You'll have heard the news by now... As announced yesterday, James Gunn and Peter Safran are stepping away from DC Studios to be replaced by former Marvel exec Jeremy Latcham. The first phase of the DCU, it seems, is over. What comes next? Well, that's still very much TBC.
This is not entirely shocking news, but it’s still – for me at least – something of a downer. Gunn and Safran's DCU has been surprising, strange, daring, occasionally baffling, and often thrilling. I loved Superman and Lanterns and liked Peacemaker, Clayface, and Creature Commandos a great deal.
OK, the Supergirl film was a misfire and proved that Gunn's winning style was not so easily aped by other directors, but even that had its moments: Milly Alcock was terrific in the lead role, and Krypto is always fun.
The Marvel Cinematic Universe has been frequently criticised for the homogeneity of its output, but that was never a criticism that could be levelled at the DCU, which veered from family-friendly superhero flicks to rated-R horror movies with any given project.
That's probably not good news if you're a Warner Bros. exec desperately trying to forge the next big mega-franchise, however. And it's true that it has sometimes been hard to understand exactly what the criteria were for a DCU project making it to the screen or not. We exist in a strange timeline where we have a fairly solid Clayface movie, but no DCU Batman to go with it.
Bold and brave
Still, when the DCU was good, it was great. Gunn's Superman managed the difficult task of delivering a fresh take on the Man of Steel. David Corenswet charmingly embodies Supes' decency, humor, and willingness to take a beating in a way that echoes Christopher Reeve's character-defining performance, but feels more in tune with the comics.
It helps that the supporting cast in that film – Rachel Brosnahan as Lois Lane, Edi Gathegi as Mister Terrific, and especially Nicholas Hoult as a scheming, raging Lex Luthor – were all pitch-perfect.
Then there was Lanterns. I will fully admit to being a die-hard fan of Damon Lindelof's work (The Leftovers is up there with the greatest shows of all time and I will never shut up about it) so I came to this with high expectations and was not let down.
Sure, some fans may have disagreed with the decision to squeeze the cosmic grandeur of the Green Lantern mythology into a self-consciously "grounded" cop show format, but it worked – and then some. Kyle Chandler's spiky, flawed Hal Jordan and Aaron Pierre's stoic, determined John Stewart were the dynamic duo we didn't know we needed, and their investigation into extraterrestrial weirdness in small-town America was both gripping and thought-provoking. This wasn't just a great comic book show, but excellent TV full stop.
As for the rest... I had a lot of fun with Clayface, a gloopy, gruesome, enjoyably schlocky horror that still found time for solid characterization. It's not the sort of film you can build a cinematic universe around, but that's OK. Peacemaker season 2, meanwhile, did not hit quite the same heights as that bolt-from-the-blue first run, but John Cena remains hilarious and heartbreaking in the role. I hope that the character isn't left stranded on Salvation for too long.
An unclear future
So what does a post-Gunn, post-Safran DCU look like? Obviously I'm purely speculating here, but I suspect this will be a case of Latcham refocusing the brand, rather than relaunching the entire universe for a third time. And no, I don't see Zack Snyder returning any time soon...
It doesn't take the World's Greatest Detective to figure out that we'll likely see a sharper focus on the A-list DC characters: Batman, Wonder Woman, and probably reinventions of Aquaman and the Flash at some point. I would hope that it doesn't mean the end of DC trying out interesting lower-budget experiments like Clayface, but I suspect the days of somewhat obscure-sounding TV spin-offs like the upcoming The People v. Gorilla Grodd are over.
The Superman movies will also surely continue, perhaps even with Gunn involved in a third instalment – while his departure letter talked of "trying" times behind-the-scenes, he notably did not close the door on working with DC again and has already referenced another, unnamed project in progress. Frankly, Latcham would be foolish to try and find someone else to steer that character when Gunn is right there.
James Gunn was working on Superman 3 and a Justice League team-up when he was ousted at DC
The biggest question, of course, is what becomes of the Dark Knight – and that does feel like a particularly tricky knot to undo. Matt Reeves' The Batman: Part II (which is set in a different "Elseworlds" continuity) was originally slated to come out in 2025, leaving the way clear for the introduction of a new DCU Batman in a film, helmed by Gunn, titled The Brave and the Bold.
Alas, The Batman: Part II suffered a series of major delays and is now eyeing a February 2028 slot, while the fate of The Brave and the Bold is unclear at this time. Ultimately, the DCU needs to find its Caped Crusader sooner rather than later, and you can be sure that figuring out how to introduce this new Batman, while also promoting Reeves' project, will be top of Latcham's to-do list at DC.
I'm not ready to write the future of the DCU off just yet, but I will miss the unpredictable energy that Gunn and Safran have brought to these movies and shows over the last four years. It's been a bumpy ride at times, but never a boring one, and I'd take a series with a strong authorial voice like this over a play-it-safe franchise any day.
Is that what we'll get with the DCU Chapter Two? Only time and a former Marvel exec named Jeremy Latcham will tell.
Clayface is in theaters now. The future may be in flux, but here's everything we know right now about DCU Chapter One and all the upcoming DC movies and shows.
