Sam Zwick

This morning James Gunn, co-chairman and co-CEO of DC Studios, released a 6-minute video providing a brief roadmap for the future of the DCU. (That’s DC Comics’ sprawling film, television, animation and video game universe.) There will be a billion breakdowns of a video that was essentially a well produced pitch deck, but here are my quick thoughts.

1: Wait, did he say animation and video games would cross over into live-action TV and films?

Yep, sure sounds that way.

For all of DC’s faults in the live action film space, no one has created better animated content over the past few decades. From TV shows to movies, pretty much everything DC has put out has been well animated, well paced and well voice acted. Plus, animation is basically the Clayface of media; it can be anything.

Ever wonder what Bane would sound like if he were a jaded wedding guest? You’re not likely to find out in a multi-million dollar movie, but Harley Quinn on HBO Max has your answer.

Want to watch Batman take down Jack the Ripper in Victorian Era London? Your options are to pick up a comic book or flip on Batman: Gotham By Gaslight because I promise you it’s not going to happen on the big screen.

The news that DC’s animated characters will begin jumping to live action and vice versa with the same actors filling both rolls is interesting. On one hand, it allows characters to grow and develop in ways that a two-hour movie every four years does not. On the other hand, if you go to a buffet and all of the options are different versions of the same dish, are you satisfied? Will animation still be used to offer the variety that makes it such an intriguing medium or will those projects be boxed in by the constrains of having to fit within the world created by the films? And what about the talented voice actors that have brought life to animated characters for decades? Will we be hearing the last of Tara Strong as Harley Quinn in favor of a big name actor for the sake of continuity?

2. James Gunn is going deeeep in the DC bag for some of these characters.

Courtesy of DC Studios

This is the guy who turned The Guardians of the Galaxy into some of the most recognizable superheroes in the world, so this isn’t a huge shock.

A common complaint levied towards DC in the past has been the recycling of the same characters. At this point, it’s a running joke how many times Martha and Thomas Wayne have died on screen. I promise you, we don’t need to see it again, but we’re still getting Superman and Batman pretty early on in this first chapter of the DCU so we’ll likely have to clutch those pearls at least one more time.

The Authority and Creature Commandos, however, are decidedly not your standard Justice League lineup.

The goal is going to be to stretch the corners of the universe early on, almost an inversion of what Marvel did. The MCU began in Tony Stark’s garage and now stretches to all reaches of the universe. While it looks like the beginnings DCU will look to stay fairly terrestrial, with the possible exception of Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow, it’s going to start out weird. When Frankenstein’s Monster and Weasel are part of your early lineup, all bets are off with regards to normalcy.

3. Gods and Monsters sounds kind of dark. This isn’t going to be dark, right?

No.

Well, not all of it.

The knock on previous DC films, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice being the poster child, was that they were too dark in tone. (And sometimes even visually. Sequences of DoJ look like they were shot while the lighting department was out to lunch.) I find it hard to believe that DC would overhaul their entire lineup and stick with the same tone that was so widely criticized the first time around.

All of that said, expect tonal shifts early and often. It took Marvel nearly 10 movies before they played with a different genre in Captain America: The Winter Soldier and even then, it’s not like it was a major departure from previous films. This slate looks like it’s going to offer variety. Superman: Legacy will most certainly be brighter and a whole lot lighter than Waller or Swamp Thing.

At the very least, you shouldn’t need to adjust your TV settings this time around.

4. So we’re finally getting a Green Lantern TV show.

Image courtesy of GIFY

Remember how in the 1950s, everyone thought we’d have flying cars by 2020? Well it’s 2023 and the best you can hope for is that your Tesla doesn’t spontaneously combust on the highway.

In the same realm of predictions that have taken longer than expected to pan out, The Green Lantern Corps is finally heading to the small screen.

For the past decade, you could almost set your watch to the annual rumors of a Green Lantern project. First it was a movie, then it was two movies, then a TV show, then another TV show, then a possible deleted scene from a movie that never got finished, but then did get finished and then…well, you get the point.

The blackest night is finally over for the brightest day is on the horizon; Hal Jordan and John Stewart are headed to live action in a “True Detective-style” show on HBO Max.

When the Green Lantern bar is a movie so bad the the star and producer has made it a running joke in his new superhero franchise, you know this is a can’t-miss.

Turns out I had more than 5 thoughts, so consider this the quick-hitters section of predictions.

1. Wonder Woman will not play a major role in Paradise Lost, if she’s even in it at all. This show will be set so far before the events of any Wonder Woman movie that’s sure to come and we may even see how Themyscira ended up the invisible female utopia we know it as today.
   
2. The Flash is going to be a really good movie and also the last time Ezra Miller puts on the red suit.
   
3. Booster Gold is going to be the next Peacemaker. Your friend who doesn’t like comic book movies is going to watch it and then ask you a million questions rather than just watching the other DC properties they would enjoy.
   
4. Superman: Legacy will most certainly not release on July 11, 2025. I haven’t done any research, but I’m pretty sure Shrek 2 was the last movie that hit its original release date.
   
5. The kid who plays Damian Wane will one day win an Oscar. (Holding onto this one for a very long time.)