Peter Safran and James Gunn have only recently taken on the role of DC Studios’ co-CEOs. Warner Bros. Discovery gave them the daunting task of creating a future timeline for how they envision a united DC Comics-based cinematic universe. CEO David Zaslav wants his Marvel Cinematic Universe and he found the perfect guys for the job. Yet, they only joined three weeks ago and it seemed like we’ll have to wait a while before we get any news.
A new post by The Wrap’s Umberto Gonzalez on Twitter has seemingly hinted that we could find out about their plans sooner rather than later. He not only teased that a Superman revival starring Henry Cavill is potentially on ice until this long-term plan is finalized but also they may unveil it in the coming months. It’s unclear though if he is referencing a presentation within Warner Bros. or even plans to share it publicly.
No one knows what the long range plan is, except for Gunn and Safran who have been at their new posts for less than three weeks. However, according to the insider, Gunn and Safran’s long range plan should be revealed in the next two months.
While Marvel Studios knows how to get a crowd riled up with their San Diego Comic-Con showcase, it would be a first for them to fully showcase a roadmap like this. It could be a way to stand out even from the monster that is Marvel Studios, but it would seem unwise to show all your cards if they will have to change either way. Of course, there is a possibility that they simply tease projects that are set to arrive as of 2025 to set the groundwork for what exactly they are planning. For now, we’ll have to wait and see.
Henry Cavill just recently made his long-awaited return as Superman in the Black adam post-credit sequence. while it was exactly what Dwayne Johnson hyped up during his press tour, there still were many questions if this was a one-off event or if Warner Bros. Discovery has bigger plans moving forward. Naturally, it seemed clear they wanted to have the actor back for more adventures as the Man of Steel, but it seems those plans are currently being stalled going to a new report by The Wrap.
It seems that the project has lost all momentum moving forward, as they are still looking for a writer and director for a potential Man of Steel sequel, and they still haven’t made a formal deal with Henry Cavill to join the franchise. A big factor seems to be the fact that James Gunn and Peter Safran‘s recent addition as co-CEOs of DC Studios may be delaying things, as they map out the long-range plan for the DC Cinematic Universe.
There was the assumption that he has joined WB’s plans for the character after exiting The Witcher series after being its main lead for three seasons, but it seems more and more evident that this was mostly due to the way the project was developing. For now, we shouldn’t expect a return anytime soon and it’s unclear if Johnson gets his way of just turning the sequel for Black Adam into a Superman showdown.
James Gunn and Peter Safran officially took over DC Studios at the beginning of the month, and while they’ve been in charge for less than two weeks, the duo seem to have big plans for DC Studios. On Thursday, the duo joined David Zaslav on a Zoom call to formally introduce Gunn and Safran to their Warner Bros. Discovery cohorts in a virtual town hall.
Safran noted that, like with the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the hope is for DC Studios to tell an overarching story. “This was such a unique opportunity to tell one great overarching story. One beautiful big story across film, television gaming, live-action, and animation.”
Safran is perhaps best known for producing the Aquaman films and the Shazam! movies. He’ll now work with Gunn in order to craft an overarching story that’ll span across theater, television, and animation. For Gunn, he was thrilled to help build the newly founded DC Studios in order to make DC great. “The opportunity to make DC as great as it can be and as it should be — that is the reason why I’m doing this job because I know that Peter and I can do that.”
Gunn also noted that, he’s been working with some of the best “thinkers” in the industry recently along with Safran, although no names were noted. He also revealed that they’re mapping out a massive story to be told over eight to ten years. “We spent the past couple days with a group of some of the best thinkers in the industry, the best writers in the industry starting to map out that eight to 10 year plan of what it’s going to look like in theater, in TV, in animation, across the board for these characters.”
Up next for DC on the big screen is Shazam! Fury of the Gods which hits theaters on March 17th, 2023.
Warner Bros. Discovery has been quite the powder keg in the industry. Its new CEO David Zaslav has not left a good impression with the axing of Batgirl and pulling various projects from HBO Max for no apparent reason besides saving on taxes. Yet, there’s also some excitement with the newly founded DC Studios that’ll be spearheaded by co-CEOs James Gunn and Peter Safran.
During Warner Bros. Discovery’s earnings call, Zaslav gave a few insights into recent developments. While he did give a shoutout to some productions in the near future for DC, he also highlighted his excitement for the work that Gunn and Safran are going to accomplish and promises a “more unified creative approach” to the DC Cinematic Universe.
I’ve spent a lot of time over the past few months with James and Peter. They have a powerful vision and blueprint that will drive a more unified creative approach that will enable us to realize the full value of one of the world’s most iconic franchises.
David Zaslav
There still is some uncertainty about whatever Zaslav is trying to accomplish with WBD; many signs hint at them mostly preparing for a resell to another company later down the line. Still, there’s a lot of potentials that with the producer and director spearheading the new division we might still see some tighter world-building in the DC moving forward. For now, we can only hope and we probably won’t see the first results for their ventures by 2025.
Welcome to the first edition of the Murphy’s Multiverse Sunday Paper, where the biggest news of the past week is brought to you all in one place. Sit back, relax, and catch up before you have to deal with whatever the upcoming week has to offer. This past week had some pretty big news across the board, so let’s break it down by subject.
Marvel Studios
The Marvel Cinematic Universe had an active news week with multiple trailer drops and marketing for Black Panther: Wakanda Forever in full swing. First, plenty of new footage and promos for Wakanda Forever have been released (check some out here and here), and critic reactions came out after press premieres this week (check out MM’s Hunter Radesi’s reaction here.) While the film does not hit theaters for another couple of weeks, you can listen to Rihanna’s first song in six years made for the film.
Marvel Studios
The first teaser trailer for Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania also dropped this week, and William Jackson Harper has joined the cast. (Read more here). Marvel also released the film’s official synopsis:
“In the film, which officially kicks off phase 5 of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Super-Hero partners Scott Lang (Paul Rudd) and Hope Van Dyne (Evangeline Lilly) return to continue their adventures as Ant-Man and the Wasp. Together, with Hope’s parents Hank Pym (Michael Douglas) and Janet Van Dyne (Michelle Pfeiffer), the family finds themselves exploring the Quantum Realm, interacting with strange new creatures and embarking on an adventure that will push them beyond the limits of what they thought was possible. Jonathan Majors joins the adventure as Kang. Director Peyton Reed returns to direct the film; Kevin Feige and Stephen Broussard produce.”
Marvel Studios
That didn’t stop Marvel Studios from releasing a trailer for the Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special, set to hit Disney+ on November 25, 2022. It looks like Kevin Bacon will appear as himself, Cosmo the Space Dog will make her first appearance since the original Guardians of the Galaxy, and Michael Rooker will even likely make an appearance of some sort.
Marvel Studios
It was also confirmed this week that Marvel Studios is developing a WandaVision spinoff titled Vision Quest, in which we will follow Vision on his path to regaining his memories and humanity, and it’s possible the Scarlet Witch makes an appearance. (Read more here.) Speaking of WandaVision spinoffs, Agatha: Coven of Chaos has a bit of news of its own. WandaVision staff writer Megan McDonnell is among the team of writers working on the upcoming Disney+ streaming series Agatha: Coven of Chaos, (read more here) and a recent rumor suggests that the series may be adapting the Scarlet Witch-related Children’s Crusade comic book arc. (Read more here.)
We’ve also gotten a better look at Ironheart this week as set photos offer a look at Anthony Ramos’ villain the Hood (see it here), and a wrap gift teases Ironheart’s new armor’s faceplate (see it here). After not appearing in the Thunderboltspromotion at D23, Baron Zemo actor Daniel Brühl teased the return of his character (read more here), and Charlize Theron also teased Clea’s return to the MCU. (Read more here). Speaking of teases, Hugh Jackman discussed his return as Wolverine and a likely title change for Deadpool 3. (Read more here.)
Lastly, there are a few more rumors making the rounds. Blade may have found its new director in Elegance Bratton, a relatively new director. (Read more here.) Believe it or not (it is a rumor after all), Dr. Doom may not be the main villain of the upcoming Fantastic Four film (read it here), and an official Disney site listed Emilia Clarke’s character in Secret Invasion as Abigail Brand, though the Skrull possibilities are endless. (Read more here.)
Star Wars
If a new rumor proves true, Ezra Bridger, the beloved protagonist of Disney XD’s animated Star Wars: Rebels, may receive a solo live-action series after the character’s appearance in the upcoming Disney+ series Ashoka. It is unclear clear if the rumored solo series, led by actor Eman Esfandi will be a direct sequel to Rebels or not. (Read more here.)
Oscar Award-winning director Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy, who recently directed a couple of episodes of Ms. Marvel, has been chosen to direct what’s being described as a “secret” Star Wars film based on a script from Damon Lindelof and an as yet unnamed co-writer. Though the film is still in the early stages of development, the report indicates that it has gained steam at Lucasfilm and is among its top priorities on its theatrical slate (Read more here.) The Star Wars film is also apparently set to take place after the events of 2019’s Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, and could possibly bring back some of the sequel trilogy’s characters. (Read more here.)
Last but not least, a teaser trailer for Tales of the Jedi dropped. (Watch it here.)
DC
While Black Adam flew through its first full week in theaters with strong box office numbers, DC has a much bigger week in the news than anyone would have predicted. Of course, the Superman cameo in the film was turning heads before it was even released. However, Henry Cavill himself on Monday took to social media to confirm his return as Superman. He posted a video for his fans along with the caption, “A very small taste of what’s to come, my friends. The dawn of hope renewed. Thank you for your patience, it will be rewarded. #Superman.” (Read more and check out his full Instagram post here).
In fact, this week seemed to signal a new era for DC Entertainment on an even bigger scale, as it looks like Warner Bros. has finally found its Kevin Feige(s). In a surprising announcement, James Gunn and Peter Safran have been tapped to lead the DC’s future film, TV, and animation slates. They will act as co-chairs and co-CEOs of DC Studios, which was recently led by Walter Hamada under the title of DC Films. (Read more here.)
DC also left bits and pieces of news floating around throughout the week, though perhaps less exciting than the big hitters above. Joker: Folie à Deux, the sequel to 2019’s Joker, is reportedly set to start production soon. According to cinematographer Lawrence Sher, the film will begin filming “in five- or six-weeks’ time.” Additionally, the film will “largely be shot in sound stages in Los Angeles, as well as on location in New York, where the project is set.” (Read more here.) On the other hand, The Batman 2 won’t be headed to theaters until 2025 at the earliest. (Read more here.) However, it looks like the film will not be associated with the new DC Studios, and it is unclear if The Batman franchise will be either. (Read more here.) In other words, DC’s universe will still remain, to some extent, in its oddly organized, splintered form we all know and love.
Speaking of the Wild West of DC, there is more. The Batman universe untitled Arkham Asylum spin-off series is finally moving forward. Variety has shared that the creator of The Staircase, Antonio Campos, has joined the production as its showrunner. (Read more here.) Set photos from the filming of The Flash’s ninth and final season have seemingly confirmed that actress Javicia Leslie—who previously played an original character on Batwoman–will return to The CW as the multiversal villain Red Death, (read more here), and actor Elijah Rashad is set to join Doom Patrol’s fourth season. (Read more here.)
HBO Max is looking to redevelop its previously announced Green Lantern series. The show, which hailed from producer Greg Berlanti and writer Seth Grahame-Smith, was originally set to star Finn Wittrock (Ratched) and Jeremy Irvine (War Horse) as the respective Green Lanterns. Reportedly, the new series will instead turn the focus over to John Stewart, one of DC’s first black superheroes. (Read more here.)
In Other News
Some other news worth noting—Henry Cavill is departing The Witcher, with Liam Hemsworth to take on the role. (Read more here.) Andy Serkis apparently will not be back to direct Venom 3 and writer Kelly Marcel will helm the film instead. (Read more here.) Avatar: The Way of the Water might have a whopping 3 hours and 10 minutes run time, and House of the Dragon showrunner Ryan Condol discussed the season finale and about the direction the series will take in the future. (Read more here.)
On Wednesday, Marvel Studios held the world premiere of the hotly anticipated Black Panther sequel, Black Panther: Wakana Forever. Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige was on hand to celebrate the film and walk the purple carpet. Unsurprisingly, Feige was asked about Guardians of the Galaxy director James Gunn‘s new position at DC Studios. Feige, of course, was incredibly supportive of Gunn and his future endeavors for DC Studios.
Kevin Feige on James Gunn joining DC: “I’ll be first in line to see anything he does” pic.twitter.com/spptngC2jF
“I speak to James almost every day. We have a wonderful thing called the Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special coming out. We have a wonderful thing called Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 coming out in May. How he’ll have any time to work on DC until May I don’t know, but once he does have the time I’ll be very excited. I’ll be first in line.”
Feige
Gunn’s new job at DC Studios begins on Nov. 1st, however, while he’ll be exclusively working for DC and Warner Bros. Discovery for the next four years, he still has a ton of work ahead of him for Marvel Studios. Next month, the Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special will be released, and next summer, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 will finally hit theaters. Gunn will still be making the promotional rounds for Marvel Studios while helping to headline DC Studios.
Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special will hit Disney+ on Nov. 25th.
With the continued expansion of the Marvel Cinematic Universe and DC properties, more and more superhero movie and television content is being pumped into screens almost non-stop. New genres and formats are being explored and countless characters are being brought into live-action. So, we should be at the peak of the age of superhero movies, right? Unfortunately, it seems we have sailed right on through the Golden Age of Superhero Movies that took place in the 2010s.
This feature could not function without describing the massive and crucial impact that Marvel Studios and the MCU had on the superhero genre. However, other films began paving a path before 2008’s Iron Man. DC had been producing films, particularly based on Batman and Superman properties, for decades that had a clear cultural impact. Marvel, through Sony or Fox, had major hits like the Spider-Man and X-Men franchises. While the superhero movie genre had been present for some time, the MCU was the undeniable spark that caused the concept of the superhero movie to explode.
While Iron Man was the first of now many films in what became the MCU, the whole franchise did not pick up an insane amount of steam for several years. The early Phase One movies were—overall—OK. They existed as origin stories, but the superhero origin story had already been done nearly 3,333 times before. Everything changed when Avengers was released in 2012.
The crossover aspect is undeniably one of the key (if not the key) components that changed the way audiences engaged with the genre. While other superhero movies still trickled out around this time, no other franchise was combining four other franchises into one mega-franchise. The MCU was surely not the first to invoke the crossover strategy, but it certainly was the first to employ it on such a large scale. And luckily, Avengers was a smash hit and will remain one of the most culturally significant films of the early 21st century. Movies stopped becoming just movies—they were entire events and spectacles that transcended just a single film. At this point, “franchise” became the business term while “universe” because the one fans experienced.
The Infinity Saga experience, frankly, cannot be surpassed. The post-Avengers excitement leading the Avengers: Endgame was the definitive Golden Age of Superhero Movies. During this time, millions and millions of fans waited feverishly for the one or two movies the MCU dropped each year. Easter eggs and cameos felt like invaluable treasures as people started to stitch together this rich, magical fictional universe that entertained them like no other. The promise of some ultimate “finale” to the saga being lived through buoyed even some of the weaker installments. And, boy, was that finale spectacular.
At this point, there is no reason to overanalyze Avengers: Infinity Waror Endgame anymore. Regardless of contemporary or retrospective reviews or criticisms, virtually everyone who was a fan during that time can tell you those films were the hype of all hype. The iconic moments from those films we still conjure up frequently were the fruition of 11 years of storytelling, and every bit of the event was stylized as the definitive and ultimate moment of the unprecedented sensation that was the MCU.
Of course, the MCU did not stop. In fact, it is producing content at a rate that would even a 2018 fan would never believe. More characters that comic book fans never thought would ever make it to live-action are now here, living amongst the universe we feel we grew up or grew old in. There is something to be said, though, about the onslaught of content. The ever-warned-of “superhero fatigue” that some spoke of a decade ago may actually be creeping in. With often little to no chance to take a breath between MCU projects, each one has the potential to feel less and less special. The anticipation for the next project has weaned. Now, it is difficult to take in the entire MCU given how many hours of content exist. A casual fan may very well be overwhelmed, and new fans may have no idea how to actually get involved. Old fans may have had to abandon their annual MCU rewatch.
But Phase Four—and beyond—content has also produced some phenomenal projects. Many would agree that Spider-Man: No Way Home, Werewolf By Night, and She-Hulk are all gifts in their respective formats. But even with quality new projects, the expectations are clearly higher than they once were. Part of it is the high of Infinity Saga that so many keep chasing. However, the toxic online culture surrounding film discourse—particularly in the comic book genre—has felt out of hand since Phase Four began. Surely the Golden Age would not include thousands of people trash-talking every frame of a film, leading robust campaigns centered around hating women, and whining, complaining, and arguing about rumored post-credits scenes for much more important films that have not been released yet.
And while the MCU can now tell bigger and more fantastic stories with an increasing range of characters, it is almost inevitable that the overarching plot will be Marvel Studios’ answer to: “How do we go bigger and better than Endgame?” The infinite possibilities, cameos, and combinations of Avengers: Secret Wars will almost certainly be a proper answer to that question and the payoff will almost certainly be astronomical. But it will not be able to live up to the Infinity Saga finale. While the story is presumably unique and the cheer-worthy moments will be plenty, at the end of the day the MCU has already taken us through that journey. The build-up and surprises are expected, and the energy will never match that of 2018 and 2019.
This article focuses on the MCU for obvious reasons, but DC and the DCEU shot their own shots, though it was generally fumbled. So far in the post-Endgame time period, we have seen a DC that is fractured, confused, disorganized, chaotic, repetitive, and often mediocre. There are no doubt some standouts, including The Suicide Squad, Joker, and The Batman. But the fact that they remain as separate isolated incidents keep the DC Universe from thriving in the way that it could. Black Adam’s insistence that this is all set to change is empty until it happens. To be fair, the recent news that James Gunn and Peter Safran will lead a new “DC Studios” is something to keep an eye on. But either way, DC really missed the Golden Age boat at this point, unless they can turn it around and do something extraordinarily special.
As news comes of Warner Bros. hiring of James Gunn and Peter Safran to lead the way for the newly-minted DC Studios, fans of Matt Reeves’The Batman also received a disappointing update on the sequel to the 2022 film. According to Variety’s Zack Sharf, The Batman 2 won’t be headed to theaters for at least another 3 years.
– JOKER 2 will exist outside the cinematic universe that James Gunn/Safran will build out
– THE BATMAN 2 doesn't have a finished script/ won't hit theaters until 2025 at the earliest
– Henry Cavill's SUPERMAN movie is now soliciting pitches from writershttps://t.co/FYvlwUCUbu
With all that going on, it’s easy to see how Reeves may not have The Batman 2 out in theaters anytime soon. However, it’s clear that there’s both an audience for Reeves’ vision and support for it at DC Studios, so while fans will have a bit of a wait, at least it won’t be a stressful one.
Announced in October 2024, Dynamic Duo is an animated film that will tell the story of “the early days of Dick Grayson and Jason Todd aka the Robins. The duo call themselves the Dynamic Duo. They’re orphan thieves, best friends who share dreams of a better life, but their friendship will be tested by competing visions of a future out of which will come a new Dynamic Duo.“
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