Well, James Gunn, your time is almost up. Having promised that the first wave of announcements for his brand-spanking-new DCU will be coming this January, Gunn has to make good on his word before the end of this month or risk unleashing a horde of angry superhero fans (never a good idea). So the rebooted franchise’s initial slate is likely on its way any minute now.
With the news DC faithfuls have been waiting for just over the horizon, then, now is our last chance to speculate on which projects Gunn will announce as part of the slate — as well as name those we’re confident will never, ever see the light of day.
DCU projects most likely to happen
Superman reboot
There’s one project we can comfortably expect some kind of update on very soon, as it’s the only one that Gunn has formally confirmed is 100% in the works. That’s his Superman reboot — which the filmmaker will pen himself — that’s set to replace Henry Cavill’s familiar Last Son of Krypton with a much younger Man of Steel. Gunn has warned us that casting of the new Clark Kent won’t be finalized for a while, but an official announcement of the project itself seems highly logical.
Lobo movie
What’s more, it appears like the second worst-kept secret of the new DCU is that Jason Momoa is switching Aquaman for Lobo. The Justice League star has made no attempt to hide that he’s got something cooking with Gunn which he’s very excited about, and all the signs are pointing to this being some kind of solo project for the Last Czarnian. Momoa has long been considered the living embodiment of the Main Main, so this would delight most diehards — although there are serious drawbacks, too.
Peacemaker season 2
Peacemaker was confirmed to get a second season shortly after its first run arrived to much acclaim at the top of 2022, but Gunn is likely to provide some kind of update about the project along with his DCU announcements, as fans have been wondering how the restructuring of the franchise would affect the series — which is very much set in the old-school DCEU. There’s no way Gunn’s going to throw his baby out with the bath-water, though, so we’re confident the show is safe.
Amanda Waller series
Likewise, as Gunn’s original role in the DC universe was as the custodian of the Suicide Squad corner of the cosmos, it seems plausible that he will continue on with all his plans to expand the world of Task Force X. This means that he’ll probably carry on with making his Amanda Waller spinoff series, bringing back Viola Davis as the fearsome ARGUS director, despite this not being high up on the fans’ wishlists. Another Suicide Squad offshoot being announced also seems probable.
Kingdom Come project
It’s probably best not to read too much into all the comic book artwork and panels Gunn has shared on his socials over the past few months, but seeing as he’s plugged Kingdom Come so much, we’re inclined to believe that there’s something going on here. Adapting the Alex Ross’ seminal storyline — focusing on an aging JLA in the not-so-distant future — would be a smart way of pulling off another Justice League movie while sidestepping the whole Snyderverse controversy.
Green Lantern reboot
It’s one of the DCEU’s greatest crimes that the Green Lantern Corps were continually wasted. With Ryan Reynolds’ awful origins movie now 12 years in our rearview mirror, though, the time is definitely right to bring the Emerald Knights back to our screens. Whether Gunn has found a way to resurrect the old Green Lantern Corps movie or he’s decided to move forward with HBO Max’s Green Lantern series, expect the Lantern’s luck to change very soon.
DCU projects that ain’t gonna happen
Titans and Doom Patrol revivals
The latest blow DC fans have faced is the dual cancellations of both Titans and Doom Patrol after their fourth seasons. This has resulted in Gunn being inundated with requests to either revive the shows or bring back the casts in his rebooted universe. The producer has been extremely cagey and non-committal in his responses to these demands, however, so it seems likely that he sadly doesn’t have any interest in finding a way to resurrect these HBO Max heroes.
Black Adam 2
We’re all acting like Dwayne Johnson is done with DC for good, but it’s worth revisiting his original announcement that he was parting ways with the franchise as he made clear that the world of Black Adam might be revisited again in a few years’ time. So could Black Adam 2 eventually end up on the DCU’s slate? Well… nah. We’re going to go out on a limb and say there’s little chance of The Rock getting a second chance at changing the hierarchy of the DCU after what happened last time.
Cyborg
Infamously, many of the projects listed on the original DCEU slate revealed about a decade ago never happened, and one of these was the optimistic idea of giving Ray Fisher’s Victor Stone his own movie as Cyborg. The former Teen Titan icon has a ton of loyal fans, however, so the option is there for Gunn to revive this concept and finally make it happen. Unfortunately, the odds are extremely low for this given Fisher’s continuing beef with DC execs, not to mention his own spat with Gunn.
Emilia Harcourt series
There’s a common joke among the DC fandom that already feels as old as Teth-Adam that Gunn is going to give Emilia Harcourt her own spinoff, following his wife Jennifer Holland playing key roles in both The Suicide Squad and Peacemaker and cameoing in Black Adam. Apart from being rather offensive to Holland’s own talents, this gag doesn’t hold much water as Harcourt is already the female lead of Peacemaker so taking her out of the John Cena show would be to its detriment. A Vigilante spinoff, though, now that we’d like to see…