Murphy's Multiverse

Tag: DCU TV

  • The Monsters Return —James Gunn Reveals Release Window for ‘Creature Commands’ Season 2

    The Monsters Return —James Gunn Reveals Release Window for ‘Creature Commands’ Season 2

    The animated corner of the DCU is locking in its future. In a fresh update, DC Studios co-CEO James Gunn has officially confirmed that Creature Commandos Season 2 will serve as the immediate next project to release following his highly anticipated theatrical film, Man of Tomorrow, in 2027.

    While fans initially expected a quicker turnaround for the black-ops monster squad, the 2027 window establishes a highly specific roadmap for Chapter 1: Gods and Monsters as it transitions into its next phase.

    Gunn has been active on social media dropping updates from the set of Man of Tomorrow, confirming that DC’s animation slate is moving forward aggressively. Season 2 of Creature Commandos is being positioned exactly how Season 1 was—acting as the narrative bridge. Where Season 1 launched the DCU before the first Superman film, Season 2 will drop “shortly after” Man of Tomorrow to deal with the cosmic and political fallout of that movie. Interestingly, Gunn previously confirmed that he did not write the scripts for Season 2 due to his intense directorial duties on Man of Tomorrow, handing the creative reins over to a trusted room of writers to keep the fast-tracked production moving.

    Showrunner Dean Lorey has already teased what fans can expect from the return of Task Force M.

    • More G.I. Robot: Lorey explicitly stated that the team lineup from the Season 1 finale will remain “at least somewhat accurate,” but promised that his primary goal for the sophomore outing was to deliver a “beefed-up G.I. Robot” arc.
    • The Salvation Run Theory: Following Peacemaker Season 2, fans are already speculating that Season 2 could adapt elements of the Salvation Run comic storyline, featuring Rick Flag Sr. (Frank Grillo) and the Commandos hunting down rogue metahumans to exile them to a prison planet.

    Creature Commandos won’t be lonely in 2027. Gunn hinted that more television projects are coming that year, with the animated Mister Miracle series (adapting Tom King’s run) and Blue Beetle‘s animated continuation tracking closely behind.

    Hype for Creature Commandos has remained high because it proves Gunn‘s commitment to treating animation as an equal pillar to live-action. By scheduling Season 2 to immediately follow Man of Tomorrow, DC Studios is ensuring that the overarching narrative of the DCU remains fluid across mediums. The monsters aren’t just filler; they are the connective tissue of this universe.

  • ‘Lanterns’ to Reshape DCU Timeline; Sinestro’s Role Revealed

    The DCU timeline is getting a lot more complicated—and a lot more interesting. In a surprising reveal via EW, showrunner Chris Mundy (Ozark) has confirmed that the upcoming HBO series Lanterns is a period piece, officially set in the year 2016…and also in 2026.

    According to Mundy, the show opens with veteran Green Lantern Hal Jordan and Lantern-in-training John Stewart investigating a murder in Rushville, Nebraska set in 2016. However, it’s also partially set in 2026, after the events of Superman, where a second–and seemingly connected mystery–needs investigation.

    “That becomes a second mystery that we know is down the road for us,” Mundy revealed. “So eventually two different mysteries get worked out over the course of the show.”

    Mundy confirmed a controversial detail: outside of a few appearances by the “fabulously obnoxious” Guy Gardner, no other Earth-based Green Lanterns will appear in the eight-episode first season. In 2016, Hal and John are the only two humans to have ever worn the ring. This keeps the focus tight on their “True Detective” style mystery in the American heartland.

    The biggest draw for many fans will be the portrayal of Thaal Sinestro, though Mundy stopped short of revealing if the traitorous Korugarian will be the primary antagonist of Season 1.

    “Obviously in the canon, Sinestro’s the big bad,” said Mundy. “The thing that interests us is this idea [that] Hal was trained by Sinestro, Hal is training John. In the coaching tree, we’re very interested in what gets passed on, what doesn’t, how much is human nature. We talked a lot about programming and parenting and training…What did Hal take away from Sinestro that was good or bad? It brings up a lot of interesting worries.”

    By setting Lanterns in 2016, James Gunn and Peter Safran are building a history for the DCU. It gives the world weight—showing what the heroes have been in the years before Superman went public. It also allows the show to potentially focus on the legendary Hal/Sinestro friendship before it becomes the franchise’s most iconic rivalry.

    Lanterns will stream on HBO Max this August.

    Source: Entertainment Weekly

  • The Future of the DCU — James Gunn Updates a Pair of Projects Thought to Have Been Scrapped

    The Future of the DCU — James Gunn Updates a Pair of Projects Thought to Have Been Scrapped

    The architect of the DCU has spoken, and he’s clearing the air on two projects  from the original Gods and Monsters slate that were believed to have been scrapped. Taking to social media, James Gunn took a moment to address the production status of Booster Gold and the Wonder Woman prequel series, Paradise Lost.

    While fans have been worried about the radio silence surrounding these titles, Gunn’s update suggests that things are moving at two very different speeds.

    Booster Gold: Still in the Lab

    Regarding the time-traveling showman Michael Jon Carter, Gunn confirmed that Booster Gold remains in active development.

    Described in 2022 by DC Studios’ co-chair Peter Safran as a “loser from the future who uses his basic future technology to come back to today to pretend to be a superhero“, Michael Jon Carter isn’t one of DC Studios household names but has been a character Gunn has been locked in on since putting together DC Studios Chapter One: Gods and Monsters slate. Though there had been rumors that Kumail Nanjiani had landed the role of Carter, no official word has ever come on the matter.

    In July 2025, Deadline reported that David Jenkins (Our Flag Means Death) had taken over duties on cracking the code on a pilot and, potentially, taking over as showrunner if Gunn and Safran were pleased.

    Paradise Lost: “Extreme Development”

    The bigger surprise came when Gunn described Paradise Lost as being in “extreme development” (no, I don’t know what that means, either).

    Set on the island nation of Themyscira before the birth of Wonder Woman, Paradise Lost was described as a “Game of Thrones’-ish story” that will explore “the political intrigue behind a society of all women,” according to Safran. Gunn expanded on Safran’s comments about the series, which he said will examine the “beautiful” and “ugly truths” behind Paradise Island.

    Gunn isn’t rushing. By putting Paradise Lost into “extreme development,” he’s signaling that the prequel isn’t just a spin-off—it’s a prestige epic designed to redefine the Amazons. Meanwhile, keeping Booster Gold “in development” shows he’s willing to wait for the perfect creative team rather than hitting a release date for the sake of it. Above all else, the news reveals that the DCU–or at least Gunn’s plans for it–will live on into the late 2020s despite concerns to the contrary.

  • Sydney Chandler Reportedly Cast in Upcoming DC Studios Animated Project

    The roster of Task Force M is officially getting a major power upgrade—and a brand new voice. According to the latest casting updates for Creature Commandos Season 2, Sydney Chandler (Alien: Earth, Don’t Worry Darling) has been officially cast as Nosferata after reading for a key role in Man of Tomorrow.

    The character, who was teased in the Season 1 finale as a new recruit for the team, is set to be a series regular in the upcoming season as the DCU explores the more supernatural corners of its mythology. Unlike the hulking monsters we’ve seen so far, Nosferata brings a different kind of  undead energy to the team.

    In the pages of DC Comics, Nosferata is a vampire created during the 1940s experiments of Project Moreau.

    In the DCU, after spending decades as an inmate at Belle Reve, she was recruited by Amanda Waller to join the new iteration of the Creature Commandos led by The Bride.
    She was first seen playing ping-pong with Doctor Phosphorus in the Season 1 finale. In Season 2, she’ll be a core member of the squad, filling the void left by the death of Nina Mazursky.

    Per James Gunn’s rule for the DCU, Sydney Chandler will provide the voice for the animated series and is expected to play the character in any future live-action appearances. Chandler joins an already stacked voice cast, including Indira Varma (The Bride), Alan Tudyk (Doctor Phosphorus), Sean Gunn (G.I. Robot/Weasel), and David Harbour (Eric Frankenstein).

    Season 2 is currently in active production, with Gunn confirming that animation is underway. While a release date hasn’t been locked, the show is expected to return to Max in late 2026 or early 2027, picking up after the events of Peacemaker Season 2.

    Source: The Insneider

  • True Crime in Metropolis — DC Studios Taps ‘American Vandal’ Creators for Jimmy Olsen/Gorilla Grodd Spinoff

    True Crime in Metropolis — DC Studios Taps ‘American Vandal’ Creators for Jimmy Olsen/Gorilla Grodd Spinoff

    The DCU is about to get the mockumentary treatment. In a report first shared by Variety, DC Studios is officially developing a prestige true crime docuseries centered on Superman’s pal, Jimmy Olsen.

    Rumors of an anthology-style series that would see Jimmy investigating the Daily Planet’s most dangerous leads emerged in mid-2025 and now it seems as though the studio is ready to move forward with the project.

    Following his breakout performance in James Gunn’s Superman, Skyler Gisondo is set to reprise his role for the HBO Max original. But this isn’t your typical superhero spinoff—it’s an investigative deep-dive into the criminal underworld of the DC Universe.

    In what might be the most inspired creative pairing of Chapter 1, DC has tapped Tony Yacenda and Dan Perrault—the minds behind the Peabody Award-winning American Vandal—to write, showrun, and executive produce. The show is described as a grounded, noir-inflected mystery that focuses on Daily Planet staff members as they navigate a world of institutional corruption and metahuman conspiracies

    The series is framed as a fictionalized true-crime investigation hosted by Jimmy. Season 1 will focus entirely on the criminal history of Gorilla Grodd. Reframing the iconic Flash foe as a subject for an investigative documentary allows the DCU to explore Grodd’s “layered psychological profile” and his path from scientific experiment to global threat through archival footage and “interviews”.

    By moving the American Vandal duo into the DCU, Gunn is doubling down on his promise to diversify the “tone, scale, and format” of the franchise. This isn’t just a spinoff; it’s an experiment in genre-bending that could change how we view comic book villains forever.

  • James Gunn Seemingly Confirms a Surprising Hero Will Make His DCU Debut in ‘Peacemaker’ Season 2

    Recently, DC Studios co-chair and Peacemaker creator James Gunn has drawn parallels between how John Cena‘s Christopher Smith was able to move from an “in-between universe” into the DCU and his plans for Blue Beetle, who made his big-screen debut in 2023.

    “Peacemaker was always in a weird place. People say he was part of the DCEU but he wasn’t really,” said Gunn in an interview with Rotten Tomatoes.”He was part of this “in-between Universe” of DC when there was nobody really making sure that everything was connected and at a time when they were going to rewrite everything with The Flash.We were kind of able to do whatever we wanted and we had that brash ending, which I loved, it was one of my favorite things from the whole season, but it just didn’t fit in with the DCU. And Peacemaker, there’s hardly anything else that you need to change for him, he can slide very easily into the DCU, same with Blue Beetle. They just kind of fit in very nicely, we just have to retcon a couple of things,” the DC boss explained. And it seems as though heat have had Blue Beetle on his mind for a reason.

    In an additional portion of the Rotten Tomatoes interview, Gunn seems to all but confirm that Blue Beetle will appear in an upcoming episode of Peacemaker Season 2.

    After the interviewer shares his love for the character with Gunn and expresses his desire to see Blue Beetle appear in Peacemaker, a grinning Gunn “Well, you know, I won’t say you’re not in luck.”

    Given Season 2’s use of the Multiverse as a primary plot device, a number of options are in play, including following up on the disappearance of Ted Kord, the original Blue Beetle, that was mentioned in the 2023 film. Whatever the path, it’s certain that the film’s star Xolo Maridueña, who has been teasing his character’s DCU future, will play some role.

    New episodes of the second season of Peacemaker debut weekly on Thursdays on HBO Max.

  • ‘Peacemaker’ Season 2 Rumored to Retcon a Major Season 1 Appearance

    ‘Peacemaker’ Season 2 Rumored to Retcon a Major Season 1 Appearance

    Season 1 of Peacemaker ended with an idea so crazy, James Gunn didn’t think he’d get away with it. John Cena‘s Christopher Smith mocked the Justice League often in the first season of the streaming series, including accusing Jason Momoa‘s Aquaman of fucking fish, so when the heroes showed up following the sesson finale’s big battle, it was a fantastic surprise for fans and it gave hope that DCEU would expand…but we know how that turned out.

    With an all-new, all-different DCU already on the way before the Justice League cameo, fans wondered how Gunn would work the now defunct heroes into the “new canon.” The short answer is that he didn’t, even though the rest of the first season of Peacemaker will remain integral to the new continuity. Gunn explained that the integration of Season 1 of Peacemaker into the DC would be “pretty straightforward, with the exception of the appearance by a certain group at the end,” though he never explained how it was that Smith and the audience would forget what they had seen. Now, a new rumor clarifies that dilemma.

    According to prolific social media scooper My Time To Shine Hello, the Justice League cameo is retconned before Season 2 of Peacemaker actually begins in earnest.

    “The first episode of Peacemaker Season 2 opens with ‘Previously in the DCU,’ claimed MTTSH. “It’s mostly all season 1 footage, but there are a couple of changes. Danielle Brooks’ character now talks about calling in the Justice Gang, and they reshot the Justice League cameo from the finale,” potentially revealing Gunn’s plan to follow up on the success of Superman by including the metahuman heroes who worked alongside Kal-El to defeat Lex Luthor…oh, plus one major addition.

    Instead of Superman, Wonder Woman, Aquaman and The Flash, the intro will reveal Smith meeting with the Justice Gang AND Milly Alcock’s Supergirl. “Now, it’s Mister Terrific, Superman, [Guy Gardner], Hawkgirl, and Supergirl (all but [Green Lantern] and Hawkgirl are in shadow),” claimed MTTSH, revealing that the Maiden of Might will likely join the team at some point…when she’s not hammered.

    With under two weeks until the streaming premiere of Peacemaker Season 2 on. August 21st, it’s very possible that MTTSH has delivered solid intel as screening packages for the series have likely been sent out to select members of the media.

  • DC Studios ‘Booster Gold’ Starting from Scratch with New Writer Penning Pilot

    DC Studios ‘Booster Gold’ Starting from Scratch with New Writer Penning Pilot

    After losing its original and still unknown screenwriter, the Booster Gold streaming series seemed dead in the water at DC Studios. It turns out that is not the case, however, as the studio has brought on a new writer to take a crack at the pilot.

    According to Deadline, David Jenkins (Our Flag Means Death) has taken over duties on cracking the code and, if DC Studios co-chairs James Gunn and Peter Safran are happy with his take on the pilot, the plan is for him to take on showrunner duties on the series.

    Described in 2022 by Safran as a “loser from the future who uses his basic future technology to come back to today to pretend to be a superhero“, Michael Jon Carter isn’t one of DC Studios household names but has been a character Gunn has been locked in on since putting together DC Studios Chapter One: Gods and Monsters slate. Though there had been rumors that Kumail Nanjiani had landed the role of Carter, no official word has ever come on the matter.

    The goal from the beginning was to give the honor that the great characters deserved; the Wonder Womans, Batmans, and Supermans. But then also to prop up these lesser-known characters like Peacemaker, Booster Gold, and The Huntress.

    -James Gunn

    The series was initially described as an “outright comedy” and Gunn described the story of the time-displaced 25th Century hero as “imposter syndrome as a superhero.” How do you deal with that?”, asked Gunn, who added that the series will focus on how Carter “tries to use this future technology to be loved by the people of today and what is really at the base of that.”

    Source: Deadline

  • DC Studios Casts Ulrich Thomsen as Classic Legion of Doom Villain

    DC Studios Casts Ulrich Thomsen as Classic Legion of Doom Villain

    First introduced in ABC’s Challenge of the Superfriends in 1978, the Legion of Doom has since appeared across multiple mediums and become a staple of supervillainy for DC. Originally assembled by Lex Luthor, the Legion consisted of 13 baddies from the rogues galleries of Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, Flash and Green Lantern.

    Over the years, different iterations of the team have added and subtracted members and grown the roster beyond the original 13. In any case, the group represents a sinister and serious threat to heroes of the DC Universe. And while it may be years down the road, there’s some chance that the all-new DCU might bring the characters together on the big screen for the first time.

    With Nicholas Hoult already on board as Lex Luthor in Superman, a second key member of the Legion of Doom is now confirmed to be on the way as well. According to a trade report, Banshee and The Blacklist star Ulrich Thomsen has joined Lanterns as Sinestro.

    In Lanterns, it seems Thomsen will be playing the charactsr as “a former Green Lantern who turned rogue and is described as ruthless yet undeniably charming. Sinestro’s manipulative nature drives his enduring obsession with his former mentee, Hal Jordan.” Traditionally, Sinestro has been Jordan’s mentor, making the DCU’s take a fresh one that could provide some unique narrative opportunities.

    Said to play “a really big role leading us into the main story” of DC Studios’ Chapter One: Gods and Monsters, Lanterns was created by what DC Studios’ co-chair James Gunn described as “a crack team of writers” that consists of Tom King, Chris Mundy and Damon Lindelof and was ordered straight to series by HBO in 2024.

    John Stewart and Hal Jordan are two of DC’s most compelling characters, and Lanterns brings them to life in an original detective story that is a foundational part of the unified DCU we’re launching next summer with Superman.

    -James Gunn and Peter Safran

    Lanterns will revolve around Green Lantern Corps members Hal Jordan and John Stewart finding an “ancient horror on Earth.” Kyle Chandler and Aaron Pierre were cast as Jordan and Stewart, respectively. Word is that Jordan will be a grizzled vet–which makes Chandler a great choice–and that Stewart, played by the up-and-coming Pierre, will be a new member of the Corps working with him as “supercops on Precinct Earth.” Nathan Fillion‘s Guy Gardner, who will debut in Superman, is also reportedly set to play a role in the series.

    We have a few other Lanterns peppered in there but this is really a terrestrial based TV show which is almost like True Detective with a couple of Green Lanterns who are space cops watching over Precinct Earth in it they discover a terrifying mystery that ties into our largest story of the DCU.

    -James Gunn

    Lanterns will begin production this year and is expected to release in mid-2026 on Max.

    Source: Deadline

  • The Ultimate List of What to Watch Before ‘Creature Commandos’

    The Ultimate List of What to Watch Before ‘Creature Commandos’

    The all-new DCU kicks off on December 5th when DC Studios’ animated streaming series, Creature Commandos, debuts on Max with a two-episode premiere. Created by DC Studios’ co-chair James Gunn, the series tracks a secret team of incarcerated monsters recruited for missions deemed too dangerous for humans. The seven-episode series stars Indira Varma as The Bride, Zoe Chao as Nina Mazursky, Frank Grillo as Rick Flag Sr., Alan Tudyk as Dr. Phosphorus, Maria Bakalova as Princess Ilana, Anya Chalotra as Circe,  Sean Gunn as GI Robot & Weasel, David Harbour as Frankenstein and Viola Davis as Amanda Waller. 

    Even though it’s the first project of the new DCU, recent comments by Gunn have made it clear that a pair of projects he created and directed prior to the birth of DC Studios are also canon to the new continuity…at least kind of.

    “I think of [The] Suicide Squad and Peacemaker as pretty unreliable memories of what happened in the DCU.”

    “Well, it’s whatever we mention in anything,” said Gunn while explaining what events from his DCEU projects should be considered canon to the DCU. “Listen, Peacemaker is pretty easy. Peacemaker season 1 is basically canon outside of the appearance of the Justice League at the end, which you’ll see something about that in Peacemaker season 2. [The] Suicide Squad is probably a little bit looser. We know that Rick Flag Sr. is angry because his son was killed by Peacemaker, so we know that situation happened in the past, we have something to refer to to think of what it might be like that that happened, but that exists as canon because it was mentioned in Creature Commandos, not necessarily because it existed in [The] Suicide Squad.”

    Though it may be a bit confusing, certainly nobody has thought about it more than Gunn and we’re willing to roll with the looseness for now. To that end, it sounds as though there’s a little homework to do before jumping into Creature Commandos. Even though the two-episode premiere is just a week away, you still have time to prepare by checking out the projects included in THE ULTIMATE LIST OF WHAT TO WATCH BEFORE CREATURE COMMANDOS!

    Tier One

    Tier One projects are the bare minimum, non-negotiable prep you’ll need to do to fully enjoy the latest, greatest project you’re going to watch. In this case, there are none of those.

    Tier Two

    The Suicide Squad (2021)

    Gunn’s first project for Warner Bros. Discovery, The Suicide Squad was released simultaneously in theaters and on HBO in 2021 while theaters were still bouncing back from the COVID-19 pandemic. It’s unfortunate that more people didn’t see it in theaters, or at all, because it’s a damn good movie despite working with a roster of characters most people hadn’t heard of before the film came out and probably still don’t know.

    As Gunn pointed out, Frank Grillo‘s Rick Flag Sr. has a massive chip on his shoulder as a result of the events in this film. There are also plenty of other references to The Suicide Squad in Creature Commandos and at least one other member of the squad may make a surprise appearance at some point. However, there’s enough exposition in Creature Commandos to help catch up the uninitiated which means The Suicide Squad is not a must watch…just a should watch.

    Peacemaker, Season 1 (2022)

    Spinning out of the events of The Suicide Squad, Season 1 of Peacemaker picks up right where the film left off. Recovering from injuries that should have killed him, John Cena‘s Christopher Smith finds himself working against his will for Amanda Waller’s A.R.G.U.S.. While the series will be (mostly) canon to the DCU, it’s hardly required viewing to enjoy and understand Creature Commandos. Outside of a brief appearance by series regular John Economos, voiced by Steve Agee, and a reference or two to the events of Season 1, Peacemaker is really just going to help you understand Amanda Waller a bit more and why A.R.G.U.S. is in the position it’s in.

    Source: Collider