The DC Connected Universe (The Batman 2 Delayed a Full Year to October 2026)

WyldeMan wrote:Flash $4.5 million Friday, down 82% from last Friday and 4th place for Friday. Disastrous second weekend.

UltimateMarvel wrote:

WyldeMan wrote:Flash $4.5 million Friday, down 82% from last Friday and 4th place for Friday. Disastrous second weekend.

It's bombing hard! lol As a kid, I always dreamed of a Flashpoint movie and never thought it would ever be made. Now it's here and to see it fail, it just blows my mind. In a different universe, this movie could have made $300 million easily with the right actor and circumstances.

WyldeMan wrote:To think, Flash was supposed to be the most promising movie coming out of DC this year. James Gunn was touting it endlessly as being on the same level of The Dark Knight and now after this failure he looks like a jackass to all his bosses, even if it does predate his time there.

Next up is The Blue Beetle but given the three straight failures in a row for DC, things aren't looking too promising.

We can't forget what's still coming down the pipeline either as Aquaman 2 went through something like 37 different sets of reshoots and has had approximately 114 different cuts that have been shown to over the last year and none of the test audiences have seemed to care much about it.

Until Superman Legacy, we aren't going to know anything about the future of DC but as of right now, the next few years look bleak.

UltimateMarvel wrote:

WyldeMan wrote:To think, Flash was supposed to be the most promising movie coming out of DC this year. James Gunn was touting it endlessly as being on the same level of The Dark Knight and now after this failure he looks like a jackass to all his bosses, even if it does predate his time there.

Next up is The Blue Beetle but given the three straight failures in a row for DC, things aren't looking too promising.

We can't forget what's still coming down the pipeline either as Aquaman 2 went through something like 37 different sets of reshoots and has had approximately 114 different cuts that have been shown to over the last year and none of the test audiences have seemed to care much about it.

Until Superman Legacy, we aren't going to know anything about the future of DC but as of right now, the next few years look bleak.

100% All our hopes are now on Superman Legacy, how very fitting.

With The Flash not proving to be the box office savior Warner Bros. was anticipating, the pressure on new DC Studios’ heads James Gunn and Peter Safran has increased exponentially.

And that, in turn, means increased weight on Superman: Legacy, the inaugural movie from Gunn and Safran. And it may not get any weightier than casting the right actor to play Clark Kent/Superman and his romantic and professional foil, Lois Lane.

Gunn, who is writing and directing the feature, held screen tests the weekend of June 17 on the Warners lot in Burbank and the process has been kept in a lead-lined box as Gunn shows the assembled cuts to a deciding committee of executives, Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav among them. Despite the secrecy, some details have emerged even as the final choice has not.

Gunn, according to sources, assembled three actors and three actresses for Superman and Lane, respectively, and on Saturday, the first day of the testing, the actors were seen in predetermined pairs: Nicholas Hoult and Rachel Brosnahan; Tom Brittney and Phoebe Dynevor; and David Corenswet and Emma Mackey. They were given several scenes to film, in which the males were in makeup and wardrobe as Daily Planet reporter Kent while the females were plucky journalist Lane.

Then on Sunday, Hoult, Brittney and Corenswet did another series of screen tests, this time in costume as Superman. Interestingly, only Mackey was brought in that day to portray Lane opposite the actors.

Sources caution that just because Mackey segued into the second day does not mean she is the front-runner for Lane, although it may be hard not to have that interpretation.

The search for Superman is a complex one. In Gunn’s back-to-basics version, any choice has to be able to play the part of someone who is credibly a farmboy from Kansas, a reporter at a big city media outlet, and the Man of Steel, able to leap tall buildings in a single bound.

The search brings back memories of the testing for the lead in 2011’s infamous Green Lantern, in which actors had to play cocky pilot Hal Jordan and a mask-wearing space cop from the Green Lantern Corps. The casting came down to Ryan Reynolds and Bradley Cooper but the lynchpin was the mask. Some inside the studio preferred Cooper but he fared poorly in the superhero costume tests. The same situation is very likely playing out on Superman.

Gunn had an assembled cut of the screen tests by Wednesday to show to Warners brass. A decision could come this week.

And once the decisions on Kent and Lane are made, Gunn will quickly pull the trigger on next wave. Sources say there is also a shortlist for villain Lex Luthor (siblings Alexander and Bill Skarsgard have been mention as being on it and it’s not clear whether Hoult, who was initially wanted for the part before deciding to try for Kent/Superman, would put himself in the running again.) There are also other heroes to cast, such as members of a supergroup named The Authority; part of the new storyline is Superman joining a world in which superheroes already exist.

Gunn hopes to have Superman: Legacy before cameras in early 2024 in time for a July 11, 2025 release. The movie is an attempt to kickstart a whole new movie slate based on the DC characters after two attempts in the last dozen have fizzled due to various factors, box office failure and changes in studio ownership, among them. Warners is in the process of releasing the last three movies made by the previous regime. Flash, which was internally considered the best of the bunch and, backed by high test screening scores, pre-ordained a success) unexpectedly cratered theatrically. Box office expectations are not sky-high for Blue Beetle, which opens in August and stars Xolo Maridueña, who will carry on in the new Universe. Meanwhile, observers are wondering if Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom, which opens in December, can match the $1.1 billion high from the original, released five years ago, an achingly long time to wait in the superhero movie world.

Superman will have a  year and a half theatrical break between the previous regime’s movies but Gunn and Safran know not only do they have to nail Superman down as a blockbuster on its own terms, they have to put their best foot forward to generate enthusiasm and a hit for the movies and shows that come after.

UltimateMarvel wrote:May the best actor/actress win! I think Hoult will get the role out of these choices. From his past roles, he can play the Clark Kent farm boy aspect easily. While he's played superhero roles before, I think Superman is going to require a bit more. But I can see it, he's got it in him.

For Lois, I've only seen Mackey in Death in the Nile and she was great in that.

Following months of audition tapes and in-person screen tests, Warner Bros and DC Studios have their new Clark Kent and Lois Lane. David Corenswet has been set to play Superman while Rachel Brosnahan are on board to play Lois Lane in James Gunn’s Superman: Legacy.

The decision comes after the two were among the few selected to test in front of DC co-chairs Peter Safran and Gunn (who is directing) in full costume and makeup for the parts.

The tests took place over two days with the men; one of the days saw the three actors in full Superman attire. Sources close to the situation said that each actor had closed test deals that would expire after two business weeks, so clearly all parties wanted this sorted out before a potential SAG-AFTRA strike, which could go into effect at midnight June 30.

Warner Bros has yet to say whether it will be attending next month’s Comic-Con in San Diego, so there is still a chance the two could be introduced at the studio’s Hall H panel. That said, if there is a SAG-AFTRA strike, Corenswet and Brosnahan could not attend as strike guidelines state no actors can promote any projects during a strike.

The Superman: Legacy casting process has gone on for months, with Safran and Gunn wanting a thorough search to find the new leads for this new franchise. With the two roles now locked up, Gunn will now look to fill the shoes of Superman’s arch-nemesis Lex Luthor as well as other supporting characters like Kent’s friend Jimmy Olsen.

The project was announced earlier this year when Gunn and Safran laid out their plan for the first phase of this revamped slate and Superman: Legacy was front and center as the project that would help launch this strategy. That presentation also included plans for a new Batman pic, Batman: The Brave and the Bold, which recently tapped Andy Muschietti to direct; and The Authority.

For Corenswet, the film will mark his first major leading role in a major studio film having previously appeared in projects like Pearl, The Politician and We Own This City. From the start, his name has floated to the top and, following that final audition, sealed the deal on the biggest role of his career so far.

Brosnahan is coming off the final season of her career-making role in Amazon’s The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, which has earned a number of accolades including an Emmy win. She also has been at the top of the list of woman to play Lois Lane following what many have described as the best audition of the process.

WyldeMan wrote:Based on the names testing, I'd go Corenswet for Kent and Brosnahan for Lane. I always see Hoult as Beast, not a leading man let alone Superman. I only know Corenswet from Pearl and while I never once thought "Hey, he'd make a great Clark Kent!" I think he has the right look for the part though he'd have to bulk up significantly.

Two of the Skarsgard brothers are on the list for Luthor but I wouldn't cast either in this role. Hoult seems like a better fit for Luthor to me.

WyldeMan wrote:Well damn, James Gunn apparently had the same intuition as me....

UltimateMarvel wrote:

WyldeMan wrote:Based on the names testing, I'd go Corenswet for Kent and Brosnahan for Lane. I always see Hoult as Beast, not a leading man let alone Superman. I only know Corenswet from Pearl and while I never once thought "Hey, he'd make a great Clark Kent!" I think he has the right look for the part though he'd have to bulk up significantly.

UltimateMarvel wrote:Hoult can still play Lex and I mentioned this before as well.

joey con carne wrote:Box Office Mojo is saying The Flash has made about $262mm worldwide on a budget Collider says was $200mm plus another $65mm in advertising. How reliable is Collider, by the way?

Judging from those numbers, it's safe to say The Flash was a complete disaster for Warner Brothers. I wonder if the movie really is total shit or if Ezra Miller's behavior had anything to do with this.

UltimateMarvel wrote:I just watched Guardians Vol 3 last night too and I liked it. Rocket's backstory was dark and sad, I had no idea that was his origin story. Explains why he is how he is.

UltimateMarvel wrote:I just watched Guardians Vol 3 last night too and I liked it. Rocket's backstory was dark and sad, I had no idea that was his origin story. Explains why he is how he is.

Rusty wrote:

UltimateMarvel wrote:I just watched Guardians Vol 3 last night too and I liked it. Rocket's backstory was dark and sad, I had no idea that was his origin story. Explains why he is how he is.

Isn't Guardians a Marvel product?

WyldeMan wrote:Did you catch Linda Cardellini as the voice of Rocket's tragic friend Lylla?

WyldeMan wrote:I knew Rocket had a tragic origin but that shit got dark. 

Gunn likes making children cry....

UltimateMarvel wrote:I was disappointed with Adam Warlock though. Will got jacked for the role and I expected him to have a bigger role but he became a joke of a character. He's a strong character that deserved better treatment. Maybe we'll see him again in the future.

WyldeMan wrote:This was Rocket's movie, I didn't have any expectations for Warlock so I wasn't disappointed. 

It seemed like Warlock will be with Rocket on future Guardians adventures now that he's in charge. Its just a bummer that the whole team other than Groot left him and Rocket's now leading a new crew of rejects.

UltimateMarvel wrote:

WyldeMan wrote:This was Rocket's movie, I didn't have any expectations for Warlock so I wasn't disappointed. 

It seemed like Warlock will be with Rocket on future Guardians adventures now that he's in charge. Its just a bummer that the whole team other than Groot left him and Rocket's now leading a new crew of rejects.

Yep. A movie with all of them would be fantastic!

WyldeMan wrote:Well you'll get Krypto and Superman in Lgeacy so you won't have to wait too long for the flying dog.

UltimateMarvel wrote:

WyldeMan wrote:Well you'll get Krypto and Superman in Lgeacy so you won't have to wait too long for the flying dog.

I was mainly referring to Rocket and Adam Warlock, I couldn't care less about the dog.

Warner Bros.’ Quest to Build a Better ‘Aquaman’ Sequel:
3 Reshoots, Two Batmans and Non-Stop Test Screenings

Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom is in uncharted waters, with the next several weeks potentially setting its course, for ill or good.

The sequel to Warner Bros.’ 2018 DC movie is coming off a round of reshoots that occurred in New Zealand in mid-June and involved stars including Jason Momoa and Patrick Wilson, according to multiple sources.

This is the third round of reshoots for the movie, directed by James Wan. That is almost an unprecedented number, even for a movie of this scale.

Lost Kingdom has faced several headwinds as it swims towards a Dec. 20 release date. It was postponed several times (it originally was due to bow in December 2022), and like its DC movie brother, The Flash, its making has now spanned three regimes at Warners.

The movie was greenlit under the Warners regime led by former film boss Toby Emmerich and his lieutenant, DC Films head Walter Hamada, as a sequel to Aquaman, which proved to be a surprise hit and stands as the highest-grossing DC movie of all time with $1.148 billion.

Principal photography wrapped in January 2022, but by summer, Emmerich was out (Hamada soon followed), both casualties of the merger that created Warner Bros. Discovery.

The movie was in the middle of post-production and beginning test screenings that summer. While a timeline is not clear, from summer 2022 to the beginning of 2023, The Lost Kingdom underwent two rounds of reshoots and held several uninspiring test screenings.

After one round of test screenings, new Warners film bosses Michael De Luca and Pamela Abdy got involved, as they were running point on DC until Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav could find a permanent DC boss to replace Hamada. Sources say that in the fall, Abdy took a strong creative stance and got involved in the editing of one cut. However, when that version tested, it scored lower than the previous version. That led to another round of reshoots.

Different visions of executives notwithstanding, it is unclear what the problems were, but one insider said the underlying issue of story clarity has been an ongoing concern.

Also at issue: Batman.

Hamada wanted Michael Keaton’s version of the character to be akin to Samuel L. Jackson’s Nick Fury in the Marvel movies — an elder statesman who could pop up in various films, including the now-shelved Batgirl, as well as The Lost Kingdom. But shifting release dates muddled things. At one point, The Lost Kingdom was set to open in March 2023, several months before Keaton’s return in June 2023’s The Flash. So in late July 2022, two months after Abdy and DeLuca took over Warners, Ben Affleck joined a round of reshoots as Bruce Wayne, to replace a scene Keaton shot. But then the movie was moved again, this time to after Flash, putting Affleck’s appearance in question. The latest cut of the film features neither version of the Dark Knight, according to sources, as new DC heads James Gunn and Peter Safran do not want to promise a movie universe that will not come to fruition nor tie it down excessively to past failures. “It was pretty chaotic,” said one source.

(And some of the chaos may not have been the studio’s or filmmakers’ fault. Some of the calendar moves were due to overloaded visual effects houses, a phenomenon that occurred during the pandemic and that affected both Flash and Lost Kingdom, causing a cascade of release date pushes.)

More test screenings of cuts occurred in February, and again in April. By this time, Safran, a producer on the first Aquaman as well as The Lost Kingdom, had become co-head of the newly-created DC Studios, along with Gunn.

It is unclear how Safran’s transition shifted the movie’s fortunes, if at all. Insiders say that the filmmakers were in the dumps by the seemingly never-ending post-production process and water-logged test scores. However, the skies may have cleared with the new reshoots.

Gunn is said to have weighed in on the most recent cut and the leadership approved a five-day shoot. Sources say the shoot went so well that Wan and company completed what they needed in only four.

And to some, the fact that Warners is willing to keep spending money to make the film better shows that the studio has faith in The Lost Kingdom. (In February, according to sources, the filmmakers of Blue Beetle, the other remaining DC movie that was made during the AT&T era and comes out in August, asked for two days of additional shooting but the studio turned them down. Safran had also been a producer on Beetle before his ascension to the executive ranks.)

Lost Kingdom is already an expensive production. It was greenlit at a $205 million budget and shot during the pandemic, which was a burdensome expense on tentpole productions. Additionally, every frame of the movie involves visual effects, another major cost. The reshoots have only raised that overall budget.

Lost Kingdom is the final movie of the DC Extended Universe, which launched a decade ago with Zack Snyder’s Man of Steel. It’s December release date approaches as Warners’ DC movies are flopping at an unmatched level. October’s Black Adam, March’s Shazam! Fury of the Gods (also produced by Safran) and last month’s The Flash were money losers in their theatrical runs. Though Gunn and Safran plan on rebooting DC films with Superman: Legacy, that title won’t be out until July 2025. No one wants another miss and there are questions as to how much bruising the DC movie brand can take.

The filmmakers and studio knows the value that smart post-production can bring. The first Aquaman was also facing turbulent waves and is said to have found its footing only in post, when a new ending was burnished and the movie tightened to a zipper two hours and twenty-three minutes.

As for Wan, he was upbeat when he spoke to THR in April as he continued to work on the film: “This movie has something to talk about [climate change], but it’s still a fun action-fantasy movie.”

James Gunn says the following actors will return in the DCU: 

• John Cena as Peacemaker 
• Viola Davis as Amanda Waller 
• Xolo Maridueña as Blue Beetle

He didn’t indicate if this was the full list of actors returning.

James Gunn clarifies that everything before ‘CREATURE COMMANDOS’ and ‘SUPERMAN: LEGACY’ is non-canon.

“Some actors will be playing characters they’ve played in other stories & some plot points might be consistent with plot points from the dozens of past DC projects.”

UltimateMarvel wrote:Is Creature Commandos a comic book or TV show?

Creature Commandos is an upcoming American adult animated television series based on DC Comics featuring the eponymous team. Produced by DC Studios and Warner Bros. Animation, it will be the first television series in the DC Universe (DCU). It focuses on a black ops team of monsters assembled by Amanda Waller. All seven episodes were written by James Gunn.

Frank Grillo stars as Rick Flag Sr. in the series, alongside Maria Bakalova, Indira Varma, Zoë Chao, Alan Tudyk, David Harbour, Sean Gunn, and Steve Agee. After Gunn and Peter Safran became co-CEOs of DC Studios in October 2022, Gunn began writing a new DCU television series that was revealed to be Creature Commandos in January 2023. Production on the series had begun by then and casting was underway. The cast was announced that April.

Creature Commandos will be released on the streaming service Max in 2024. It will be part of the DCU's Chapter One: Gods and Monsters.

These waters are getting choppy.

On the same day in mid-September that Warner Bros. dropped the trailer for its $215 million “Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom,” embarrassing documents from the Johnny Depp-Amber Heard defamation trial surfaced on Reddit, creating a new headache for the studio behind the film.

Depp fans paid the court fees for the release of documents from Heard’s therapist, Dr. Dawn Hughes. The raw notes, scribbled on a legal pad, were part of last year’s high-profile trial in which Depp largely prevailed. They describe a hostile “Aquaman” set where an allegedly intoxicated Jason Momoa dressed like Depp and pushed to have Heard booted from the role of aquatic superhero Mera.

“Jason said he wanted me fired,” the notes say. “Jason drunk — late on set. Dressing like Johnny. Has all the rings too.”

A rep for Momoa declined comment, but a DC spokesperson pushed back on Heard’s characterization, saying, “Jason Momoa conducted himself in a professional manner at all times on the set of ‘Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom.’” Others echoed that sentiment. “Jason works his ass off, likes to have a beer once in a while like everyone, but doesn’t show up drunk to set,” says an insider who was on the London set in 2021, adding that the two stars got along and were seen joking together. “And he isn’t dressing like Johnny Depp. He has always dressed in that bohemian style.”

Heard declined comment, but a source close to the actress confirmed that the notes refer to the “Aquaman 2” set and reflect a session from Dec. 27, 2021. Another source close to the actress says her lawyers fought the release of the therapy notes, which had been subpoenaed by Depp’s attorneys during discovery.

Momoa wasn’t the only “Aquaman” principal to land in the crosshairs. The therapy session also painted a picture of Heard feeling unsupported by the film’s director, James Wan, and treated like a pariah because of her high-profile legal battle with her ex-husband.

“He raised his voice @ me — ‘I can’t even post about Aquaman’ — made it like it was my fault – I said ‘I’m sorry,’” say Hughes’ notes in reference to Wan. “Nobody could take selfies with me on set given blackout.”

Wan declined comment. The DC spokesperson says, “James is known for treating members of his cast and crew with the utmost respect and for fostering a positive, collaborative environment on set — the ‘Aquaman’ films were no exception.”

And yet Heard was nearly fired, sources on both sides tell Variety. Following “Aquaman’s” release in 2018, the studio and Wan decided to drop the actress from the sequel due to her lack of chemistry with Momoa and sent a letter to her attorney, Karl Austen, informing him of its decision. (Former DC Films boss Walter Hamada testified in the defamation trial about the “issue of chemistry.”) Those sources underscore that the move to bounce Heard was unrelated to Depp and took place before he filed suit against the actress in 2019. Likewise, Momoa was not involved in the decision-making. But another source pushed back on the lack-of-chemistry narrative, noting that Heard did a chemistry test with Momoa before landing the role of Mera and beat out two other actresses who did a similar chemistry test, including Abbey Lee.

Ultimately, the studio never pulled the trigger on firing Heard because her former boyfriend, Elon Musk, had one of his litigators send a “scorched-earth letter to Warner Bros. threatening to burn the house down” if the actress wasn’t brought back for a sequel, says a source familiar with the behind-the-scenes battle. Warner Bros. caved and moved forward with Heard. (Musk did not respond to a request for comment.)

The drama is being rehashed at a time when DC Entertainment toppers James Gunn and Peter Safran are poised to close the book on the previous regime’s superhero slate with the Dec. 20 release of “Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom.” Since Warner Bros. chiefs Pam Abdy and Mike De Luca joined the studio in June 2022, followed by Gunn and Safran’s entrance four months later, the four have been saddled with DC duds they inherited, including this year’s “The Flash” ($271 million worldwide) and “Blue Beetle” ($128 million worldwide).

Still, the “Aquaman” sequel held promise considering that the character’s first outing earned $1.15 billion worldwide, becoming the highest-grossing DC movie ever. But sources say the sequel has endured challenges outside of the Heard saga and was testing in the 60s before being recut in the summer of 2022. Despite the overhaul, the film continued to test in the 60s, prompting a new cut. “The movie is like this echo of regimes,” says one insider. “It’s the last remnant of the Snyderverse, and no one really wants to take ownership of it.” Reshoots took place right up until this year’s WGA strike in May. The on-set source disputes the idea that “Aquaman 2” is troubled, noting that the film was on time, under budget and needed only about a week of reshoots.

Like “Flash,” “Aquaman” can’t shake its lame duck trappings, with the DC universe getting overhauled under new leadership, marking Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav’s top priority.

In fact, none of the stars cast by Zack Snyder for 2016’s “Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice” and 2017’s “Justice League” — including Ben Affleck, Henry Cavill, Gal Gadot, Ezra Miller and Momoa — will reprise their roles in the new DC universe in character. Momoa may return, just not as Aquaman. Sources say the actor has engaged in talks to play Lobo, either in the 2025 reboot “Superman: Legacy,” written and directed by Gunn, or in a standalone film. In a confusing twist, Viola Davis, who played Amanda Waller in both of the recent “Suicide Squad” movies, will remain as that character in the Gunn-Safran DC universe in next year’s Max series “Waller” and possibly in the new “Superman” tentpole. Another outlier is Gunn’s Max series “Peacemaker,” which will be back for a second season with John Cena in the lead.

Meanwhile, there has been some confusion on the series front about who is the ultimate gatekeeper. Unlike the Marvel-Disney relationship in which Marvel controls the creative process and Disney+ merely releases the content, Max is creatively involved with the DC slate. Gunn and Safran don’t enjoy the same autonomy as Marvel’s Kevin Feige. (A Max source says the collaboration between the DC team and Max executives Sarah Aubrey and Casey Bloys has been seamless, including on the upcoming series “The Penguin,” which was forced to shut down production after the WGA strike began but is expected resume shooting as soon as the SAG-AFTRA strike ends.)

Regardless, some on the lot are convinced that another company, most likely Universal, will buy Warner Bros. within two years, making recent DC subplots and upheavals feel quaint.

“The bottom line is they need to get DC to work whether Zaslav owns it, whether Brian Roberts owns it, whether somebody else owns it,” says LightShed’s Rich Greenfield, a Wall Street analyst and venture capitalist.

In the runup to the “Aquaman” sequel, Warner Bros. will outwardly back the film and hope for a China release like its “Barbie,” “The Flash” and “Shazam! Fury of the Gods” received. After all, the first “Aquaman” earned nearly $300 million in China alone. But those types of China numbers are a thing of the past. Neither “Barbie” nor “The Flash” landed anything close to “Aquaman’s” Middle Kingdom haul from 2018, earning $35.1 million and $25.9 million there, respectively.

For now, neither Momoa nor Heard will be promoting the film given the ongoing SAG-AFTRA strike. But if the strike ends soon, now that the WGA has come to terms, the stars will be junketing, making it difficult for Warner Bros. and Wan to avoid Heard’s accusations that her role was significantly cut. At least two Heard scenes were cut from “Aquaman 2” — an action sequence that found Mera fighting Black Manta (Yahya Abdul-Mateen II) and a love scene with Momoa — according to individuals familiar with the production. Other evidence of friction is hiding in plain sight. This summer, Momoa unfollowed Heard on Instagram. One source says he even blocked Heard from following him.

Turmoil aside, the sequel might just work at the box office. The first “Aquaman” also was ho-hum in early testing and found its footing in postproduction. A studio source says “Aquaman 2” is following a similar trajectory. Early tracking shows strong interest and puts the film’s opening on par with the first “Aquaman.”

“Everybody’s down on DC, but there is a chance, especially with the limited competition during the holiday season, that ‘Aquaman’ could still play like gangbusters because of lack of product,” says Jeff Bock, a box office analyst with Exhibitor Relations. “Sometimes the right film at the right time is all you need.”

Source: Variety

James Gunn and Peter Safran’s slate of DC movies continues to move forward.

Ana Nogueira, the actress and playwright who is now making forays into screenwriting, has been tapped to pen Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow, a standalone feature centered on the Kryptonian cousin of Superman being developed by DC Studios.

No director is attached and Nogueira’s deal only recently closed.

The project is actually a redo for Nogueira. The writer was quietly hired to pen a Supergirl movie in 2022 when Warner Bros. was developing the project as a spinoff of The Flash, then in post-production. Flash featured Sasha Calle as the heroine and the hope was to launch another DC film franchise.

Those hopes were seemingly dashed when Gunn and Safran were brought in to oversee a reorganized DC arm. That project was tossed as the new execs focused on creating a brand new slate, separate from former DC Films boss Walter Hamada’s vision. Early this year, Supergirl was revealed to be part of that slate as a project without any connection to the Flash movie. Rather it was now connected, in title and story, to a comic book mini-series written by Tom King that was published in 2021 and 2022 and sought to redefine the character as something more than just a girl version of Superman.

“Superman is a guy sent to Earth and raised by loving parents, where Supergirl in this story, she is a character raised on a chunk of Krypton,” Gunn explained in a video released on Twitter at the time. “She watched everybody around her perish in some terrible way, so she’s a much more jaded character.”

The comic featured Kara Zor-El, aka Supergirl, who, along with superdog Krypto, gets caught up in a young alien girl’s galaxy-spanning revenge quest. DC Studios is keeping the project’s plot under wraps.

Gunn and Safran liked the work Nogueira had done on the previous Supergirl project and quietly brought her back, even giving her an overall DC writing deal.

Nogueira may be best known for a stint on CW’s The Vampire Diaries, with acting credits including The Michael J. Fox Show and the recent Starz series Hightown. But she has also built a thriving writing career. Her play Which Way to the Stage debuted off-Broadway in 2022 and she is working on an adaptation of author Alice Sola Kim’s short story Mothers, Lock Up Your Daughters, set up at Warners with 21 Laps producing.

Mind Behind Peacemaker Already Working On Another New DC Series

James Gunn is adding yet another project to his plate. The filmmaker and writer is joining the team behind the upcoming Booster Gold series.

The news comes from a recent installment of The Hot Mic Podcast, during which the show’s host revealed that Gunn is joining director Jody Hill (Peacemaker) and will “possibly” pen a handful of episodes.

While an official announcement has yet to be made, with Gunn’s current vision for the struggling DC universe, it wouldn’t be too hard to imagine him getting involved with another project.

Introduced back in the mid-‘80s, Booster Gold is a flamboyant time traveler from the 25th century. He’s best known in the DC Comics universe known for his love of fame and glory.

Created by Dan Jurgens in 1986, Booster, whose real name is Michael Jon Carter, was initially a disgraced college athlete who, in a desperate bid to reclaim his lost fame, stole advanced technology and a time machine, journeying to the 21st century. There, he reinvents himself as a superhero by leveraging his future knowledge and technology to fight crime, albeit with a keen eye on self-promotion and sponsorship deals.

Should James Gunn step in to pen any of the scripts for the Booster Gold series, audiences could expect a similar tone to that of Peacemaker, which Gunn also wrote.

While James Gunn’s involvement in Booster Gold is welcome news for fans, his following shouldn’t get their hopes up just yet. Having taken over DC Studios at the end of last year with Peter Safran, Gunn has been busy shifting and molding the failing comic-to-film universe. This year alone has seen a multitude of box office flops, including Shazam! Fury of the Gods, The Flash, and Blue Beetle. All of these movies received less than savory reviews from critics and didn’t rake in the cash that was expected.

Completely revamping everything that has marked the studio over the last decade, James Gunn and Peter Safran immediately got to work with their new vision for DC. While some decisions rubbed fans the wrong way, now that we’re a full year into the future, many slights, including the firing of Henry Cavill as Superman, have been let go. Moving in a new direction, Safran and Gunn have plenty of titles like Booster Gold coming out for audiences to sink their teeth into.

James Gunn is already busy with his film Superman: Legacy, which he’s hoping will bring new life to the story of a young Clark Kent as both its director and primary writer. Starring as Superman in the upcoming film will be Pearl actor David Corenswet, with The Marvelous Ms. Maisel’s Rachel Brosnahan joining as Lois Lane. Also included in the main cast are Nicholas Hoult as Lex Luthor, María Gabriela de Faría as The Engineer, Nathan Fillion as Green Lantern, and Skyler Gisondo as Jimmy Olsen.

Along with Superman: Legacy and Booster Gold, other projects set to come from Peter Safran and James Gunn’s DC Studios include The Batman Part II, a new Watchmen film, Justice League: Crisis on Infinite Earths, The Authority, The Brave and the Bold, and Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow. Stay tuned for more information on James Gunn’s future involvement in Booster Gold and more.

Yesterday evening, we shared some "verified" rumours from the r/DCEULeaks Reddit page. Now, with the news cycle grinding to a halt due to Thanksgiving (we hope you're all having a great day), we have a few "unverified" claims to help pass the time while you're waiting for that turkey to come out of the oven.

The biggest relates to DC Studios' upcoming Lanterns TV series. The character has been missing from our screens since 2011's Green Lantern but it's said the Max project will comprise 10 episodes, with Nathan Fillion set to appear in at least three of them as Superman: Legacy's Guy Gardner.

Here's the big news, though: Gen V star Patrick Schwarzenegger (the son of Hollywood icon, Arnold Schwarzenegger) is supposedly being eyed to play Hal Jordan. It doesn't sound like an offer has been made, though James Gunn did recently follow the actor on Instagram. Take that as you will.

As well as playing Golden Boy in The Boys, Schwarzenegger counts Scream Queens, The Staircase, and The Terminal List among his other credits.

It's added that the plan is for Lanterns to be the first DCU TV series to hit Max post-Superman: Legacy, an idea which makes sense with Gardner confirmed to appear in the reboot.

In the comics, Hal Jordan is one of Earth's Green Lanterns. A former military test pilot, he is now the protector of Sector 2814 and a founding member of the Justice League. Later in his history, he became a villain in the "Emerald Twilight" storyline after being left traumatised by Mongul's destruction of Coast City.

As "Parallax," he threatened to destroy the universe and killed many of his fellow Green Lanterns; however, a handy retcon revealed that Hal had been corrupted by the personification of fear that later powered the villainous Sinestro Corps.

In other DCU news, the same post claims that a Lobo movie is indeed in the works with Jason Momoa set to star as the Main Man. The project, which is supposedly a mix of the Western and sci-fi genres, will see Lobo hunting down a rogue Green Lantern, all while bonding with his daughter, Crush.

On the page, Lobo first appeared in Omega Men #3 and is an alien from the utopian planet of Czarnia who works as an interstellar mercenary and bounty hunter.

As always, you can let us know your thoughts on these possible Lanterns and Lobo updates in the comments section.

UltimateMarvel wrote:I had no idea that Patrick was Arnold's son until 2 weeks ago. I've never seen him before but he was great in Gen V. I think he would do well as Hal.

WyldeMan wrote:You thought there was another Schwarzenegger running around Hollywood that was not related to Arnold? I guess you could be forgiven since they really share no physical resemblance but still....

I've known about Patrick for a long time but I've only seen him in minor nothing roles until now. He's so much smaller than his father at that age.

Patrick might be an interesting choice for Hal Jordan.

UltimateMarvel wrote:Well, I didn't know his name but the last name is a giveaway. Also doesn't look like him either.

UltimateMarvel wrote:Yeah, there is some resemblance between the three.

Word on the street is that Ezra Miller has decided to drop his They/Them pronouns and wants to simply be referred to as He/Him. Ever since “The Flash” bombed in the summer, there hasn’t been much news about Miller. He’s supposedly now in an entourage with Hebrew rapper, Matisyahu and has been spending a lot of time at his Vermont-based goat farm. Keeping it low-key. I wish him the best of luck on this new path in life.