Filming on DC Studios’ second film, Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow, got underway in the UK this week and it didn’t take long for news to escape Leavesden. According to THR’s Borys Kit, David Krumholtz and Emily Beecham have joined the production as the parents of Milly Alcock‘s Kara Zor-El.
It’s unclear if Krumholz and Beecham are teaming up as Kara’s Earth parents, Jeremiah and Eliza, or her space mommy and daddy.
If it’s the latter, Krumholz will portray Zor-El, a Kryptonian scientist who is also the uncle of Kal-El, aka Superman. After surviving the destruction of his home planet, Krypton, the character has evolved into an antagonist to his daughter and nephew in recent years. Beecham would then fill the role of Alura In-Ze who also survived Krypton’s apocalypse and has also caused her own share of problems over the years despite working mostly as a force for good. If the actors are playing Supergirl’s birth parents, the film’s plot could contain some Brainiac bread crumbs.
Given the lack of clarity on THR’s report, however, the former option must be considered as well and, in one particular way, would be interesting. If Krumholtz and Beecham are set to pay Kara’s adoptive Earth parents, it could bring into play one of DC Comics more interesting clandestine organizations, the Department of Extranormal Operations. Tasked with tracking metahumans on Earth, that D.E.O. recently reactivated in the comics.
Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow is set for a June 26, 2026 theatrical debut.
After nearly a decade in development hell, The Flash finally hit theaters in 2023. Mired in controversy due to star Ezra Miller‘s legal trouble and dead on arrival as Warner Bros. had committed to rebooting with the DCU in late 2022, the film performed poorly at the box office and served as a dour sendoff to the DCEU. Now, as DC Studios continues to forge ahead, it seems as though the specter of The Flash may continue to haunt the world of DC Comics’ greatest heroes.
While responding to a question about the recently announced Clayface film on Threads, DC Studios’ co-CEO James Gunnclarified that a DCU-set Flash project won’t happen anytime soon.
“We’re holding a beat on development,” said Gunn of a potential Flash-led project. No Flash-centric project was announced during the January 2024 reveal of projects expected to be part of DC Studios’ Chapter One: Gods and Monsters and even as the makeup of that batch of projects evolves, no word about the Scarlet Speedster getting another crack at a solo outing has come.
That’s not to say, of course, that Barry Allen, Wally West or both won’t appear in other projects. Though the studio’s Teen Titans film is expected to feature the same core cast as Teen Titans Go!, Wally West, aka Kid Flash, appeared in over a dozen episodes over five seasons and has always been a core team member in the comics. Additionally, a character who many have presumed to be Wally West was among the dead heroes shown to Amanda Waller in a vision of one possible future of the DCU.
While Alexander Joseph Luthor is inarguably one of the greatest comic book villains of all time, he may also be one of the greatest comic book characters… period. For over 80 years, Lex Luthor has proven himself over and over again as a worth archenemy of Superman and capable of challenging the combined might of DC Comics’ greatest heroes, often defeated only by his own imperiousness and humanity.
As DC Studios launches an all-new cinematic universe, Luthor will rightly find himself front and center in Superman, the DCU’s first theatrical offering. Given the task of bringing Luthor into the DCU and immediately establishing him as a true threat is Nicholas Hoult (Juror #2), who, among others, follows Gene Hackman, Michael Rosenbaum and, most recently, Jesse Eisenberg as the power-hungry genius. Following the release of the first trailer for Superman, DC Studios lifted a standing embargo on interviews with the cast, including one in which Hoult explained how he hoped to carve out his own spade among the many iterations of Luthor across multiple mediums.
According to Hoult, part of what will make this Luthor different–perhaps a big part–is that he exists in a world full of heroes. Having learned to thrive in a world full of metahuman characters would certainly be a departure from previous iterations in which Luthor dealt only with Superman or was just coming into his own. “The thing about this Lex, I think that was most exciting to me was being in a James Gunn universe,” said Hoult. “Like you said, so emotionally raw and powerful, but huge in the scope of the world and what he’s creating.” For Hoult’s Luthor, that means leaning heavily into his ingenuity and ability to think ahead.
He’s smart and ruthless and he has to outmaneuver Superman on certain levels because he can’t match him in others.
-Nicholas Hoult on Lex Luthor in Superman
While Gunn is adamant that Superman exists only to tell this story and not to set up the next several DC Studios’ projects. At the same time, he’s also made it clear that the future of the DCU is indeed riding on the success of Superman. Should it succeed, it’s nearly impossible to imagine a passionate comic book fan like Gunn would utilize Luthor as a one-and-done villain, allowing Hoult the opportunity to take on Superman again or, possibly, emerge as an even larger threat as part of the Legion of Doom. If that’s to happen, Hoult’s Luthor would need to be the type of villain that is both hateable and relatable, an idea of which the actor is keenly aware.
“But there’s also something about this character, hopefully from my standpoint, where even though you perhaps don’t agree with his process, there’s an element where you can understand on some levels where he’s coming from and why perhaps what he’s pushing as his ideology is perhaps better for humanity,” explained Hoult. As with Marvel Studios Loki or Thanos, villains whose motoves the audience can at least partially understand make for wonderful cinema because they offer a true challenge to the hero. While this isn’t the type of Luthor that’s often been presented in animated or live-action Superman adaptations, it looks to be the goal here and given the character’s status, it’s well-deserved and well past time that Superman’s greatest for can offer more than some snide remarks and Kryptonite traps.
Recent news about the state of the sequel to 2022’s The Batman has raised concerns among fans. Direct word from DC Studios’ co-CEO James Gunn indicated that writer/director Matt Reeves had not turned in a complete script yet and with the Gunn having made it clear that projects will not be given the green light to move into production without completed and approved scripts, buzz started to grow that The Batman Part II may not make its 2026 release date.
That concern was alleviated to some extent when World of Reel shares news that the film was on track for a May 2025 start of principal photography and that the project is expected to “blow away” fans of the Caped Crusader. However, as encouraging as that was, nothing is officially official until it’s official…and now it’s official.
In an interview with The Batman co-star Zoe Kravitz, Reeves confirmed that while he has not completed the script for The Batman Part II, principal photography remains on track to get underway in 2025.
“Yeah, we’re finishing the script. We’re going to be shooting next year,” Reeves said in response to Kravitz inquiring as to if he was writing the script for the sequel.
As World of Reel reported, a May 2025 start of filming would allow for the film’s star, Robert Pattinson, to complete his obligations on Christopher Nolan‘s next project in time to prepare for his return as Vengeance. Should things stay on track, The Batman Part II should have no problem meeting its October 2, 2026 release date.
Following weeks of speculation over the release of the first teaser trailer for DC Studios’ Superman, director and DC Studios’ co-chair James Gunn has put an end to what’s been a growing online debate.
Through a pair of social media releases, fans now know when the teaser will be released to the public, have their first look at an incredible new motion poster featuring David Corenswet‘s Kal-El and a glimpse at the official logo.
Following the debut of the trailer to press on December 16th, the trailer will be released online on Thursday, December 19th, at 9:00 AM EST/6:00 AM PST.
The nostalgia-driven motion poster calls on fans to “Look Up” as it brings to mind 1978’s Superman: The Movie by playing an altered version of John Williams’ iconic “Superman March” while Kal-El defies gravity.
DC Studios’ first theatrical entry in the all-new DCU, Superman will soar into theaters on July 11, 2025.
In recent weeks, James Gunn made it clear that one fundamental difference between the all-new DCU and the MCU, in which he worked for nearly a decade, will be be an emphasis on world building over story building. Whereas Marvel Studios builds Phases and Sagas around “big bads” such as Thanos, Kang and Doctor Doom, and weaves those characters and their stories into multiple projects, one goal of his at DC Studios is to make sure that each new DCU project can be enjoyed on its own merits.
“These are interconnected stories but people are always going to be [saying], ‘Who’s the big bad?’,” Gunn explained to Josh Horowitz. “Are there big bads for connected films? Yes. But is this all about, ‘Hey, I’m telling this one story about this big bad’? No.”
This is about a connected universe. We’re world building. We’re not story building. We’re not writing one story that has a beginning, middle, and end. We’re creating a universe in which people can go and join into this universe and experience it. It is much more like Star Wars than Marvel in that respect.
According to Deadline and Variety, production on Flanagan’sClayface film will get underway in early 2025. Though Flanagan wrote the script for the project, he will not direct it.
Though Clayface will be produced by Matt Reeves‘ 6th & Idaho Productions, it is expected to be part of the main DCU continuity rather than Reeves’ more grounded and practical Batman Epic Crime Saga. The character is set to make his DCU debut soon in Creature Commandos.
Flanagan‘s history with horror projects could mean Clayface will mix and match elements from various iterations of the character that have appeared in DC Comics over last 80+ years. With an official announcement reportedly imminent, perhaps Gunn will shed some light on the direction of the project.
Leading off an ambitious effort to create an ongoing shared cinematic universe with an animated series about a group of monsters that are certainly not anyone’s favorite DC Comics characters proves that DC Studios will not be fully dependent on DC’s Trinity. However, as Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman go, so too, ultimately, will the DCU. And to that end, DC Studio’s co-CEOs, James Gunn and Peter Safran, also made sure to include projects featuring Superman and Batman and one that at the very least is adjacent to Wonder Woman when they revealed 10 of the projects that will be part of the first wave of DC Studio’s new era of storytelling.
Nearly two years after rolling out a peek at Chapter One: Gods and Monsters, things seem to be moving along smoothly. Creature Commandos will debut on December 5th, Superman will hit theaters next summer and both Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow and the HBO streaming series Lanterns are set to kick off production in early 2025. However, despite reportedly having landed a director in Andy Muschetti, development on the studio’s Batman and Robin vehicle, The Brave and the Bold, remains static. Recently, Gunn has made it clear that the 10 projects he and Safran revealed were not necessarily the first 10 that fans would see, explaining that the slate is far more fluid and flexible and that projects that were not announced are far closer to beginning production than some of those that were. In an interview with Collider, Gunn took the time to give deeper insight into the studio’s process behind the scenes, explaining why cameras won’t be rolling on The Brave and the Bold any time soon.
“There’s no set timeline for anything,” said Gunn when asked when The Brave and the Bold might hit theaters. “The one thing that I’ve tried to make clear to people from the beginning, and the way that I hope we’re different, is that everything in DC is gonna be based on the writers. Until we have a screenplay that I’m totally happy with, that movie is not going to get made, no matter what it is.” One doesn’t have to be an expert at reading between the lines to understand why Bruce and Damian Wayne swinging into theaters together in 2025.
Gunn went on to explain that a pair of projects, Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow and Lanterns, were able to move ahead in the queue because their scripts, written by Ana Nogueira and the team of Tom King, Damon Lindelof and Chris Mundy, respectively, came together quickly and wowed him. “We have been really fortunate with some screenplays,” Gunn explained. “Supergirl came in, and just, wow, Ana did such an amazing job. The Lanterns pilot came in, and now the whole Lantern series came in, and it’s like, ‘Wow, that’s wonderful, wonderful work.’”
While The Brave and the Bold was never given a release date, its inclusion in the initial slate reveal did give the impression that it would be making its way into theaters relatively quickly. As projects from the initial slate and others like Luca Guadagnino‘s Sgt. Rock, which DC Studios has not officially announced, start to move toward casting and production, the perception is that The Brave and the Bold might be in trouble; however, without naming any specific projects, Gunn reiterated that the reason some move ahead and other don’t is simply because the scripts aren’t where he believes they need to be to make a good film. “There are a couple of other things that people don’t know about. There are a couple of movies and TV shows that are green-lit or near-green-lit,” teased Gunn. “But it’s going to be based, always, on the story because, at the end of the day, if we’re happy with the story that we’re telling, that’s what matters most. And once Brave and the Bold gets to that point, then we’ll make the movie. That’s really all it is.“
Before it even begins, the new DCU is causing confusion among fans. Set to kick off on December 5th with the animated Max streaming series Creature Commandos, DC Studios’ new attempt to bring the characters and stories of DC Comics to life already has quite a few projects lined up for fans over the next few years. However, according to DC Studios’ co-chair James Gunn, a pair of projects that were relased prior to the creation of the studio should be considered canon, too…kind of…for the most part.
In an interview with IGN, Gunn muddied the timeline waters of the all-new DCU by explaining that the events of a pair of projects he created will be considered canon to the new connected universe.
“Now in Creature Commandos, you’ll hear them talk about things that happened in [The] Suicide Squad or Peacemaker,” shared Gunn. “Well then, those things automatically become canon.”
Released in 2021, The Suicide Squad introduced John Cena‘s Peacemaker to fans as part of a second team of degenerates sent by Amanda Waller to Corto Maltese. The events of The Suicide Squad, including the death of Rick Flag at the hands of Peacemaker, serve as the set up for Season 1 of Peacemaker, an HBO streaming series that debuted in 2022 and saw Cena return as the offbeat character. With Amanda Waller, who was featured in both projects, and Rick Flag’s father both appearing in Creature Commandos, and again in Season 2 of Peacemaker, a clear line of continuity can be established from one project to the next. Until it can’t.
As it turns out, not ALL of the events of Season 1 of Peacemaker are to be considered canon to the new DCU, which hasn’t started yet but did start in 2021 with The Suicide Squad. “The truth is almost all of Peacemaker is canon with the exception of Justice League… which we will kind of deal with in the next season of Peacemaker,” said Gunn of the shadowy appearance of the Snyderverse’s team of heroes.
Given Gunn’s creativity and the time he’s had to solve the issue of decanonizing a scene he wrote, explaining away the Justice League shouldn’t be much of a problem…at least until it happens.
Creature Commandos kicks off the all-new DCU–or does it?–on December 5th while Season 2 of Peacemaker will begin streaming in August 2025.
Ahead of the launch of the all-new DCU with the seven-episode animated series Creature Commandos, DC Studios’ co-chair James Gunn recently teased some surprises added to the impressive Chapter One: Gods and Monsters slate. “It’s really Creature Commandos, Superman, Peacemaker, Lanterns, Supergirl..and then some things people don’t know,” said Gunn. Now a new report may have identified one of those unknowns.
According to Deadline, Gunn and co-chair Peter Safran are working to land former 007 Daniel Craig to lead director Luca Guadagnino‘s Sgt. Rock project.
Word of the development of the project broke in September with Jeff “The In” Sneider reporting that Guadagnino was working with DC Studios on a film that Nexus Point News revealed to be a WW II period piece featuring Sgt. Rock. Rock’s infantry unit, Easy Company, has been confirmed to be included in Creature Commandos, leading to speculation that the character, who first appeared in 1959’s Our Army at War #81, may also appear.
Craig and Guadagnino worked together on Queer, which premiered earlier this year in Venice and will hit theaters on a limited basis on November 27th. According to Deadline, should the pair reunite in Sgt. Rock, it is believed that Guadagnino will tackle the DC Studios’ project next, putting his American Psycho remake on the back burner for the time being.
Fans are about to get their first look at the all-new DCU when the seven-episode animated series Creature Commandos debuts on Max in December 5th. Written by DC Studios co-chair James Gunn, the series “tracks a secret team of incarcerated monsters recruited for missions deemed too dangerous for humans” and will introduce the world to a shared universe already populated with heroes and villains.
Announced by Gunn and co-chair Peter Safran as part of the initial DC Studios’ slate reveal in January 2023, Creature Commandos kept pace during production to meet its intended target date as the DCU’s first project. Superman, starring David Corenswet as the new Man of Steel, was always meant to follow Creature Commandos and is on track to do so. However, following that, the release order of the rest of the slate was always a bit murky, though it has started to take shape over the past several months.
As always, Gunn has been active in social media and shared updates on the work taking place behind the scenes to get the DCU up and running. As part of those updates, the co-chair revealed that some projects that were part of the original slate reveal are taking longer to develop while others that were not announced are moving ahead. Now, in an interview with IGN, Gunn laid out exactly what fans can expect over the next two years, including the first hint at when Lanterns will hit HBO.
“It’s really Creature Commandos, Superman, Peacemaker, Lanterns, Supergirl,” said Gunn. “And then some things people don’t know,” he teased. Asked to clarify if Lanterns would stream ahead of the June 26, 2026 release of Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow, Gunn replied “we’ll see when it comes out, but they’re around the same time.” Spring/Summer 2026 it is!
December 5, 2024-Creature Commandos (streaming on Max)
July 11, 2025-Superman (in theaters)
August 2025-Peacemaker, Season 2 (streaming on Max)
Spring/Summer 2026-Lanterns (streaming on Max)
June 26, 2026-Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow (in theaters)
With Gunn providing a glimpse of what to expect over the next two years, it may be a while before fans learn the identities of the unknown projects he teased. With no updates on announced projects such The Brave and The Bold, The Authority, Booster Gold and more, it’s clear that expectations should be for only a couple of DC Studios’ releases per year for the foreseeable future.
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