Did You Hear? is a weekly examination of headlines in the entertainment industry and a take on what they could mean for the future of the industry and (often), the little geeky bubble that we occupy!
DC Films (with on release under its belt), Gives Update on Studio Projects
Superman is still on the horizon. James Gunn’s swing at the Big Blue Boy Scout doesn’t hit cinemas until July 11th of this year. Creature Commandos came and went at the end of last year and this week we got an updated slate with updates on some projects.
The previously announced James Gunn DC Films slate featured a lot of projects which had already been in [in]active development (the Themyscira streaming series, Lanterns, the long suffering Booster Gold series I will die happy if I ever get to see), before Gunn came aboard. With the exception of Creature Commandos there didn’t appear to be anything original.
Since that initial flurry of social media posts we’ve had sporadic announcements (that Teen Titans movie! HEY!), which have coalesced as follows according to Gunn and Peter Safran (DC Studios Co-Chief):
- “Gunn is deep in post-production on “Superman,” the first DC Studios movie”
- Gunn is “working on post on Season 2 of the Max series “Peacemaker.””
- “Director Craig Gillespie is halfway through production on the summer 2026 film “Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow” with Milly Alcock”
- “production has started on the Green Lantern HBO series “Lanterns” with stars Kyle Chandler and Aaron Pierre, which is aiming to debut in early 2026.”
per Variety
… with confirmation of the following:
- “initial slate of five films (including “Batman: The Brave and the Bold” and “The Authority”)” are still underway
- Along with “five TV series (including “Waller” and “Booster Gold”)”
- Including three animated series: Dynamic Duo, My Adventures with Green Lantern, and Starfire (the latter two announced earlier in the week)
YAY! BOOSTER GOLD!
Additional confirmations included “a handful of other projects, including”:
- “a film about the Batman villain Clayface”
- “a prospective live-action movie about the Teen Titans”
- “an animated series about Blue Beetle, and the future of the Sgt. Rock movie now that Daniel Craig has withdrawn from consideration for the title role.”
You’re reading that right. Our most recent James Bond, Daniel Craig, has sadly stepped down from Sgt. Rock. The news actually broke on February 19th and managed to fly under the radar. While there is no official reason given for Craig’s stepping away The Hollywood Reporter stated:
Reasons for Craig’s departure remain unclear. Some said the actor’s schedule ran into roadblocks with that of his wife, actress Rachel Weisz. Other sources said that the actor soured on the role after Queer failed to perform not only at the box office, but also in the awards season race.
There was clarity offered on this point:
“But, you know, we never met with Daniel,” Safran said. “He was just an idea.”
Craig aside, there is exciting talent associated with these projects including the previously announced Mike Flanagan on Clayface and Ana Nogueira scripting both Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow and Teen Titans. While no additional talent was revealed by Gunn or Safron. They did imply what appears to be a Marvel Studios-inspired dream release schedule:
Safran noted that DC Studios is ultimately aiming to release two live-action films and one animated film per year, and two live-action and two animated TV series per year.
Fans have latched on to this particular piece of information with the excitement of more-is-more. Personally, it gives me pause. Both the Marvel Cinematic Universe and the Star Wars Universe under the auspices of Disney copped to a similar release schedule across mediums (streaming television, network television, cinematic movies, animated home releases), which resulted in the quality of product to burn out bright and fast. This leaves me concerned about the high bar being set for the reinvention of DC Films.
… and yes, Gunn and Safron were smart enough to imagine such a comparison themselves:
This approach stands in pointed contrast with DC Studios’ obvious counterpart, Marvel Studios, which has quite famously announced many movies and their release dates without anything close to a finished script.
Although when the subject of The Batman 2 came up the point of “a finished script” was mentioned once more:
Safran offered a brief update of sorts on “The Batman Part II,” saying that writer-director Matt Reeves has “yet to turn in a full script, but what we have read so far is incredibly encouraging.” (Warner Bros. recently pushed the movie from 2026 to 2027.)
My concern bubbles up again with this contradiction.
Their plans are massive and span more than five years. The DC fan in me would love to see everything be successful. However, I can remember the last time exciting creatives got on a stage and laid out a plan with logos, writers, stars, and release dates attached to them. This is an approach we have seen garner mixed results across franchises – and arguably, poor results for DC specifically. In its previous incarnation film and television and comics were ardently separate. This approach, while sprawling, appears to be intentionally more cumulative. Stories feeding stories across platforms.
Considering Marvel Studios had to bring Daredevil over from another platform to boost the health of their series on Disney+ I wonder if the moment for interconnectivity has passed us as an audience.
Superheroes and superhero media are in an evolutionary moment right now. It will be interesting to see how the new DC Films navigates it.
