While it included projects set to introduce DC mainstays such as Superman, Batman and Green Lanterns Hal Jordan and John Stewart, the initial DC Studios’ slate revealed in early 2023 also showed that studio co-chairs James Gunn and Peter Safran were embracing lesser known characters as well. By kicking off the all-new DCU with the animated Creature Commandos and prepping projects featuring non-household names such as Booster Gold and The Authority, the studio is starkly setting itself apart from the Snyderverse’s dependence on the Trinity plus one.
As projects are added to the original list, it’s clear that Gunn and Safran are committed to exploring all genres, corners and eras of the expansive DC Comics universe. Luca Guadagnino‘s Sgt. Rock film will reportedly be set during World War II, Booster Gold will be set, at least in part, in the future and James Mangold‘s Swamp Thing will be a “tonally different” film that will “investigate the dark origins” of the Avatar of the Green. And, as proven with Creature Commandos, the studio has no reservations about telling stories vital to the continuity through animation or via streaming and now it seems as though a change of plans behind the scenes might mean one of the originally announced projects is headed in a different direction.
According to social media scooper Apocalyptic Horseman, DC Studios has decided to move forward with The Authority as an animated feature film.
The Authority was created as part of Jim Lee’s WildStorm universe which was eventually purchased by DC comics and, during the New 52 publishing initiative, integrated into the mainstream continuity. The super team, once described as the Anti-Justice League for their lack of a moral compass, is hardly among the most popular group of DC comic book characters but look to play a big part in the overarching narrative of the DCU and will be introduced in Superman via their leader, The Engineer, who will serve as one of the piece’s villains.
Fans may not be quite familiar with the team, which Safran compared to Jack Nicholson’s Colonel Jessup in A Few Good Men saying, “they know that you want them on the wall, or at least they believe that.” Gunn gave a little more detail of what to expect from this win-at-all-costs group.
They are basically good-intentioned, but they think that the world is completely broken and the only way to fix it is to take things into their own hands, whether that means killing people, destroying heads of state, changing governments—basically, whatever they want to do to make the world better. We’ll see how that journey goes for them. There are morally gray characters (in our DCU), of which these are.
-James Gunn on the members of The Authority
Though no writer for the film has ever been revealed, Gunn outlined the plot. In early 2023, Kick-Ass director Matthew Vaughn was rumored to be in line to direct the project. While that’s never been confirmed, neither Vaughn nor Gunn, who is often quick to shoot down false rumors, have denied the veracity of that rumor.
The Authority has no scheduled release date at the moment but should the report about the studio developing it as an animated feature film be accurate, it is worth questioning whether it will release in theaters or on HBO where it could find an audience over time without a snap judgement made about the box office take of a project full of unknown characters.
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