{"id":550574,"date":"2026-03-28T14:36:12","date_gmt":"2026-03-28T14:36:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/550574\/"},"modified":"2026-03-28T14:36:12","modified_gmt":"2026-03-28T14:36:12","slug":"after-3-years-james-gunns-dcu-is-already-facing-a-major-crisis-and-6-movies-prove-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/550574\/","title":{"rendered":"After 3 Years, James Gunn’s DCU is Already Facing a Major Crisis, and 6 Movies Prove it"},"content":{"rendered":"

In November 2022, James Gunn and Peter Safran were named the co-heads of DC Studios<\/a>, and, for over a year, the internet was filled with rumors, theories, and questions about what would happen to some of the greatest comic book characters ever created. The answer came on January 31, 2023, when Gunn released a six-minute video breaking down 10 projects<\/a>.<\/p>\n

In the video, Gunn maps out an 8-10 year plan for DC, laying out some already announced projects, like Superman (then Superman: Legacy<\/a>), Waller, and Lanterns<\/a>, although Lanterns would see a new team come on to create the show. Other projects that were announced included the animated series Creature Commandos<\/a>, Booster Gold, and a Gunn “passion project,” The Authority.<\/p>\n

Now, three years later, a number of unexpected problems \u2014 like the WGA and SAG strikes \u2014 and unexpected projects \u2014 like Clayface<\/a> \u2014 have changed the DC Studios slate. And while fans are hardly lacking for DC movies and shows, there are still a lot of questions about what is happening with a number of the originally announced projects.<\/p>\n

It’s important to note that just because fans haven’t heard much about these projects recently, it doesn’t mean there isn’t action happening behind the scenes. James Gunn is famously open with fans, but he isn’t about to livestream their development meetings and let us in on every nook and cranny of what they are doing. So while the future of these projects is unclear to us, it doesn’t mean they are unclear to DC Studios.<\/p>\n

Waller Was Still In The Works In Late 2025<\/p>\n

\"Viola
\n Viola Davis as Amanda Waller In Suicide Squad<\/p>\n

Waller<\/a> was originally announced in May 2022 as a spin-off from Peacemaker. The season 1 finale seemed to set up Waller’s show, with the head of A.R.G.U.S. having her secrets revealed to the world. Amanda Waller played a role in Creature Commandos as well, but she was missing in action for Peacemaker Season 2 and Superman, replaced with Rick Flag Sr.<\/p>\n

It was at the Peacemaker Season 2 premiere that People<\/a> asked Gunn about the status of the Waller series, and he didn’t sound overly optimistic, saying, “We’re working on it, so we’ll see what happens.” While he seemed uncertain about the Waller series, Gunn appeared more certain about seeing the character in the DCU again, saying “But I can\u2019t wait to see Viola put on their Waller pants again.”<\/p>\n

The Authority Is Hard To Figure Out<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

In the slate announcement video, Gunn called The Authority<\/a> a passion project, but his passion for it may be dwindling. In February 2025, he admitted that the Wildstorm team was proving difficult to adapt<\/a> partly because of shifting plans within DC Studios and partly because of the hit series The Boys making it harder for The Authority to stand out. He then said that the project was “on the backburner right now.”<\/p>\n

The last time Gunn spoke about The Authority was in September 2025 when Deadline<\/a> asked for an update. His final answer, “Who knows?” followed by an explanation that the focus \u2014 for movies \u2014 would be on characters people already know didn’t inspire confidence.<\/p>\n

Rumors Of Paradise Lost’s Demise Are Greatly Exaggerated<\/p>\n

\"Wonder<\/p>\n

One of the projects Gunn announced in his video that really interested people was Paradise Lost<\/a>, a series set on Themyscira before Wonder Woman’s birth. In November 2025, Gunn said the show was in “Very active development,”<\/a> but in February 2026, rumors spread that the show had been canceled.<\/p>\n

Days later, Gunn was asked if the Paradise Lost rumors were true<\/a> on his social media platform of choice, Threads. His response was clear: “Definitely not.” Gunn’s answer surely made a lot of Wonder Woman fans happy.<\/p>\n

Booster Gold Is Still Moving Ahead<\/p>\n

\"Booster<\/p>\n

Booster Gold, the hero from the future who dreams of fame and glory, has seen a number of setbacks for his show, but just like in the comics, he hasn’t given up. After Gunn announced Booster Gold<\/a> as part of the initial lineup, word spread online, but it was never verified by any official sources, that Danny McBride was writing the series.<\/p>\n

\"Robert<\/p>\n

Related<\/p>\n

\t\t
\n\t\t\tJames Gunn Bluntly Responds To Fans Who Want Robert Pattinson’s Batman To Join The DCU
\n\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n

DC Studios co-CEO James Gunn addresses fans who want to see Robert Pattinson’s Batman from Matt Reeves’ film franchise join the DC Universe.<\/p>\n

Then, in July 2025, it was revealed that David Jenkins, the creator of Our Flag Means Death, had been brought in to write the Booster Gold pilot, meaning that whatever work was previously done on the series had been scrapped. All was silent on the Booster Gold front until March 2026, when a rumor popped up.<\/p>\n

Word quickly spread across the internet that Jenkins had deleted every social media post he had made about Booster Gold. Even worse, reports were that Jenkins had stopped following Gunn on Instagram. All of this seemed to point to Jenkins no longer working on Booster Gold. But, as it turns out, the rumor wasn’t true.<\/p>\n

When asked, Jenkins confirmed that work on the show was still happening<\/a>. Even more, he never stopped following Gunn on Instagram or Threads.<\/p>\n

Swamp Thing All Depends On One Man<\/p>\n

\"an
\n an artistic depiction of dc’s swamp thing<\/p>\n

From the start, Gunn has been clear that a Swamp Thing<\/a> movie happens if and when James Mangold decides to make it. But, when the film was announced, Mangold had to finish his Indiana Jones movie first. Then Mangold had to make his Bob Dylan biopic, A Complete Unknown, first.<\/p>\n

Then Mangold signed on to make a Star Wars movie, but it wasn’t clear if that would be before or after Swamp Thing. Then Mangold signed an overall deal with Paramount, which, for a moment, seemed to end any hope for Swamp Thing. But in October 2025, Gunn said that Mangold still wanted to do the project<\/a>, but nothing was set in stone.<\/p>\n

Brave and the Bold Is The Most Intriguing Project<\/p>\n

\"Batman<\/p>\n

No one was surprised that Gunn announced a Batman movie in the initial slate, but many people are shocked at how quiet the progress on the movie has been. Part of it is due to Gunn not wanting to pull attention away from Matt Reeves’ The Batman Part II<\/a>, which is finally ready to shoot. But the secrecy around Brave and the Bold is odd.<\/p>\n

For a long time, Gunn would talk about a writer working on the script, but refused to say who that writer was. Andy Muschietti was announced as the director of the movie in June 2023, but in December 2024, Muschietti revealed that Brave and the Bold was being postponed<\/a> while he worked on another project.<\/p>\n

Since then, it’s been reported that Christina Hodson, writer of Birds of Prey and Flash has been working on the script<\/a>. This upset a number of fans who didn’t like one or both of those movies. Asked about the report on Threads<\/a>, Gunn didn’t confirm or deny it, saying only that “anyone maligning Christina Hodson’s screenwriting skills has almost certainly never read an actual screenplay by Christina Hodson…”<\/p>\n

Between the time Brave and the Bold was announced in the 2023 video and now, Gunn has announced two other Batman related projects. Clayface will hit theaters later this year, and Swaybox Studios, famous for mixing puppeteering with CGI, is making Dynamic Duo<\/a>, which is set to release in 2028.<\/p>\n

Should Fans Be Worried?<\/p>\n

On the one hand, three years isn’t all that long. To put it in perspective, there were three years between Stranger Things seasons 4 and 5. Sometimes, projects take a while to get right, and Gunn has been clear from the jump that no movie or show will be made until the script is ready.<\/p>\n

But at the same time, the concerns are valid, and it was clearly a mistake for Gunn to announce these projects when they weren’t ready to go into production. Now, as time passes, and the future of Warner Bros. is in question<\/a>, it is hard not to be concerned about the fate of DC.<\/p>\n

Announcing these shows and movies excited the fanbase, but with each passing year, and with few updates on the majority of those projects, it’s hard not to feel a little dejected. Yes, there’s plenty to look forward to \u2014 Supergirl, Lanterns, and Clayface are coming this year, and Man of Tomorrow is set for 2027.<\/p>\n

And, while many of the originally announced projects have made little progress, other projects appear to be moving at a faster pace. The Untitled Jimmy Olsen series is being worked on, with rumors that it will start filming right after Man of Tomorrow. And there are also the Bane\/Deathstroke, Teen Titans, and Wonder Woman movies, all of which have writers working on them.<\/p>\n

\"DC<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\tCreated by \t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tMalcolm Wheeler-Nicholson<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\tCast \t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tHenry Cavill<\/a>, Ben Affleck<\/a>, Gal Gadot<\/a>, Ezra Miller<\/a>, Ray Fisher<\/a>, Jason Momoa<\/a>, Amy Adams<\/a>, Jesse Eisenberg, Laurence Fishburne, Jeremy Irons, Will Smith<\/a>, Jared Leto<\/a>, Margot Robbie<\/a>, Joel Kinnaman, Viola Davis<\/a>, Jai Courtney<\/a>, Jay Hernandez, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje<\/a>, Cara Delevingne, Chris Pine<\/a>, Robin Wright, Zachary Levi<\/a>, Dwayne Johnson<\/a>, Amber Heard<\/a>, Patrick Wilson, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Mark Strong, Asher Angel, Jack Dylan Grazer, Djimon Hounsou, Mary Elizabeth Winstead<\/a>, Jurnee Smollett, Rosie Perez, Ella Jay Basco, Ali Wong<\/a>, Ewan McGregor<\/a>, Idris Elba<\/a>, John Cena<\/a>, Michael Keaton<\/a>, George Clooney<\/a>, Xolo Mariduena<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t Movie(s) \t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tMan of Steel, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, Suicide Squad, Wonder Woman, Justice League, Aquaman, Shazam!, Birds of Prey, Wonder Woman 1984, Zack Snyder’s Justice League, The Suicide Squad, Black Adam, Shazam! The Fury of the Gods, The Flash, Blue Beetle, Superman, The Brave and the Bold<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\tCharacter(s) \t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSuperman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, The Flash, Cyborg, Harley Quinn, The Joker, Shazam, Darkseid, Amanda Waller, Lex Luthor, Doomsday, Deadshot, Deathstroke, Black Canary, Black Adam<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In November 2022, James Gunn and Peter Safran were named the co-heads of DC Studios, and, for over…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":550575,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[52],"tags":[88,206],"class_list":["post-550574","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-movies","tag-entertainment","tag-movies"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/550574","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=550574"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/550574\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/550575"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=550574"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=550574"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=550574"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}