DC Studios Announces "Chapter One" Slate of DC Universe Film & TV Projects

 
A time of gods and monsters is about to begin.

Earlier today, DC Studios officially announced its first slate of ten interconnected projects, comprising five movies and five HBO Max TV series. Filmmaker James Gunn and producer Peter Safran, now serving as Co-Chairmen and CEOs of DC Studios, stated that all ten of them are set within the same shared universe and will frequently share characters. However, there will be films set outside the shared continuity—such as the previously announced Joker: Folie à Deux from director Todd Phillips and Matt Reeves’ upcoming The Batman Part II.

"The DCU’s a multiverse," explained Safran, "but we’re going to be focusing on one universe from that multiverse. And if something isn’t DCU, we’re going to make that very clear. So, strictly adult fare like Todd Phillips’ Joker, or kids animation like Teen Titans Go!, we’re going to make it very clear that those are DC Elseworlds, just the same way that they do it in the comic books."

While all ten projects are in active development, some are further along than others and both Gunn and Safran emphasize that plans may change. "What we’re starting with today is the first part of the first chapter of our universe," Safran remarked. "That first chapter’s called ‘Gods and Monsters.’ Many of the following projects are already being worked on, but we’re remaining flexible and we’re going to adjust because we’re never going to put a project into production before the script is right. This is a general timeline, but there will be flexibility within it."

And here are the first ten projects from DC Studios...

Creature Commandos -- Based on the team of military superhumans that first appeared in Weird War Tales #93 in 1980, this will be the first TV series from DC Studios, an animated project written by Gunn that will consist of seven episodes. In the image above (from left to right), the team will feature Rick Flag, Sr., Nina Mazursky. Doctor Phosphorus, Frankenstein, The Bride of Frankenstein, G.I. Robot, and Weasel (from Gunn's DC film The Suicide Squad).

Waller -- Set between Seasons One and Two of HBO Max's Peacemaker series, Waller will feature the return of Viola Davis as Amanda Waller, who was last seen watching a broadcast of her daughter Leota Adebayo exposing Task Force X and Project Butterfly to the public, as well as Waller's involvement in both programs.

According to Gunn, Waller is "also going to have some of the Peacemaker team in it as regulars on the show." The series has tapped Jeremy Carver, creator of the acclaimed TV adaptation of DC's Doom Patrol, along with Watchmen limited series writer Christal Henry.

Superman: Legacy -- Safran stated this new Superman feature film will be the launch of the DCU and is being written by Gunn, with hopes that he will also direct it. "It’s not an origin story," he remarked. "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 is slated to arrive in theaters on July 11, 2025.

Lanterns -- This HBO Max series replaces the previous Green Lantern TV series developed by Greg Berlanti and will feature DC Comics characters Hal Jordan and John Stewart. Safran stated the series will be "more of a True Detective-type mystery with our two Lanterns. A terrestrial-based mystery—"

"-- that leads into the overall story that we’re telling throughout the different movies and television shows," finished Gunn. "We find this ancient horror on Earth, and these guys are basically supercops on 'Precinct Earth.'" The series will weave back and forth between DCU films and television shows, similar to Peacemaker.

The Authority -- Based on the superhero team from DC's WildStorm imprint that debuted in 1999's The Authority (vol.1) #1, the live-action film is a passion project for Gunn and will be 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."

Paradise Lost -- According to Safran, this HBO Max series is set before the birth of Wonder Woman and will be "a Game of Thrones-type story about Themyscira/Paradise Island, home of the Amazons and the birthplace of Wonder Woman. This involves all of the darkness, drama and political intrigue behind this society of only women."

Gunn added, "It’s 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? I think it’s really exciting."

The Brave and the Bold -- This live-action film will be the introduction of the DCU's Batman, who will be played by someone other than Robert Pattinson and Ben Affleck.

Gunn remarked the film will be "a story of Damian Wayne, who’s Batman’s actual son that he didn’t know existed for the first eight to ten years of his life. He was raised as a little murderer and assassin. He’s my favorite Robin. It’s based on the Grant Morrison comic run, which is one of my favorite Batman runs."

Safran added, "This 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."

Booster Gold -- The glory-seeking superhero that debuted in 1986's Booster Gold (vol.1) #1 will get his own HBO Max Tv series and is described by Safran as "a loser from the future who uses his basic future technology to come back to today to pretend to be a superhero."

Gunn added, "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."

Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow -- Based on the 2021 limited series by Tom King and Bilquis Evely, this live-action film has had input from King along with four or five other writers.

Gunn remarked, "In our story, we have Superman who 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 fucked-up Supergirl than you’ve been used to thus far."

Swamp Thing -- The final project announced for "Chapter One" will be a live-action film that will investigate the dark origins of DC's plant elemental Swamp Thing in the character's first film since 1989's The Return of Swamp Thing.

Although low on details, Safran commented, "We bring it up because it’s important to point out that in these stories, although they’re interconnected, they’re not all tonally the same. Each set of filmmakers bring their own aesthetic to these films, and the fun is seeing how these tonally different works mash up in the future."