and they’re going to present for a greenlight really soon. It follows on the events of that movie.”