James Gunn and Peter Safran finally unveiled the first 10 projects for the DCU. Chapter 1 is called Gods & Monsters. It sounds like the DCU will use “Chapters” similar to how Marvel uses “Phases.”

James Gunn did discuss the movies coming out this year. Shazam! Fury of the Gods, the Flash, Blue Beetle, and Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom.

Shazam! Fury of the Gods will see the Shazam family face the Daughters of Atlas. Helen Mirren, Lucy Lui, and Rachel Ziegler play the main antagonists.

As expected, The Flash will reset the DCEU. Ben Affleck and Michael Keaton will both be Batman and Sasha Calle will debut as Supergirl.

Blue Beetle is not connected to the DCEU which will make it easier to integrate this into the DCU. Presumably if the film does well. They did not mention any future plans for the character.

Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom will see Aquaman face off with Black Manta who wants revenge for his father’s death. Ben Affleck is set to reprise his role of Batman for the final time.

Chapter 1: Gods & Monsters. 1 of 2 chapters that will tell a story over 8-10 years.

Creature Commandos is a 7 episode animated series. Voice actors will portray the characters in live action.

Waller will star Viola Davis and is a spinoff of Peacemaker. It is set in between season 1 and 2 of Peacemaker.

Superman: Legacy is the first DCU film that will not be an origin story. James Gunn is writing the film but is not currently set to direct it. A new actor will be cast in the role. It will be released on July 11^th, 2025.

Lanterns is a new show for HBO MAX and will star Hal Jordan and John Stewart. The previous show under Greg Berlanti that was in development has been axed.

The Authority is a movie based on the Wildstorm heroes. James Gunn might have revealed that Superman could pop up in the movie.

Paradise Lost is a show set on Themyscira and has been described as a Game of Thrones type of show. This is a prequel set before Wonder Woman was born.

The Brave and the Bold is a movie featuring Batman and his son Damian Wayne.  

The Batman Part II is the sequel to Matt Reeves’ film. It’s not part of the DCU. It is part of Elseworlds (non DCU projects including this as well as the sequel to the Joker) and will see Robert Pattinson don the cape and cowl again. The Penguin show with Colin Farrell will lead into this movie. The movie is set to be released on October 3^rd, 2025.

Booster Gold is a show featuring the superhero.

Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow is a movie that will be based on the Tom King miniseries. It is not known if Sasha Calle who is Supergirl in the Flash movie will reprise the role for this or if the role will be recast.

Swamp Thing will be a horror movie based on the character.

These are the first 10 projects for the DCU and there are more in Chapter 1 that have not been announced yet. Now that the reveal has happened what are my thoughts on the subject?

Well, that is a very good question. Since the announcement I have been reading up on each piece of news that comes through. The most recent thing I saw was that James Mangold who directed Logan is interested in directing Swamp Thing. I also saw that James Gunn said the animated Harley Quinn show will most likely stay after a slew of cancellations for other projects and Superman & Lois probably has one to two more seasons left in it which would at least allow the show to wrap up properly. James Gunn and Peter Safran confirmed that John Cena and Viola Davis will keep their respective roles as Peacemaker and Amanda Waller. Ben Affleck and Henry Cavill are officially out as Batman and Superman. Henry Cavill’s last film was Black Adam. Ben Affleck’s last film will be Aquaman 2. James Gunn also said that Henry Cavill was not fired because DC Studios did not hire him to begin with. There was no contract with DC Studios which has been newly formed. Ben Affleck is interested in directing a movie for DC Studios. James Gunn said there are two potential projects that they have discussed with Ben Affleck. Neither of them will be The Brave and the Bold. They made no mention of Dwayne Johnson’s future as Black Adam or the future for the character. Wonder Woman is part of the plan but nothing concrete was revealed at this time. Gal Gadot could potentially keep her role. The only thing said on that was there were discussions and she is interested. They also said that some of the actors will get to keep their roles while other roles are recast. There is still hope for Zachary Levi, Jason Momoa, and surprisingly Ezra Miller. They will make a decision about Aquaman after the second movies opens the end of this year. I also would presume they would do the same for Shazam! and The Flash. It was mentioned that Jason Momoa viewed Aquaman as a trilogy. At this time they were not announcing a third film. They also said despite rumors that Jason Momoa would play one character. Jason Momoa himself had expressed an interesting in being Aquaman and Lobo. If he ends up as Lobo that would mean that he is no longer Aquaman. Now there is a theory that if Aquaman 3 happens, that would be the final film and open Jason Momoa up to taking on the role of Lobo after wrapping up Arthur Curry’s story. Nothing was stated about other actors such as Jesse Eisenberg, Jared Leto, Margot Robbie, and many others. I think at this point it is safe to assume Jesse Eisenberg and Jared Leto are probably out as well. Margot Robbie could be able to keep the role, or they could go in a different direction. Who knows? The only thing said about Ezra Miller was they were open to keeping them and they would have those conversations down the line. I would presume they will wait to see how The Flash movie does before deciding. If it bombs, they will probably be out. If it does well financially but is polarizing like Man of Steel, Batman v Superman, or Suicide Squad, that could spell the end for Ezra Miller.

I think the Man of Steel cast is out since Henry Cavill is out. I do not bank on seeing Amy Adams, Diane Lane, or Laurence Fishburn again. I think the same for Jeremy Irons who was Alfred. There is a slight chance they could keep J.K. Simmons as Commissioner Gordon. One thing that kind of works out with rebooting this world is since there never was a Batman movie, there are not many Batman characters in the DCEU. Ben Affleck and Jeremy Irons were the only Batcharacters that were in more than one film. The Suicide Squad ignored most of the batvillians that were in Suicide Squad except for Harley Quinn. Jared Leto was not in another movie other than Zack Snyder’s Justice League. Will Smith was only in one movie. Even Joe Manganiello as Deathstroke only appeared in Justice League both the theatrical and Snyder cut. One person who was not mentioned at all was Ray Fisher who was Cyborg. I think given everything that has happened with Ray Fisher and Joss Whedon and the studio, it is probably safe to say he is not in the running to keep the role. I also don’t know if Ray Fisher would have any interest in doing it now.

With a new world arriving, there will be a lot of fan casting taking place until roles are cast. We already knew there will be a new actor as Superman. Superman will be younger and there will be a new Batman. It was not said how old he would be but given his movie has his son, I would think Batman would be a bit older. I have already seen that fans think Chris Pratt could become Booster Gold and suggested Dave Bautista for Lex Luthor. Dave Bautista has stated Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 will be his last one as Drax partly because he is getting older. Chris Pratt has not stated if he views this as the end for him or if he wants to keep doing the role of Star-Lord. I saw something a few years ago where he said he would love to keep being in the Marvel movies for as long as possible. I don’t know if he still feels this way. This is also assuming he doesn’t get killed off in Guardians 3. Dave Bautista has expressed interest in being Lex Luthor after seeing fans suggest it. It is possible for actors who are in Marvel to also be in DC. There is no firm rule about it. Chris Pratt is a busy man. He is in tons of projects, and he may not want to sign on for another big commitment if he is still with Marvel. One thing that James Gunn said was that the DCU will be one whole cohesive world between animation, movies, TV, and video games. He said that voice actors for animated projects would portray the live versions of their characters. When getting cast in a role, actors have to sign on for the full world including all medium. I am assuming out of animation, film, and television. They did not speak about video games during their announcements. They only touched on it briefly, but nothing project wise was announced.

I don’t have any fan castings at this time. I could see Dave Bautista play Lex Luthor. I am hoping there is a way to keep some of the cast. I am disappointed that Jesse Eisenberg and Jared Leto were not given more of a chance to show what they could do with their characters. I hope Gal Gadot will remain as Wonder Woman. I can’t even think of someone who could play Wonder Woman now. All I see is Gal Gadot when I think about Wonder Woman.

What do I think about the projects announced? I am sure my feelings will change over time especially when they actually get up and running. The only projects that had set release dates were Superman: Legacy and The Batman Part II. The rest of the projects do not have set dates. They could but they were not announced at this time. The DCU will launch presumably in 2025. We are two years away right now. Superman: Legacy is set for 2025 and so is The Batman Part II. There is the chance Creature Commandos and Waller could debut in 2024.

The world sounds exciting. I am a fan of James Gunn. I like what he had to say. They want a full cohesive world. James Gunn and Peter Safran want that, and they want the projects to be unique. I think the DCU is in good hands with both James Gunn and Peter Safran. They both seem passionate about the material, and I think that is something that lacked with all the other attempts at building a world. It always came across that the focus was to catch up to Marvel. One of the reasons Marvel does so well is because it is overseen by Kevin Feige who is a fan of the material. He along with the producers are fully involved in all of the projects. James Gunn said there is a brain trust of writers and they have been working together to map out the DCU. I think that already puts it in a better position to be successful. I think it is nice to take things slow. Out of these 10 projects Justice League was not announced at all. I am sure at some point there will be a Justice League team but it’s not going to be for a while. That is the better move to make. Also, Superman and Batman are getting their own projects. Even if they meet down the line, they will already be established in the DCU. It seems they are doing things right. They are not rushing things. James Gunn said he learned a lot working with Marvel. I think the future is bright for the DCU and the characters. I am optimistic for the future. Out of the projects announced the one I am looking forward to is Swamp Thing. I like that they are going to make it a horror movie which sounds similar in tone to the short-lived show that came out a few years ago. As for the rest of the projects once more information comes out for them and when it gets to the marketing campaigns, I will have a better idea if I am excited for them. For the record at this point I do intend to watch the films. I don’t know about the shows yet. I don’t know if I want to pay for another streaming service. I got Disney+ because of Marvel but I also have Netflix and a few others. If the DCU finally takes off, it will be because of James Gunn and Peter Safran.