DC Studios co-CEO James Gunn has revealed Superman: Legacy will go into production imminently while sharing an update on the overall state of the DCU one year after its roadmap was announced.
In a series of posts on Threads, Gunn admitted that some parts of Chapter 1: Gods and Monsters have “shifted around” due to the philosophy of only moving forward when a great script is ready. But the DCU’s opening film and TV show, Superman: Legacy and Creature Commandos, are seemingly unaffected.
“One year ago today [co-CEO] Peter Safran and I introduced our DC slate for the first time,” Gunn said. “Today, Superman Legacy is about to start production, episodes of Creature Commandos are being finished that will release later this year, at least two more projects are gearing up to go in the next couple of months, amazing scripts keep coming in, and incredible talent are being attached to new projects, planned and unplanned.”
It’s unclear which two projects are currently nearing production, though Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow is perhaps likely as House of the Dragon actress Milly Alcock has been cast in the leading role, and is so far not expected to appear in Superman: Legacy.
It’s also possible these projects aren’t from the originally announced roster, however. Gunn and Safran announced five films (Superman: Legacy, The Authority, The Brave and the Bold, Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow, and Swamp Thing) plus five TV shows (Creature Commandos, Waller, Booster Gold, Lanterns, and Paradise Lost) on January 31, 2023, but Gunn suggested some of these might have been usurped on the schedule.
“Some things have shifted around: some projects now earlier, others later, and other new projects are being developed,” he said. “Like I said from the beginning, we are going to put things in production based on when we have a great script, and nothing else. And luckily we’ve had some great scripts take us by surprise.”
Creature Commandos will kick off the DCU when it premieres later in 2024 as an animated show about Amanda Waller creating a black ops team out of monstrous prisoners. The series will star Frank Grillo as Rick Flag Sr., David Harbour as Eric Frankenstein, Indira Varma as The Bride, Maria Bakalova as Princess Ilana Rostovic, Zoe Chao as Nina Mazursky, Alan Tudyk as Dr. Phosphorus, Sean Gunn as Weasel and G.I. Robot, Steve Agee as John Economos, and Anya Chalotra as Circe.
Superman: Legacy will come after, sticking to its July 11, 2025 release date despite the writer and actor strikes which brought Hollywood to a standstill in 2023. It will tell the story of a young Superman as he looks to balance his Kryptonian and Kansan heritage, though definitely won’t be an origin story.
Lots of other DC characters will appear in the film, such as Nathan Fillion as Green Lantern, Edi Gathegi as Mister Terrific, Isabela Merced as Hawkgirl, Anthony Carrigan will play Metamorpho, and María Gabriela as The Engineer. Gunn confirmed these actors would play the roles in other DCU projects too, only starring beside David Corenswet as Superman and Rachel Brosnahan as Lois Lane as supporting characters.
Little is known about the other projects beyond Milly Alcock’s casting in Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow, though a couple of directors have been confirmed. Logan and Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny director James Mangold is writing Swamp Thing as a “simple, clean, gothic horror movie”, while The Flash director Andy Muschietti will lead Batman: The Brave and the Bold.
As for the projects which might have overtaken the original roster on the release schedule, Peacemaker Season 2 is one likely candidate. The next season will likely be a revamp with a subtitle instead of an explicit continuation of the story, since Season 1 won’t be part of the DCU, but Gunn is expected to begin working on it as soon as Superman: Legacy is finished.
Another option is a currently untitled Arkham series that was once a spin-off from Matt Reaves separate The Batman universe. “We love Matt as a director and producer so he’ll be producing stories both within his The Batman universe and within the DCU,” Gunn said in December 2023.
Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelance reporter. He’ll talk about The Witcher all day.
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