A new direction for DC’s heroes

Can Gunn pull together a new comic universe?

By Jake Coyle AP Film Writer

NEW YORK (AP) – New DC

Studios bosses James Gunn and Peter Safran debuted their plans for a revamped and newly unified DC Universe of films and television series, including a new Superman film in 2025, a Wonder Woman prequel and a Batman movie that won’t star Robert Pattinson.

In all, Gunn and Safran laid out plans for five new films and five new series in a presentation Tuesday that they said would constitute much of the first chapter – themed as “Gods and Monsters” – in an ambitious eight- to 10-year plan to reshape the DCU.

After years of fitful success and some much-maligned duds, Gunn and Safran are making their bid for some cohesion and fresh creativity in Warner Bros.’ comic book empire.

After a several inherited projects debut in the next two years – including “The Flash,” with Ezra Miller, which Gunn said “resets the entire DC Universe” – their slate will launch with “Superman: Legacy” on July 11, 2025.

Gunn is writing that film, which is described as about Superman balancing his Kryptonian heritage with his human upbringing. No casting has yet been announced, though Henry Cavill has departed the role despite a recent cameo in 2022’s “Black

Adam” – a sequel to which also isn’t part of Gunn and Safran’s plans despite Dwayne Johnson’s impassioned lobbying.

Who’s in and who’s out at DC has been the subject of much conjecture since October, when Gunn and Safran were named co-chairmen and co-chief executive officers of DC Studios. Among those making the cut: Viola Davis’ Amanda Waller, the Swamp Thing and a Batman and Robin film.

First, Robert Pattinson’s Batman will return in Matt Reeves’ “The Batman Part II,” opening Oct. 3, 2025. That film, though will lie outside the DCU and –like Todd Phillips 2024 “Joker” sequel – be labeled “DC Elsewhere” to signify that it stands outside the central, overlapping DC universe. Another Caped Crusader film, though, is coming at an unknown date: “The

Brave and the Bold,” a Batman and Robin tale inspired by Grant Morrison’s comic series.

Also coming is “Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow,” based on Tom King’s comics, and a big-screen standalone for the Swamp Thing. The all-women island birthplace of Wonder Woman will also be the setting of a drama series titled “Paradise Lost.”

Some series will mix animated and live-action interpretations of DC characters. The animated “Creature Commandos,” the first season of which was written by Gunn, features Davis’ Waller and a black ops team, while the live-action “Waller” will star Davis and be written by Christal Henry (“Watchman”) and Jeremy Carver (“Supernatural”). The planned series