With the DC Universe just starting out, there are soon going to be many iconic roles up for grabs for the most talented performs in Hollywood, and an obviously important one is The Joker. We just saw Joaquin Phoenix play the part twice in recent years, and Barry Keoghan is taking on that special challenge in Matt Reeves' The Batman movies with Robert Pattinson, but the Batman side of the DCU is practically an open field (the big exception being Clayface). One imagines every actor in the industry is going to be angling for the opportunity... but what about Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3/Peacemaker's Chukwudi Iwuji?

The Nigerian-British actor has both cred in the world of superhero fiction and a close relationship with DC Studios co-CEO James Gunn, and he has thrown his hat into the ring to play The Joker in an interview with The Movie Dweeb. The subject comes up in the chat after Iwuji denies having any conversations about playing Brainiac in the upcoming Superman sequel Man Of Tomorrow, and he notes that he already has a very clear idea of how he would play the part. Said the actor,

(Without trying to step on his point, I feel I should mote that only one of the stories told by Heath Ledger's Joker about his scars involves his father, as his second "origin" is about a gambling-addicted wife he may or may not have had – but it's really the changing of the story that's most important to what the actor is saying).

But it's not just that complex kind of backstory as presented in The Dark Knight that appeals to the actor, as he also recalls being taken aback just watching the stair dancing scene in the trailer for Todd Phillips' Joker and recognizing that Joaquin Phoenix was working with a filmmaker excited to let the actor be free.

We've seen Chukwudi Iwuji play with an out-of-control ego playing the High Evolutionary in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, but he has a wholly different vision for the Clown Prince of Crime: inside the character would be a lot of pain and sadness, and his inability to see beyond it would put everyone around him in danger:

Clearly the answer to the question of "would he?" is "yes." But that just leaves us with the question of "could he?" – which is raised because of his memorable turn as Clemson Murn in Peacemaker Season 1. One might think that would be a conflict, but we've already seen actors play multiple roles in the DCU (including Sean Gunn and Michael Rooker), and there has already been some cherry picking in regard to what counts as canon from the first run of episodes and what doesn't. I don't get the sense that he would be disqualified from any conversation.

For now, the future for both the Joker and most things Batman-related in the DCU remains a mystery – though we do know that beyond the Clayface movie that has been dated for next year, there is also a The Brave And The Bold blockbuster that is set to be directed by Andy Muschietti. It should go without saying that when there is news to report in this arena of upcoming DC movie developments, you'll be able to find the info here on CinemaBlend.

Looking back at the biggest blockbuster winners of summer 2025, James Gunn's Superman is a title toward the top of the list. After the miserable run in 2023 that saw the petering out of the DC Extended Universe, the brand new DC Universe was launched on the big screen and earned both widespread acclaim and big numbers at the box office. Given this success, it has long felt inevitable that a sequel would get officially announced... but that makes me no less giddy this morning to see the upcoming DC movie get a title, a release date, and some amazing artwork theoretically teasing what we can expect.

James Gunn made the news of the Superman sequel official on his personal social channels, revealing that the next solo adventure for David Corenswet's Kal-El/Clark Kent will be in Man Of Tomorrow, which is now set on the release calendar for July 9, 2027. You can check out Gunn's Instagram post, featuring Lex and Supes artwork by the brilliant Jim Lee, below:

This is rather spectacular news when one considers the philosophy that DC Studios co-CEOs James Gunn and Peter Safran have espoused when it comes to announcing release dates. They have repeatedly promised fans that no title on the DC Universe slate will get scheduled for release until there is total confidence in the script that has been developed. Theoretically, the July 2027 weekend that Gunn just planted a flag in isn't a rushed effort to capitalize on the success of his hit 2025 blockbuster, but instead a suggestion that the franchise has a very clear idea of what story should be told with the character.

As for the Jim Lee art that accompanies the James Gunn announcement, you might think that I'd be jumping the gun thinking that it suggests that the sequel will feature Nicholas Hoult's Lex Luthor hopping into his warsuit to go toe-to-toe with Earth's favorite Kryptonian. But do you still think that I'm reaching when you see the different but similar piece by Mitch Gerads that Hoult posted on his Instagram?

And David Corenswet's post with artwork by Jorge Jimenez suggests that this simply can't be a coincidence:

In Superman, Lex Luthor has skilled heavies do his fighting for him, as he has María Gabriela de Faría's Angela Spica a.k.a. The Engineer and Ultraman by his side, but this imagery all suggests that Lex will be doing his own fighting in the new film.

With its July 2027 release date, Man of Tomorrow will most likely go into production next summer at the latest... which means that we have months ahead of us that will be filled with speculation about the story, what other characters will appear, and how it will fit within the slate of the DCU. You can be sure that we're going to be staying on top of all the biggest details, so be on the look out for all varieties of news and updates here on CinemaBlend.

While hype builds for the sequel, Superman is still playing in theaters around the country (it placed eighth in the box office Top 10 this past weekend), and it is currently available for digital rental/purchase from all major online outlets ahead of its 4K UHD/Blu-ray release later this month on September 23.

The key thing about James Gunn's Superman that makes it so great is its amazing understanding of its characters and what has made many of them popular for decades. All of the main and supporting players in the story are rich and multi-dimensional, and it's thusly no surprise that scene-stealing performances have led to spinoff talks. One key name in that conversation is Skyler Gisondo’s Jimmy Olsen, and if that project does end up happening, co-star Wendell Pierce wants in.

Whether you recognize his powerful rizz or see him as a "short king" (as actress Sara Sampaio puts it), Jimmy Olsen and his gifts as a ladies man went viral immediately following the theatrical release of Superman, and the popularity of the character immediately inspired talk of a TV show. As of right now, nothing is official and we don't truly know what the future holds for the character, but Wendell Pierce – who plays Perry White in the blockbuster – has seen the reports and imagines that such a project would surely have a role for him to play. Recently speaking with People, the Wire star remarked,

Pierce makes a good point. While a show centered on Jimmy Olsen could explore all aspects of the character's life, there's no getting around the fact that his employment at the Daily Planet is a key part. And even if the plot has him leave Metropolis on an assignment or go on vacation, he can't do either without at least one conversation with his boss, and that's Daily Planet Editor in Chief Perry White. At the very least, one would expect him to make an appearance in the pilot.

This kind of thing certainly has to be one of the big benefits for an actor signing on to a nascent franchise. There are no guarantees in Hollywood, but I imagine that playing a key supporting role like Wendell Pierce's in the growing DC Universe does provide at least some employment security, knowing that some arenas of the canon – like the newsroom of the Daily Planet – would seem off without their presence.

At present, it's unclear if a Jimmy Olsen series set in the DCU is actually going to move forward, but while we wait for official news on that front, there is plenty going on when it comes to upcoming DC TV projects. In addition to other shows in the works, the second season of Peacemaker is in the midst of rolling out episodes for HBO Max subscribers, and the HBO series Lanterns starring Kyle Chandler and Aaron Pierre completed production this summer in advance of a planned 2026 premiere.

When it comes to superhero movies, Patrick Wilson has built himself a rather cool legacy. He first dipped his toe in the genre playing Dan Dreiberg a.k.a. Night Owl II in Zach Snyder's Watchmen, and he also has the distinction of being one of the few actors with two different roles in the DC Extended Universe: he voices the president of the United States in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, and he plays Orm in the two Aquaman blockbusters. Given that history, could he potentially have a future in the blossoming DC Universe?

While nothing can be confirmed on that front, it at least can be said that conversations have been had about that possibility. Wilson has recently been doing interviews promoting the release of the upcoming horror movie The Conjuring: Last Rites, and he was asked by ComicBook.com about whether or not he has had the chance to talk about the DCU with DC Studios co-CEO James Gunn. The actor noted that while he has never met the Superman writer/director, he has worked closely with Gunn's co-CEO Peter Safran (who is a producer on the Conjuring franchise). And with that being said, he's not sure there is a whole lot more that he wants to "say" with Orm as a character:

In support of Patrick Wilson's point, audiences have seen his incarnation of Orm go through a full arc. In the first Aquaman, he is very much the villain, and after his plan to conquer the seas fails, he is thrown in prison. In Aquaman And The Lost Kingdom, the character is provided with a full redemption, and he partners with the titular hero to help save the world from a dangerous evil.

But what about other characters? Given that Jason Momoa is playing Lobo in the upcoming Supergirl, the door certainly seems open for that possibility – even as some DCEU carryover has been reflected in Peacemaker Season 2. Patrick Wilson says that he has talked about the possibility with Peter Safran, but for right now, he is looking to step away from the business for a minute:

The good news for Patrick Wilson is that the DC Universe is planning to be around for a while, so when he's ready, it will potentially be ready to give him an exciting part. As of right now, the only two movies on the immediate horizon are the aforementioned Supergirl and the R-rated Clayface, but there are a number of other projects currently in various stages of development.

On the Patrick Wilson front, audiences will next be able to see him in The Conjuring: Last Rites, which will be in theaters everywhere next Friday, September 5. And if you need a dose of the DCU immediately, Max subscribers can watch both Creature Commandos Season 1 and the debut episode of Peacemaker Season 2, and James Gunn's Superman just recently entered the home video market and is now available for digital rental/purchase from all major online outlets.

When the casting for the Superman movie was announced, I’ll admit I was concerned about how writer/director James Gunn would be able to introduce the new Man on Steel and have members of the Justice League involved. While I wouldn’t say the execution was perfect, I must say I was impressed with how invested I became in the supporting cast despite my feelings toward them walking into the release. There’s even one hero I want to see a spinoff ASAP for: Hawkgirl.

I Want More Of Isabela Merced’s Hawkgirl After Her Appearance In Superman

I’m already a huge Isabela Merced fan. She was amazing in The Last Of Us, and I also really liked her in a movie called Turtles All The Way Down. But I knew Superman had a packed cast, and didn’t necessarily have high hopes for what would come of her role as Hawkgirl. However, it’s been about two weeks since I watched Superman, and I’m still thinking about the impression she made on the movie.

Hawkgirl only had a few scenes, but she made the most of every one, and she’s got one of the best moments in the movie: when she drops Boravian president Vasil Ghurkos after announcing she’s “not Superman.” It was just enough of an introduction to Hawkgirl that I care about the character, and I want more. But when I looked over the list of upcoming DC movies on the way after Superman, I was disappointed to learn a Hawkgirl movie is not on the slate. What the heck?

I Know The Next Hawkgirl Appearance Is Lined Up, But I Need More Than That

Isabela Merced isn’t completely being left high and dry. It’s been confirmed she’ll be in Peacemaker Season 2, and Merced pointed out to ComicBook that she’ll specifically get to show Hawkgirl’s “relationship to Maxwell Lord”, played by Sean Gunn. But I’ll be honest, I’m tired of great female superheroes being left to the sidelines, especially when there’s a great opportunity to bring them into the spotlight. I’ve been wanting to see Hollywood adapt Hawkgirl’s story for ages, and I want it to finally happen with Merced’s version.

As Merced has shared, Hawkgirl has a “really dark” backstory, but James Gunn’s superhero movies have never shied away from some dismal stuff before. The filmmaker's power is how he can blend the two together. There have been a lot of iterations of Hawkgirl over the years, but her version is Kendra Saunders, who is a reincarnation of an alien. In the comics, her body was taken over by Hawkgirl after Kendra died by suicide (and her parents were also previously murdered by corrupt cops). She has all of Kendra’s memories, but almost none of the past Hawkgirl various iterations aside from fighting experience.

I’d also love to see Hawkgirl and Hawkman’s epic romance be adapted, but Merced also brought up how she’s a big fan of the Green Lantern romance in Justice League: Unlimited. There’s so much here to explore. Either way, I’m going to need DC Studios to get going on a Hawkgirl movie (or TV show), ASAP!

The second weekend at the box office was always going to be seen as a big test for James Gunn's Superman. Because of the title character's pop culture prominence, a solid opening at minimum was long expected (as reported last Sunday, it impressed with a $125 million start), but the sophomore Friday-to-Sunday is where a blockbuster shows its real colors: either it proves top heavy and fades fast, or hype and excitement stays strong.

Today, we can report that the first blockbuster from the DC Universe is in the latter category. While it didn't exactly pull off the same magic as Ryan Coogler's Sinners earlier this summer, the numbers are strong enough to generate smiles over at DC Studios today (though there certainly aren't going to be matching countenances reacting to the numbers for Chris Miller's Smurfs and Jennifer Kaitlyn Robinson's I Know What You Did Last Summer). Check out the full Top 10 below and join me after for analysis.

Superman Easily Wins The Box Office In Its Second Weekend And Crosses $400 Million Globally

Is a 54 percent weekend-to-weekend drop considered great? Not really. Ideally, a movie wants to be closer to 50 percent than 60 percent, and the DC Studios feature is on the right side of 55, but not by much. What can be said at the very least is that it's a confidence-building showing for the superhero genre, as the change is moderately better than the 56 percent fall by Jake Schreier's Thunderbolts* (a.k.a. New Avengers) in May and far better than the 68 percent sink that we saw Julius Onah's Captain America: Brave New World experience in February.

Superman added $57.3 million to its domestic haul over the last three days (per The Numbers), and that means it has earned $235 million to date. It continues to climb in the US/Canada rankings for 2025, and has already surpassed the total haul made by Captain America: Brave New World (the first Marvel movie of 2025 finished its theatrical run in the region making $200.5 million).

The James Gunn-written-and-directed feature is now ranked as the sixth highest box office earner of 2025 thus far, and it is presently only about $16 million behind Dean DeBlois' live-action remake of How To Train Your Dragon (which, as you can see from the chart, is still playing in wide release and added $5.4 million to its own total this weekend).

At this point, it seems very clear that Superman will ultimately climb to be among the Top 3 releases of 2025 when its time on the big screen comes to an end... but whether or not it will be able to climb any higher than that is not yet clear. If it wants to do that, it will basically have to double its current domestic ticket sales, as the rankings are topped by Jared Hess' A Minecraft Movie ($423.9 million) and Dean Fleischer Camp's Lilo & Stitch ($418.2 million – and still climbing).

The best news of all for Superman this week is apparent when one zooms out from the film's domestic performance and looks at how it is doing around the globe. The movie continues to do better in the United States and Canada than aboard, but the $165.9 million that the movie has made overseas means that the DC Studios blockbuster has become the latest 2025 movie to earn $400 million worldwide.

Superman is only the tenth film to reach that milestone so far in the calendar year, and it will soon pass Captain America: Brave New World in the rankings.

As far as the history of the Last Son Of Krypton on film, it can be said that the new release has now outgrossed Bryan Singer's Superman Returns from 2006 to become the fourth highest grossing title featuring the legendary superhero. Zack Snyder's Batman v Superman: Dawn Of Justice still tops the list, having made $874.4 million) during its time in theaters worldwide, and it's followed by Snyder's Man Of Steel ($668 million) and Snyder's Justice League ($661.3 million).

Of course, part of the reason why Superman did as well as it did this weekend is because the competition wasn't exactly overwhelming (more on that in a moment). How the film will perform up against Matt Shakman's Fantastic Four: First Steps – the upcoming Marvel blockbuster targeting the exact same audience – will be the true litmus test for the legs of the James Gunn feature as it hopes to have long-term success through August.

I Know What You Did Last Summer And Smurfs Fail To Distract From Superman's Dominance

If you study the movie release schedule for long enough, you can recognize certain patterns and familiar maneuvers. A classic is competing major studios clearly anticipating a certain blockbuster's success and opting to essentially get out of its way and let that success happen by putting a pair of mid-tier releases in its path.

This is what we saw play out this weekend with Superman, I Know What You Did Last Summer, and Smurfs: everyone and their mother knew that Superman was going to repeat at Number One this weekend, and so Paramount and Sony threw their newest titles into theaters with minimal expectations.

Looking at the weekend chart, you'll see that those minimal expectations were reached. As I basically predicted (and hoped against) in the conclusion of my I Know What You Did Last Summer CinemaBlend review, the slasher legacyquel had to settle for third place making $13 million, and the new big screen reboot of Peyo's most famous creation landed behind it making $11 million.

Those aren't particularly good results, but there is notable high potential in the long run: I Know What You Did Last Summer should be ready for the home video market just in time for the start of 2025's spooky season, and the Smurfs movies have always played better overseas than in the United States and Canada (of the $1.1 billion that the four Smurfs films have made worldwide, only $269.7 million has come from the domestic box office).

Looking into the future, I'll be back here on CinemaBlend next Sunday to analyze the big SuperFantastic showdown between Superman and Fantastic Four: First Steps, and the results should be fascinating. It will be a true battle between DC and Marvel, and I'm excited to see how things turn out.

The future of the DC Universe is looking bright for a lot of fans after James Gunn’s Superman stunned as the first entry for the superhero franchise reboot. Now, all eyes are on other upcoming DC movies and how other beloved heroes will be adapted. While the script for Robert Pattinson’s second outing as The Batman is in the can, that version of the character has been classified under Elseworlds. So, the hunt will be on for the main universe’s Batman eventually, and James Gunn just addressed a popular fan pick.

James Gunn Shares Thoughts On Alan Ritchson As Batman

Reacher actor Alan Ritchson has been the subject of Batman fan casting as of late, as we wait for the next Batman casting news. And when Gunn was a guest on the Happy Sad Confused podcast, he was naturally asked about his thoughts on the pick for the Caped Crusader. In his words:

Well, this is somewhat good news for fans who hope to see the actor in the cape and cowl. James Gunn is apparently already following his work and called himself a “big” fan of him, not only as an actor, but the man he is. Those are two important things that would heighten Ritchson’s chances of nabbing the part, but I think the Superman director left things open-ended for a good reason.

I note that because of what Gunn recently said about working on the DC Universe’s Batman. He’s still in the middle of cracking the latest version of the character. Last month, the Guardians of the Galaxy director said the character is his “biggest issue in all of DC right now” because “he’s incredibly important to the DC” and “has to have a reason for existing.” There have been so many iterations of the character over the years, so fans have already seen a lot of Batman. He doesn’t want it to feel like he’s making a Batman movie just because he’s incredibly popular, but because there’s a great new take for the comic book character.

So, I totally get why he won't directly comment on Ritchson's potential. However, I love that he loves the Reacher star.

What Alan Ritchson Has Said About Playing Batman

To move back to Alan Ritchson, the actor has definitely weighed in on playing Batman, considering apparently he gets “asked every day” about it. He's also so interested in playing the role that they “wouldn’t even have to pay” him. In another interview, he said he’d happily “shout” from the rooftops about his interest in taking on the role, also sharing that he loves that his superpower is intelligence and he wants to be “that guy.”

Plus, it doesn’t hurt that he loves sports cars and motorcycles like Batman does. Not to mention, Ritchson simply looks like a superhero and has the physique and work experience to play out the gritty action Batman tends to find himself in.

All that being said, James Gunn and his collaborators are still nailing down the script for the next Batman movie that’s not Robert Pattinson’s version. So, we’ll have to wait and see for a while before we officially meet the new Batman.

This year has seen the ushering in of a new era in the DC Universe. The DC Extended Universe came to an end in 2023 with the release of Aquaman And The Lost Kingdom, and with the arrival of Creature Commandos for HBO Max subscribers and Superman on the big screen has firmly launched the new DC Universe. It's a big change that compels one to be curious about the reaction of Zack Snyder, a key creative voice behind the DCEU... but he's not fully ready to comment yet. This is because he hasn't actually seen the new blockbuster from James Gunn yet – but his excuse would get the approval of Ma and Pa Kent.

Snyder is currently promoting the new Rebel Moon video game he has developed, and while speaking with Variety early last week, he was asked for his thoughts on Superman (which just had a massive opening weekend). It turns out that the filmmaker missed the film's debut in theaters, but it was because he was committed to family event:

It's a touch surprising that Zack Snyder didn't get an invite to see the film prior to its theatrical debut – but if you're wondering if there might be any bad blood here, history would suggest that's not the case. Twenty-one years ago, Snyder and James Gunn collaborated as director and screenwriter in the creation of 2004's acclaimed remake of Dawn Of The Dead, and they've remained in contact as the latter became the co-CEO of DC Studios and began rebooting the brand across film and streaming.

Back in February, James Gunn got some big reactions from the internet with a post on social media featuring him hanging out with Zack Snyder, and more recently, the two filmmakers joined forces for cameos in an episode of Rick And Morty that had them playing versions of themselves.

It's too bad that Zack Snyder hasn't seen Superman yet, but family comes first over movie-going expeditions. He'll hopefully get to see it soon, as it's a terrific cinematic experience – as I note at length in my four-and-a-half star CinemaBlend review.

For those of you curious what Snyder has been up to most recently in his post-DCEU career, you can check out Blood Line: A Rebel Moon Game, which is available to play with a Netflix subscription. And as for Superman, the film is looking to follow up its critically acclaimed arrival on the big screen this past weekend going up against competition from a trio of new releases: the legacyquel I Know What You Did Last Summer, the animated Smurfs reboot, and Ari Aster's dark comedy Eddington starring Joaquin Phoenix.

How does one go about establishing a big screen superhero continuity in the opening moments of a blockbuster? For James Gunn and the Gods and Monsters chapter of the DC Universe, the answer is with elegant use of the number three. Echoing the classic Star Wars scroll to an extent, on screen text in the opening scene in Superman offers a very brief timeline of the canon – from three centuries ago (when metahumans arrived on Earth), to three years ago (when the Man of Steel revealed himself to the world), to three minutes ago (when Superman loses his first ever battle).

It's a simple yet epic intro that quickly informs the audience about the history of the DC Universe. So how did it come together? We got the low-down from the writer/director/co-DC Studios CEO himself for you as Superman arrives in theaters this weekend.

The Number Three Isn't Specific; It's Just The Number That Happened To Fit Best

Given the repetition of the number three at the start of Superman, you may think that there is some kind of specific reason that number was chosen. Perhaps as a reference to the DC Trinity, a.k.a. Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman? CinemaBlend's own Jeff McCobb inquired about this when he had the opportunity to sit down with James Gunn last month during the Los Angeles press day for the new blockbuster – and the answer he got was unexpected: Gunn did take inspiration for the intro from a specific source, but there is no larger significance to the number choice. He explained,

As far as the "fit" goes, one figures that it was really just two of the points in the timeline that had to be specific. While it wouldn't matter if metahumans were discovered on Earth four centuries ago or if Superman lost his first battle six minutes before the opening scene, there is less flexibility when it comes to A) how long ago Superman arrived on Earth, and B) how long ago he introduced himself to the planet as the last son of Krypton. The title protagonist's age is reflected in the former, and his relationship with humanity is reflected in the latter.

This perhaps takes a touch of the creative magic out of the opening text, but it's a clean way to establish the world's timeline regardless.

More Than Just Providing Background On The DC Universe, It Instantly Tells The Audience About The Story That Is About To Be Told

On beyond providing an early dose of structure to the canon, those "three decades" and "three years" points on the timeline also do a nice job at the start of the movie informing the audience about what kind of Superman blockbuster they are about to watch. James Gunn explained that he wanted to make sure that there is nobody in the movie-going populace who is going to think that this is another rehash of the origin story, saying,

It was an easy call for James Gunn to avoid telling the classic Superman origin tale again... but what wasn't as simple was dropping audiences right into the middle of an extremely important moment in the character's life. The intro text also very quickly fills viewers in on an international crisis in which Kal-El has opted to interfere, and that's a lot to throw at an audience in the first few seconds of a film.

James Gunn explained that it wasn't easy to figure out how to execute his vision properly, but he's very satisfied with how it came out:

The end result is indeed an epic scene, and it's one that you can see for yourself right now. After years of waiting and development, Superman is now playing in theaters everywhere.

One of the most iconic superheroes of all time is undoubtedly the one who’s faster than a speeding bullet and able to leap tall buildings in a single bound. James Gunn’s Superman is highly anticipated amongst fans as the premiere film of the new DC Universe, and it’s about to hit the 2025 movie calendar. Many actors have portrayed the Man of Steel and his love interest Lois Lane over the decades, and now, critics have some strong opinions about how David Corenswet and Rachel Brosnahan take up the mantle.

The upcoming DC movie also stars Nicholas Hoult as Lex Luthor and Skyler Gisondo as Jimmy Olsen, among other big names, but it’s to be expected that much of the focus is on this iteration of Clark Kent and Lois Lane. In CinemaBlend’s review of Superman, Eric Eisenberg acknowledges the huge task on David Corenswet’s plate, while saying that Rachel Brosnahan provides a “pitch perfect dose of enthusiastic bullishness” to the Daily Planet reporter. He gives it 4.5 out of 5 stars, continuing:

While David Ehrlich of IndieWire thinks James Gunn spends too much time overcorrecting from the overserious Zack Snyder era, he thinks David Corenswet and Rachel Brosnahan are the “best Lois and Clark we’ve ever had.” While calling the actor’s portrayal of Clark Kent “golly gosh darn wonderful,” Ehrlich is particularly impressed with Brosnahan and wishes her character was more prominently featured. He gives the movie a C+, writing:

Tom Jorgensen of IGN gives the upcoming superhero movie a “Great” 8 out of 10, calling Superman a wonderfully entertaining, heartfelt cinematic reset and a great start for the DCU on the big screen. The critic continues:

David Rooney of THR has high praise for both lead actors, saying Corenswet brings such warmth to the role and Brosnahan’s Lois Lane rivals the most iconic portrayals. Rooney writes:

Owen Gleiberman of Variety agrees the chemistry between the actors is “riveting,” but he seems less excited overall for Corenswet’s take on Superman. Gleiberman says:

Richard Roeper of RogerEbert.com also says the lead actor is “effective” but falls short of Christopher Reeve and even lacks some of what we got from Henry Cavill. Overall, he compares the movie to an “empty-calorie Happy Meal,” saying the beastly elements feel like leftovers from Guardians of the Galaxy and the fight scenes are replicas from dozens of other superhero movies. The critic gives the movie 2.5 stars out of 4 and continues:

It sounds like critics are mostly enjoying David Corenswet’s take on the superhero, even if he doesn’t live up to the legendary Christopher Reeve. Rachel Brosnahan, as well, is drawing a lot of praise. So, if you want to catch Superman on the big screen, you can do so starting Friday, July 11.

It was nearly two full decades ago that Marvel Studios changed Hollywood with the launch of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and while that franchise continues going strong (with the next installment due out later this month), the landscape of the industry has greatly changed since 2008. There remains an appetite for superhero blockbusters, but the audience has been exhausted by the familiar – with various origin stories experimenting with different genres and visual styles but also sporting similar structures and plots.

So in this evolved landscape, how does one go about properly launching a new superhero universe in 2025? With Superman, writer/director/DC Studios Co-CEO James Gunn has found a brilliant answer: forget about plot, and just focus on story. Gunn is a trainer waiting by a treadmill that is already cranked up to full speed when you get to the gym, knowing that you already know how to run. The movie doesn’t so much build a universe as much as it drops you into one, and the adventure it takes you on is equal parts thrilling, emotional, dramatic, and joyful.

Best of all, while there have been more than a dozen Superman movies before and the films have been a dominant force in modern blockbusters, it nonetheless delivers an experience unlike anything we’ve seen before.

There are no origins in this movie to the point that we join this story as it is already in progress. Superman (David Corenswet) has stirred up controversy by intervening in an international conflict involving a heavily militarized nation invading a neighbor in hopes of annexation, and we meet him moments after he is handed his first ever defeat since dedicating himself to heroism. With help from his delightfully chaotic canine companion Krypto and resources at his Fortress of Solitude, the Man of Steel is able to recover, but the trouble is only beginning for the hero after he flies back to his home in Metropolis.

His budding romance with fellow Daily Planet reporter Lois Lane (Rachel Brosnahan) is on shaky ground, as his superhero activities add unique complications to their relationship – but far more dangerous are the schemes of tech billionaire Lex Luthor (Nicholas Hoult). In addition to having a hand in the international conflict that has purposefully put Superman in hot water, Lex also has his henchmen The Engineer (María Gabriela de Faría) and the mysterious Ultraman break into the Fortress of Solitude and go on a dirt-digging expedition. What they find and then expose to the whole world completely changes the way that humanity looks at the hero from Krypton, and he must find a way to prove to everyone what he truly stands for.

James Gunn instantly embeds us in the DC Universe with Superman, and it's a perfect way to introduce the world.

It’s not just that Superman doesn’t rehash the well-tread tale of an alien baby crash landing in Smallville, Kansas and being raised by a pair of loving parents who instill proper values; none of the characters are built with the traditional origin structure. Everyone in the audience has at least a vague impression of all of these heroes and villains, so the movie doesn’t waste time explaining who they are, where they come from, or what specifically motivates them. James Gunn skips all of the tired, extra exposition and simply tells the story he wants to tell with a collection of iconic and brilliant personalities, and it soars as he forgoes setup in favor of action.

Our understanding of who these characters are means that there is no heavy lifting in the narrative that sees a specific plan come together and then get executed: Lex Luthor is a wealthy, influential mogul with an outrageous ego who can’t stand the fact that an alien would receive the adulation from the world he feels that he deserves, and his immense resources allow him to execute a nefarious plan to ruin the alien – regardless of the immense cost. As a result of this, Superman is forced to question his own greater purpose, but his deeper understanding of who he is and what he stands for give him the fortitude to fight back. There are no MacGuffins or magic blood; everything emerges organically, and the ease with which it all flows is spectacular.

David Corenswet and Nicholas Hoult prove standouts in a Superman ensemble brimming with excellent performances.

A standout hurdle in successfully pulling off a story like this is the challenge of making sure that audiences recognize the characters from the get-go – which is why reboots like these tend to go the origin story route. Gunn fortunately has assembled a cast that has allowed Superman to effortlessly make that leap. David Corenswet has massive shoes to fill stepping into one of pop culture’s most iconic roles, but his transformation into the Man of Tomorrow is spellbinding in how effortless it is, as he captures the many dimensions of the protagonist: he has country boy charisma that pairs well with a powerful righteousness, but he can also never totally hide the vulnerability that comes with being an outsider and his desire to be accepted.

Nicholas Hoult, meanwhile, gives Lex everything this incarnation of the legendary villain needs, infusing the character with an immortal ego and palpable and unending rage that reads as exceptionally dangerous in combination with his intelligence.

The eternal battle between Supes and Lex takes center stage here, but Gunn’s script doesn’t scrimp when it comes to fleshing out the world, which provides instant depth and vibrancy to the DCU. Given the supervillain’s harnessing of hyper-advanced technologies and messing around in global politics, the movie operates in both supernatural and grounded realms that make effective use of a tremendously talented supporting cast. The former sees Nathan Fillion, Edi Gathegi and Isabella Merced come together as the superhero group dubbed the Justice Gang – Green Lantern, Mr. Terrific and Hawkgirl – and the stars beautifully harness Gunn’s sharp dialogue in their complicated collaboration (they are brought together by a common goal to do good, but their attitudes amusingly clash).

Meanwhile, Gunn also activates the editorial team at the Daily Planet, with Lois Lane recognizing that there is something not quite right at the center of the international conflict that spurred Superman to intervene, with an inside source at LexCorp feeding info to fellow reporter Jimmy Olsen (Skyler Gisondo) and editor-in-chief Perry White (Wendell Pierce) backing the effort. Rachel Brosnahan brings Lois to life with a pitch perfect dose of enthusiastic bullishness; Gisondo nails the nerdy lady-killer vibe that this cinematic incarnation of Jimmy Olsen puts front and center; and I’m just tickled reflecting on the quick dose gravitas Pierce delivers as he green lights the publication of an expose while flying above an endangered Metropolis while in a ship piloted by his star reporter in the blockbuster’s exciting third act.

Naturally, there are a handful of scene-stealers woven into the mix as well. Anthony Carrigan is tremendous as the shapeshifting Metamorpho and Sara Sampaio is a trip as the ditzy Eve Teschmacher – but nobody holds a candle to the terror of super dog Krypto, whose hilarious enthusiasm is balanced by epically destructive tendencies.

Superman has an immense scope that is consistently delivering exciting action.

The successful ensemble casting of the movie is hardly a surprise given that has been a demonstrated talent of James Gunn’s since the early years of his directing career as an edgy indie filmmaker, but his visual style has continued to evolve as well, and Superman offers great opportunity for him to further flex his spectacle skills. The movie doesn’t feature what I would call a signature sequence that stands above everything else, but there is no shortage of scope, wonder and excitement, as the story explores the spellbinding grandeur of the Fortress of Solitude, a kaiju battle in the middle of Metropolis, the horrors of a pocket dimension constructed by Lex to be used as a super prison, and the simultaneous bedlam of war and a world-splitting fissure in reality.

There is a lot riding on this film on a big picture level, as it’s positioned as a table-setter for a burgeoning franchise and an introduction to James Gunn’s larger vision as a studio executive. It performs that function terrifically, as I am instantly excited for everything that will follow – but independent of all that, it’s simply an awesome movie. Superman brings eye-popping marvels in coordination with impressive depth and shockingly relevant themes, and it does so in ways we’ve never seen from superhero blockbusters before.

In addition to David Corenswet playing the title protagonist in James Gunn’s Superman, this 2025 movie release will also feature the superheroes Mr. Terrific, Guy Gardner, Metamorpho and Hawkgirl. The latter heroine is being brought to life by Isabela Merced, who has prior superhero movie experience from Madame Web. Anyone who’s done deep reading on Hawkgirl knows she has various convoluted backstories. Fortunately, Merced has cleared up what’s going on with her version of the character in the upcoming DC movie, and it leaves me hopeful that this will in turn set the stage for the DCU to introduce another specific superhero at a later date.

The DCU’s Hawkgirl Will Mix Her Reincarnation And Alien Origins

It would take way too long to delve into the specifics of the numerous ways Hawkgirl/Hawkwoman have been depicted over the decades, but to summarize, three women have held the mantle: Shiera Sanders Hall, Shayera Hol and Kendra Saunders. Sometimes the character is the reincarnated form of a princess from ancient Egypt, sometimes she’s a police officer from the planet Thanagar, and there have even been instances where both origins have been melded together. The DCU opted to go with that third approach, with Isabel Merced informing the DC Studios Showcase Official Podcast:

Although Superman marks Hawkgirl’s theatrical debut, she’s certainly no stranger to being adapted outside of the comics. The two most notable versions that come to mind include Maria Canals-Barrera’s from the DCAU (where she was one of the founding members of the Justice League) and Ciara Renée’s from the Arrowverse. The former went the Thanagarian route and the latter the reincarnation route, so I’m definitely eager to see how Isabela Merced’s turned out. The actress continued:

I doubt we’ll go too deep into Hawkgirl’s background in Superman given that she’s a supporting character and there’s already enough packed into that movie. Having said that, now that these details have been revealed, I wouldn’t be surprised at all if a certain other hawk-themed DC Comics character will be introduced at some point.

This Likely Means We’ll Meet Hawkman In The DCU Someday

Like Hawkgirl, Hawkman and convolution go hand-in-hand. There are even more characters who’ve used that identity in the comics, though the two most well-known are Carter Hall and Katar Hol. The former is the latest reincarnated form of Prince Khufu, and the latter is also a Thanagarian police officer. Aldis Hodge played the Carter version in the Black Adam movie, and Michael Shanks and Falk Hentschel respectively played him in Smallville and the Arrowverse.

I could see a world where if Isabela Merced’s Hawkgirl was strictly a Thanagarian, the DC Universe might not feel inclined to introduce Hawkman. But if James Gunn, who’s also co-running DC Studios, felt the need to also incorporate her reincarnation backstory, that surely means that she and Carter/Katar have that millennia-spanning romantic history with each other. So while not a guarantee by any means just yet, I’m hoping that Hawkman and Hawkgirl will come together in the DCU someday, even if they’re not the leads of the story where this happens.

For now, what we can count on is seeing Isabela Merced’s Hawkgirl fly into action when Superman comes out on July 11. Then she’ll reprise the role in Peacemaker Season 2, which premieres on August 21 to Max subscription-holders.

Are we oversaturated with superhero movies and TV shows now? You bet we are. However, just because there are so many upcoming Marvel movies to look forward to, or new DC projects that are happening soon, there are also plenty of other heroes and characters from comics, movies, and television that deserve just as much praise. Today, we’ll be going over the superheroes that deserve WAY more hype. Let’s get into it.

Nightwing

I love Nightwing. Out of every DC character that could have had a lot of potential in a Batman film, he could have appeared way more. Everyone knows Robin, but Nightwing is literally what he becomes when he turns more into a vigilante and less of a sidekick – and I love a good vigilante.

Raven

As someone who grew up watching the best fantasy movies and the best fantasy TV shows, it’s not that surprising that I’d love Raven. While her powers unquestionably come more from a supernatural aspect, I love someone who is essentially a dark sorcereress.

Green Lantern

Okay, so let’s not even talk about the infamous Green Lantern movie because that does NOT show what Green Lantern is capable of. There are so many examples of how amazing Green Lantern is within the comics, but because it’s never been properly adapted to movies or television, he doesn’t get the praise he deserves.

Silk

Yes, we all know about Spider-Man and the fantastic Spider-Man films, but as we know, there are so many varieties of Spider-Persons, and Silk happens to be one of them. She’s a Korean-American who was also bitten by a radioactive spider, and man, she is awesome. I wish we had seen her in Into the Spider-Verse because she knows how to take down crime with her spider powers.

Korg

While I wouldn’t necessarily define Korg as a superhero the same way I would say Thor is, he certainly came in handy during the Thor films whenever we had the chance to see him. He was strong, used that strength to his advantage, and was also funny without even trying. I think he should become an Avenger. Does anyone else agree? No, just me?

Scarlet Scarab

We have only seen the Scarlet Scarab once in the MCU so far, in the TV show Moon Knight, for which I’m still waiting for a Season 2. Layla got to wear those wings for the show, and we have yet to see her again. While I’m not sure if the character will appear again in the MCU, the superhuman strength, speed, and so much more would have been an amazing addition.

Wonder Man

Granted, there supposedly is a Wonder Man TV show in the works, and several people have been cast. I just genuinely don’t know if we’re going to get it or not. Essentially, Wonder Man is your classic superhero—super strong, super fast, basically a god. And of course, we barely know about him.

Moon Knight

You know, you’d think that with a whole TV show dedicated to this character, he would get way more hype. But I rarely hear anyone, aside from Marvel fans online, talk about Moon Knight. We haven’t seen him in the MCU since the show, not even a mention really of him, when his powers are really freaking cool. And the background of how he got to that point is also amazing.

Sunspot

There are so many mutants from the X-Men universe who deserve a lot more praise, but one I’ll point out is Sunspot. All of his powers are solar-based, which is very interesting in itself, as we don’t really see that often. It’s elemental in a world of pure superheroes, but no one ever really talks about him.

America Chavez

Here’s hoping that the Young Avengers actually happen because America Chavez would be an excellent addition to it. I loved her in Multiverse of Madness, but this is yet another instance where we saw her once and literally never again. I’m hoping that in the future, we’ll see way more of her.

Nova

Nova is more of a space character, where he’s a part of the Nova Force, a police group in space. Yes, you read that correctly. But he’s also incredibly powerful, can fly faster than the speed of light, and – let me adjust my glasses here – can fire gravitational energy pulses? I don’t even know what that means, and I’m terrified – no wonder there’s a project in the works about him.

Squirrel Girl

I know, I know, the idea of someone named “Squirrel Girl” and being underhyped probably makes you confused because what could her powers possibly be? But believe it or not, this girl is powerful. She also has strong claws that allow her to climb anything (like a squirrel), essentially, and has a tail that also works as a shield or even as a weapon. Oh, and of course, she can talk to the mammal she takes her name after, which is strange but also works wonders for her.

Mister Miracle

Imagine that you just wanted to escape a party, or escape a burning car. If Mister Miracle is there, yeah, you’re good. He is able to get out of anything. Literally anything. Like, even the claws of death itself. This man is unstoppable, and if he were used in a battle, I could only imagine that he would be on the winning side. And of course he’s also brilliant – as he should be.

Star Girl

Unlike many others on this list, Star Girl isn’t just a superhuman. Her powers come from two things – a staff charged with cosmic energy and practically a living thing of its own, and a cosmic belt. Both of these qualities give her incredible powers and make her a fantastic superhero. She did have a TV show, but it was short-lived.

Static

I was a fool for Static Shock as a kid, and only when I grew up did I realise that it was actually based on the comic-book character, Static. All of his powers surround electricity after he was exposed to a chemical during a fight. He’s smart, but he’s also so smooth with his powers, and I can’t help but love him and want to see so much more of him.

Iron Fist

Okay, so let’s not talk about the Iron Fist adaptation on Netflix because I really don’t think that’s a good representation of his powers. There is something so amazing about a martial arts superhero, and Iron Fist is one of the best. He essentially uses his life force as his powers, and his punches hurt. Watching him fight is like watching the ballet—smooth, calculated, and utterly breathtaking.

Miss Marvel

I loved the Ms. Marvel TV show and think Kamala needs to be in the MCU way more. They are leaning in a specific direction when showing her, since her father was featured in Daredevil: Born Again, so I really hope that we get to see a whole lot more of this girl with these fantastic cosmic powers.

Dazzler

I remember when there was a rumour going around that Taylor Swift was cast as Dazzler in the MCU, and while that didn’t end up happening, it makes sense. She’s a pop star who uses sound and is able to convert it into energy blasts – essentially, if the sound is loud, you could end up getting killed by her blasts. Think about her next to a jet engine – good lord.

She-Hulk

I will stand by She-Hulk until the end of time. I don’t care what anyone says about the She-Hulk Marvel TV show; I loved it, and her character is just as great. She’s as strong as the Hulk, funny, and breaks the fourth wall in the comics, and I just love that, so everyone can just love her, dang it.

Green Arrow

While the Arrowverse was very much a thing back on the CW (as were most DC comic characters for a while), Green Arrow deserves a lot more hype. Wanna know why? Because he doesn’t have powers. My man is just good with a bow and arrow, and with his combat skills, he can take people down after a harrowing shipwreck that made him become that way. I will stand by him.

Sleepwalker

When creating this list, I knew there were going to be some interesting alien characters that deserved more hype, and Sleepwalker is definitely one of them. He’s essentially an entity that can enter the mind of dreams—which is kind of terrifying—and when bonded to someone, he can enter the real world.

Black Knight

While we did see Black Knight (or at least the character that would become Black Knight) in Eternals, I doubt we’re going to see him any time soon. The character himself gets his powers from an Ebony blade that was literally carved by Merlin – yeah, the famous wizard. So Black Knight is pretty mighty.

Hawkgirl

While Hawkgirl does appear in Superman: Legacy, we need to see a lot more of her. It depends on which version of her you’re into. Still, in every iteration, she’s strong, can fly, has incredible powers, and is undeniably a loyal and brave hero who will do anything to protect others.

Luke Cage

While Luke Cage did get his TV show, I want to see so much more of him in the MCU. He’s kind of like another super-soldier, but not with the same serum. He was experimented on in prison and, because of that, received incredible abilities that made him superhuman. Why don’t we see more of him? I will never know, because this man looks terrifying when he fights.

Man-Thing

Yesss, we love a swamp creature that somehow becomes an iconic Marvel hero. Man-Thing is essentially someone who injected himself with a botched version of the super-soldier serum while falling into a swamp filled with nexus energy, and he emerged as…Man-Thing. Yeah, that’s his story. And yup, he’s just as horrifying as you would expect him to be.

Darkhawk

Darkhawk is very interesting. His powers kind of remind me of Blue Beetle in a way. He finds an amulet, and when using it, it covers his entire body with an armoured alien suit, so he’s able to fight crime. But because of this suit, it gives him fantastic powers that make him a fun superhero.

Cypher

There are plenty of X-Men characters we could put on this list, and Cypher has to be one of them. He’s able to understand literally anything – decode languages, ancient texts, you name it. This kind of power would be huge for anyone in any universe, and having someone who is able to understand the enemy, or understand computer codes or programming, would be essential.

Longshot

Ever think that your luck is bad? Well, meet Longshot, who could change it at the flip of a dime. Often seen in the X-Men comics, Longshot’s powers revolve around probability–like, he can literally bend the chances of something happening. And of course, he’s also really fast because, yes, having luck on your consciously good side isn’t already a great power to have, so let’s add more!

Frog Thor

Because why not?

He was a human transformed into a frog who defended other frogs and became a legend. Somehow, he found a sliver of Thor’s hammer and became Frog Thor. Yes, this is an actual superhero. And yes, I want to see him in the next Thor movie.

Animal Man

Animal Man is freaking cool. I love this character because he doesn’t need to transform into an animal to use their abilities; he’s just able to harness them. That, in itself, is an incredibly sick power and one I would love to see explored more.

Captain Britain

I’m still holding out for Henry Cavill to somehow become Captain Britain in the MCU. Still, suppose you don’t know who he is. In that case, the character isn’t a British version of Captain America – he’s a protector of the universe, someone who has superhuman abilities, can fly, defends Earth, and is an all-around incredible hero.

Mantis

Mantis has been in the Guardians of the Galaxy movies plenty, but does anyone ever talk about how incredible her powers are? The MCU version allows her to feel emotions, to put things to sleep, and more, but the comic version gives her martial arts, heightened abilities, and much, much more. She needs her flowers, too.

There are so many other amazing superheroes out there that I could talk about, but for now, these are some of my favorites. Now I need to do another superhero marathon because I need more powers in my life.

In a purely broad stroke context, the DC Studios doesn't need to be developing a Clayface movie right now. The DC Universe is only just starting to get on its feet, with Superman arriving in theaters this July as the first blockbuster in the canon, and it's a peculiar move to make a solo film about a Batman villain before the introduction of the new Batman. The only reason Clayface has been fast tracked in recent months is because of the expressed extreme confidence in the screenplay written by Mike Flanagan... which is why I am completely confused by the most recent news about the project's development.

Following rumors about behind-the-scenes changes that were reported last week, The Wrap is now saying that screenwriter Hossein Amini has been hired to rewrite the script for Clayface. The film still has director James Watkins attached, and there is still a plan in place to have production start this fall. Amini is an established talent, best known for writing the script for Drive starring Ryan Gosling, and his specific hiring has no actual impact on my take here. What actually befuddles me is that this move seems to go against the development strategy that has been exercised to date by James Gunn and Peter Safran as the co-CEOs of DC Studios.

A few months ago, I was part of a group of journalists invited to attended a sit down with the filmmakers/executives as they previewed their progress with Chapter 1 of the DC Universe. One thing that was repeatedly stressed was a specific correlation between completed scripts and production starts. In short: if a screenplay isn't working right, it won't be rushed through development simply to hit a targeted release date. Conversely, they explained that this was why Supergirl: Woman Of Tomorrow is now on track to come out in 2026 and why Clayface had become a priority.

They gushed about the script that Mike Flanagan had presented them in regard to the latter. Gunn expressed that he and Safran "would have died to have produced this movie" when they were making independent features like The Belko Experiment, and their tremendous commitment to it said a lot. For reasons expressed earlier, Clayface isn't a movie that expressly needs to be made right now, but they scheduled a start of production and hired James Watkins to direct because they felt it was a movie worth making.

Less than three months later, I now have no idea what is going on, and my anticipation for Clayface is all but completely shattered. Mike Flanagan is one of my favorite filmmakers making movies and TV today, and I was stoked for the gruesome, R-rated body horror movie set within the DC Universe that was promised. But after this latest news, I have no expectations at all and therefore no real anticipation or excitement. The whole "why" of the production has become a mystery, and that's disheartening to say the least.

I'm not immature enough to try and kick start some kind of movement or create a petition that sees Clayface go back to working with what Flanagan had created (if not especially because it's not a script I've read), but until some clarity is offered, my confidence about what's going on behind the scenes as the DC Universe grows has taken a significant hit. It's not a great look to seemingly abandon a development strategy with the third feature in a franchise

There will hopefully be more information about the project coming soon, but until that time comes, keep checking in here on CinemaBlend for all of the latest big news about upcoming DC movies and upcoming DC TV shows.

Long before David Harewood brought J’onn J’onzz to life on the Supergirl TV series and Harry Lennix’s Calvin Swanwick was revealed to be the hero also known as Martian Manhunter in Zack Snyder’s Justice League, Carl Lumbly voiced the character in Justice League and Justice League Unlimited. These entries on the list of best animated TV shows of all time played a big role in introducing Martian Manhunter to people unfamiliar with him from the comics, but will we see him in the new DC Universe franchise? That remains to be seen, though if J’onn does get announced for an upcoming DC movie or upcoming DC TV show, I really like the idea Lumbly shared with me about how he should be depicted.

These days, Lumbly is leaving his mark on the superhero genre by playing Isaiah Bradley in the MCU, making his first appearance in 2021’s The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, and then reprising the role earlier this year for Captain America: Brave New World (where he had a particularly difficult running scene). However, as a longtime fan of his version of Martian Manhunter, I had to ask him what he would like to see done with J’onn if he’s included in the DC Universe, and he told me:

J’onn J’onzz’s traditional origin story sees him forcibly brought to Earth from Mars by a human scientist. Because the scientist died from a heart attack after seeing J’onn shapeshifter, the Martian, who’s often depicted as the last of his kind, was left stranded on Earth and made the John Jones identity so he could live incognito amongst humans. The Justice League animated series handled his arrival on Earth differently, as he came to our world to warn humanity of the Imperium, only to be taken prisoner by Imperium invaders disguised as members of the U.S. government.

Superman and Batman found J’onn being held captive and freed him, and once the Imperium was defeated, those three founded the Justice League with Wonder Woman, Flash, Green Lantern and Hawkgirl. However, it wasn’t until Justice League Unlimited’s final season that J’onn tried living among humanity. So I absolutely agree with Carl Lumbly that it would be great to see how the DC Universe’s J’onn has acclimated to being around us right off the bat. It would make for a nice contrast to David Corenswet’s Superman, who not only looks human, but has been living on Earth since he was an infant.

I’ll keep crossing my fingers that the DC Universe decides to include Martian Manhunter someday and hope that if/when that day comes, his citizenry will be explored in the way Carl Lumbly suggested. The franchise’s first movie, James Gunn’s Superman, opens in theaters on July 11.

Colin Farrell already has more than enough DC Comics media cred from his Golden Globe-winning performance as Oz Cobb in The Penguin, but in the last few month, we’ve learned he’s been making moves to join the new DC Universe franchise. Back in March, it was reported that Farrell was on deck to replace Daniel Craig in Sgt. Rock. However, word’s now come in that this upcoming DC movie is no longer moving forward, which arguably marks the first major setback for the James Gunn-spearheaded DCU.

This update comes to us from The Wrap, which reports that Sgt. Rock is no longer set to film this summer in England. No specific reasoning was officially provided for why the shoot has been scrapped, though one insider who spoke with THR said the publication stated that it “came down to the project’s scheduling needs of shooting outdoors.” Another insider claimed that there was concern from the DC brass about director Luca Guadagnino’s ability to tackle an action-heavy movie like this.

Although the DC Universe certainly hasn’t faced challenges since James Gunn and Peter Safran, who run DC Studios together, announced the franchise in early 2023, this is the first time one of its projects has been outright cancelled. That being said, there is a little glimmer of hope. The article mentions that Sgt. Rock would be “re-assessed” at the end of this year and potentially get back off the ground for a summer 2026 shoot.

Otherwise, this version of Sgt. Rock has been set aside. Even if the 2026 shoot happens, there’s no guarantee that Colin Farrell and/or Luca Guadagnino would still be able to work on it. If Sgt. Rock ends up being revived, I wouldn’t be surprised if a new director and lead actor are tapped to replace them. Who knows, maybe this could be how Jeremy Allen White actually gets involved.

THR’s report mentioned that Sgt. Rock was early on into the casting process before the shutdown occurred. Just like in the comics. Colin Farrell’s version of the title character was going to lead the combat unit Easy Company to bring the hurt to Nazis during World War II. Mike Faist, who worked with Luca Guadagnino on Challengers, was reportedly being lined up for a role. The publication’s sources also said there would be a female French Resistance fighter as a major character.

The good news is that even with Sgt. Rock being put on ice, there’s still a way to see him and Easy Company in action in the DC Universe. The soldiers appeared in the third episode of Creature Commandos Season 1, which can be streamed with a Max subscription. As far as the wider DC Universe goes, Superman kicks off the cinematic side of the franchise on July 11, and then Peacemaker Season 2 hits the 2025 TV schedule in August.

There is a certain logic to the idea of Superman having a well-behaved dog as a pet. After all, the Man of Steel is the embodiment of good and righteousness, and you'd expect that any canine he keeps by his side would have the same kind of nobility. It's a direction that's been taken with many versions of Krypto in the past... but audiences should get ready for the atypical in writer/director James Gunn's Superman. Instead of being a faithful and helpful companion, the superdog is going to be featured as a hilarious and untrained agent of chaos.

This afternoon, Warner Bros. hosted a special presentation of their upcoming slate at CinemaCon – the annual Las Vegas-based convention for theater owners – and the showcase concluded with a special extended preview of Superman (which is set to arrive in theaters this summer). Some of the footage was familiar from the first trailer for the film that dropped online a few months ago, but the extra material made a special point of revealing Krypto's very specific personality, and it's hilarious.

Like the aforementioned trailer, the Superman CinemaCon footage began with the titular hero crashing into a tundra sporting some serious injuries. Spitting out blood on to the ice, he makes the only move he can: he whistles for Krypto. Like a loyal pet, the white dog comes running, kicking up a big dust clouds of snow behind him... but he isn't immediately helpful. Not recognizing that his owner is badly hurt, he dashes around, bites his foot, and occasionally makes a point of jumping on the injured Kryptonian's body – causing him to wince in pain.

With all of his strength, Superman asks, "Take me home," but Krypto doesn't quite understand initially. Eventually, Supes sweeps his cape across his body and holds out a bunch of it for the dog to bite and drag. The canine finally figures it out, and as the alien and his pet move across the ground, the Fortress of Solitude emerges from beneath the ground. They approach a big metal door with a glowing "S" logo, and when the entrance opens, the Man of Tomorrow is greeted by a collection of four robots.

The automatons pick Kal-El up to help him, and he thanks them for their effort – but they bluntly dismiss the gratitude because their lack of consciousness doesn't allow them to to process it. The bots bring Superman to a medical table in front of a window, determining that what is needed is a full blast of Earth's yellow sun. Large magnifying glasses are lined up automatically that blast a beam right into Supes' chest, and as the glow grows, he screams with rejuvenation.

A montage of familiar moments from the trailer followed this moment, but the extended look continued with a final funny moment. Back to full health, Superman prepares to leave the Fortress of Solitude, but before he goes out, he recognizes that Krypto has unleashed some hefty destruction. The hero ponders why the robots weren't able to stop the chaos, but they explain that the dog is unruly. Following his owner, Krypto starts running around and biting at Superman's feet, and he is told in a frustrated tone to sit and stay. As Supes reaches the door, the pet begins to whimper, and regardless of how much damage he does and pain he causes, you can't help but love him.

The Superman CinemaCon footage didn't provide any specific insight to the plot of the upcoming film (we don't even know at this point how the titular hero got so injured that he crash landed in the snow), but it did provide a great sense of the characters and was enriched by James Gunn's wonderful sensibilities (both his sense of humor and love of comics).

With the calendar turning over to April, we are now just a little over three months away from the release of Superman in theaters worldwide, and after this latest preview, I'm more excited than ever to see it. The blockbuster is set to arrive on the big screen everywhere on July 11 – and be sure to stay tuned here on CinemaBlend not only for more about the upcoming DC movie but also more of our on-the-ground coverage of CinemaCon 2025.

When DC Studios announced big picture plans for the DC Universe in early 2023, dubbed Gods And Monsters, the slate included a number of notable projects, but they came with a promise: no film or television show would enter production until a proper script was developed. This has worked out for a few titles so far, including Superman, the TV series Lanterns (which just dropped its first look),Supergirl: World Of Tomorrow and Clayface (which rocketed through pre-production thanks to a hailed screenplay by Mike Flanagan), but some projects have stalled – with The Authority being one of them.

DC Studios co-CEO James Gunn provided an update on The Authority during a sit down with members of the press on the Warner Bros. lot, and he explained that the movie hasn't been able to gain positive momentum in development. He explained that the biggest issue have been existing adaptations of comics that were influenced by the DC property, specifically citing the Amazon Prime Video series The Boys. Said Gunn,

Created by Warren Ellis and Bryan Hitch, The Authority is a team of ultra powerful heroes who go to extreme lengths to accomplish their missions – even if it requires heavy collateral damage. It's a more cynical approach to superhero storytelling, and it's understandable that it's a trickier team to sell as having a new and original tone when The Boys has been successfully doing that on the small screen for years at this point (and Season 5 is on the way!).

A movie specifically centered on The Authority may be on the proverbial backburner, but it's worth noting that the DC Universe isn't launching without a key influence from those characters. Specifically, Angela Spica a.k.a. Engineer, played by María Gabriela de Faría, by will be making her live-action debut this summer in Superman.

Beyond Superman, the DC Universe's slate for the big screen includes the aforementioned Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow (hitting theaters on June 26, 2026) and Clayface (September 11, 2026). The franchise is also developing Sgt. Rock with director Luca Guadagnino, Swamp Thing with James Mangold, and The Brave And The Bold with Andy Muschietti. Recognizing the quality control involved along with the excellent talent, there's a lot to be excited about in the future of the canon, so be sure to stay tuned here on CinemaBlend for all of the latest news and updates.

A little over a decade ago, James Gunn had a huge hand in changing the world of comic book movies with the release of Guardians Of The Galaxy, and today, he has a huge hand in sculpting its future. Along with Peter Safran as the co-CEOs of DC Studios, Gunn makes creative decisions that serve as the compass for one of the world’s biggest franchises. There is a lot of pressure on him to properly utilize some of the most beloved characters in the history of fiction, and while that carries a lot of weight, he has the advantage of being able to lean on personal experience.

Developing a wide variety of projects under the umbrella of the DC Universe is likely going to yield a wide variety of responses from mass audiences, and those responses are going to have an impact on decisions made about what comes next. Of course, predicting reactions can present a minefield, as can leaning too heavily on public opinion – but those are lessons that James Gunn has already learned firsthand with the stories of Groot and Nebula in the Guardians of the Galaxy trilogy.

The Story Of Groot Taught James Gunn To Be Open To The Unexpected

Late last week, I was part of a small group of journalists invited to the Warner Bros. lot in Burbank, California for an hour-long conversation with James Gunn and Peter Safran about everything that’s cooking in the DC Universe, and one of the most interesting bits of discussion regarded how the franchise’s slate would be dictated by fan reactions. Gunn said that there are ideas of what constitutes the first chapter of the franchise, dubbed Gods And Monsters, but he cited his experience bringing Groot to the big screen for the first time that one can’t fully map everything out in advance. Said the filmmaker,

Test screenings are often done with unfinished cuts of a film, and in the case of big blockbusters, that often means unfinished visual effects. In the case of Guardians of the Galaxy, the first people to see the Marvel Cinematic Universe movie didn’t get to have the full Groot experience – but when people saw the finished work, they fell hard for the living tree.

James Gunn certainly had affection for Groot, but he was taken aback by the response to the character, and it ultimately had an impact on his work on the sequels featuring Groot’s offspring. The “Mr. Bluesky” opening sequence of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 probably doesn’t happen unless Gunn registers and appreciates the love for the extraterrestrial plant. He continued,

The knife cuts both ways: If people are positively responding to something, that suggests there should be more of it in the future, but if people are responding negatively, that means there should be less… right?

The Story Of Nebula Taught James Gunn To Trust His Gut

There are obvious benefits to a filmmaker taking the audience’s response into consideration when developing a franchise, but it’s an art, not a science. Doing it too much can result in an artist repeating what they have already done or making something homogenized to the point of lacking any perspective or personality. That’s a trap James Gunn knows not to fall into thanks to his insistence in telling the story of Nebula in the Guardians of the Galaxy trilogy.

According to James Gunn, there wasn’t a whole lot of love for the alien android following the release of his first MCU movie, and had he entirely depended on audience reaction, the character may not have been back for the sequels. Instead, he trusted his creative instincts, and by the time audiences saw Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, she became beloved:

Continuing, Gunn said that movie-goers can’t always see all of the machinations in a story until all of the big picture ideas play out, and that means sometimes trusting his gut. Said Gunn,

How the philosophies of James Gunn and Peter Safran ultimately dictate the slate of upcoming DC movies is something we’ll have to wait and see, but the grand experiment kicks off on the big screen this summer with the release of Superman on July 11 followed by Supergirl: Woman Of Tomorrow in the summer of 2026. It will be fascinating to see the DC Universe grow, and we will be following its development closely here on CinemaBlend.

There are a number of exciting upcoming DC movies, including Superman, Supergirl: Woman Of Tomorrow and The Batman: Part II, but the title that I’m anticipating most of all on the DC Studios slate is Clayface. To be fair, this has been true for a while now, as I’m a big Mike Flanagan fan, and I’ve spent years curious about his vision for the shapeshifting Batman villain, but my extreme desire to see the film just about peaked this past week when I had the chance to hear DC Studios chiefs James Gunn and Peter Safran talk about the developing project and reveal some key details.

This past Friday, I was part of a small group of journalists invited to the Warner Bros. lot in Burbank, California for a presentation/conversation with the DC Studios executives, and of the many titles they discussed, one that they clearly demonstrated a lot of passion for was Clayface. Safran confirmed that conversations are on-going with director James Watkins (Speak No Evil, The Woman In Black) to bring Mike Flanagan’s script to life, and production will begin this summer in advance of a fall 2026 release – but what principally raised eyebrows in the room were revelations about the approach.

James Gunn And Peter Safran Were Clearly Blown Away By Mike Flanagan’s Clayface Script

It may sound a bit crazy that one of the first films being produced as part of the DC Universe puts a spotlight on a Batman villain who has never before been featured in a live-action Batman blockbuster, but the speed of the movie’s progress can be seen as a direct reflection of its perceived potential. Gunn and Safran repeatedly noted that the DC Studios project pipeline in general is determined by the individual quality of the scripts in development (cameras don’t start rolling unless there is a well-polished screenplay), and they love what they have with Clayface.

Both DC executives have roots in the horror genre (Gunn’s credits including Dawn of the Dead and Slither, and Safran having produced all of the movies in the Conjuring universe), and they explained that they would have wanted to develop Mike Flanagan’s Clayface script long before they got their current jobs. Said Gunn,

Safran described the story in the film as being “equally resonant, compelling, and in many ways more terrifying” than the stories of The Penguin and the Joker, and highlighted the exact kind of scares the film will generate: get ready for some “incredible body horror”!

James Gunn Promises Clayface Will Be R-Rated And Both “Psychological” And “Gross”

Following the immense success of Coralie Fargeat’s The Substance in 2024, now seems to be a particularly great time to be exploring the subgenre of body horror, and that means that Clayface is seemingly coming together at a perfect time. The movie will be firmly rooted in what is being built for the DC Universe (it was specifically explained that it will not connect to Matt Reeves’ The Batman trilogy), and it will evidently not be pulling punches in terms of content.

While explaining how there is no “house style” guiding the DC Universe and contrasting the different projects that are on the way in the coming years, James Gunn said,

We don’t currently know how Mike Flanagan’s script for Clayface will either adapt the comics or invent a new approach to the character, but the original villain from the comics was created by Bill Finger and Bob Kane and introduced in June 1940’s Detective Comics #40. He was initially an actor-turned-crime lord, but later incarnations with different backstories saw him reintroduced as a shapeshifting monster.

Flanagan won’t direct Clayface himself presumably because he is busy this year taking the helm of the next film in the Exorcist franchise and developing his adaptation of Stephen King’s The Dark Tower, but Peter Safran made it sound as though the deal with James Watkins is nearly done. Casting will commence once the film has its director, and we’ll hopefully learn even more details about the project when actors sign on.

Stay tuned here on CinemaBlend for more about Clayface, which is scheduled to arrive in theaters on September 11, 2026 (a few months after Supergirl: Woman Of Tomorrow, which is flying into theaters on June 26, 2026).

Some actors seem like they are born for certain roles, and one such case is Jason Momoa as the DC Comics interstellar bounty hunter Lobo. The actor, who previously played Arthur Curry a.k.a. Aquaman in the DC Extended Universe, is set to make his debut as the character in 2026’s Supergirl: Woman Of Tomorrow, and excitement is through the roof about getting a first look at Momoa in full makeup. Unfortunately, it may be a while before that first look arrives online.

Last week, I joined a small group of journalists for a DC Studios presentation with co-CEOs James Gunn and Peter Safran at the Warner Bros. lot in Burbank, California, and one of the many different heroes and villains discussed during the hour-long conversation was Jason Momoa’s Lobo. The casting was confirmed at the end of last year, and Supergirl: Woman Of Tomorrow has already started production, but when the filmmakers were asked if we’ll soon get an official glimpse at the character, Gunn explained why it’s unlikely:

When a blockbuster film production does on-location shooting (particularly in a very public area), there is no legitimate way to stop people from taking photographs and posting them online. Because of this, it has become common practice in the industry to preempt crappy smartphone snapshots by releasing official images – ensuring that audiences are seeing characters as they are meant to be seen. As alluded to by James Gunn, this was done in the making of Superman last summer, with the filmmaker sharing a first look at David Corenswet in full costume back in May 2024.

Evidently that isn’t going to be a thing for Supergirl: Woman Of Tomorrow. The upcoming DC movie is a cosmic adventure that won’t have scenes set on Earth, and that means that the entire film is being shot on secured soundstages. If nothing leaks, DC Studios won’t have to do any kind of damage control, and the preference is evidently to maintain secrecy – regardless of public demand. For now, fan-made creations will have to satisfy.

Created by Roger Slifer and Keith Giffen and making his debut in the early 1980s, Lobo is known to DC Comics fans as a wild and audacious alien mercenary who is not only exceptionally strong and a skilled fighter but is an immortal. If even the smallest bit of him remains after obliteration, he can wholly regenerate his body and keep on kicking ass around the cosmos.

Lobo has never been portrayed on the big screen before, but he has long been beloved by comic book readers, and it’s precisely that history that has driven his early introduction in the DC Universe. There was unquestionably enthusiasm to feature him on the big screen because of Jason Momoa’s love for the character, but James Gunn explained that the bigger motivation was teaching mass audiences what those comic book readers already know. Drawing comparisons to Deadpool and Harley Quinn, Gunn said,

Gunn knows that the bulk of awareness when it comes to DC Comics is hogged by the Trinity, but he wants to change that. He continued,

For now, fans will have to practice patience waiting for our first look at Lobo. Starring Milly Alcock, Matthias Schoenaerts, Eve Ridley, David Krumholtz, and Emily Beecham, Supergirl: Woman Of Tomorrow is based on the comic of the same name by Tom King and Bilquis Evely and has been adapted by screenwriter Ana Nogueira. Craig Gillespie is helming the film, which started principal photography in mid-January.

We still have a while to wait before the movie’s arrival (it’s set for release on June 26, 2026), but stay tuned here on CinemaBlend as more is revealed about the project and how it fits into the first chapter of the DC Universe a.k.a. Gods and Monsters.

Over the course of the first season of the animated series Creature Commandos, available to anyone with a Max subscription, screenwriter James Gunn and his team took us deeper into the backstories of the monsters assembled for the crew. Some of these personal histories included references to exciting DC characters, as when G.I. Robot (Sean Gunn) fought alongside Sgt. Rock and the men of Easy Company. All of them were tragic, up to and including the story of the amphibious Nina Mazursky (Zoe Chao). But while Creature Commandos Episode 7 dove into Nina’s tale, it also had several storylines to wrap up – from Frankenstein (David Harbour) and his pursuit of The Bride (Indira Varma) to the pending military conflict in Pokolistan. And the narrative necessity had several DC fans leveling the same complaint in the finale’s aftermath.

Creature Commandos forever will be remembered as the first entry in James Gunn and Peter Safran’s relaunched DCU, which is expected to ramp up in the summer with the release of Superman, not to mention the Max original series Lanterns, and the theatrical feature Superman: Woman of Tomorrow. And for the most part, Creature Commandos did an outstanding job of building out the DC world, using Amanda Waller (Viola Davis) to establish the presence of a new – and very exciting – team of monsters, while also increasing the importance of Rick Flag Sr. (Frank Grillo) as a power broker. I loved each of the backstories for characters like Weasel (Sean Gunn) and Dr. Phosphorous (Alan Tudyk), and dug the mission on which the Creature Commandos embarked. In general, it was a wildly entertaining season that probably could have gone on a few more episodes, with no complaints.

In fact, the buzz on social media in the DC community seemed to focus on one main complaint, and that is that the story – specifically in Episode 7 – felt rushed.

Creature Commandos ran for seven episodes in its first season, and I can understand why James Gunn and showrunner Dean Lorey would limit themselves out of the gate. This was an unproven property. Animation takes a lot of time, and can be expensive. And the last thing that you want to do is “overstay” your welcome. Better to get in, deliver an entertaining story, and leave them wanting more!

That could have been one easier solution. Maybe instead of adding an eighth episode, you make one or two of the later episodes – especially the finale – closer to 45 minutes, so that story points could breathe. If I had to single out one story that felt really rushed, it would be Frankenstein eventually finding The Bride, only to have him shot in the chest and left for dead. Part of me wonders if there was a LOT more planned for that interaction, given that Gunn had been teasing out Frank and The Bride since Episode 1. Also, Frankenstein was my favorite character in the series besides G.I. Robot, so he better not be dead…

Again, if the biggest complaint for Creature Commandos ends up being, “I wish this was longer,” then that’s very good news for James Gunn, and the direction of the DCU, in general. The show establishes his unique voice, and his ability to build sustainable, loveable characters. I think he will switch things up for Superman, and I’m very excited for what that becomes. Also, Gunn will get another stab at this property, as Creature Commandos Season 2 already has been confirmed. Maybe we can aim for 9 episodes this time out? With a longer finale? Just asking, for some friends.

Through its first six episodes, the animated series Creature Commandos – available with your Max subscription – has done an incredible job of laying out the brand new DC universe, without detracting from an exciting story taking place within the show. By kicking off the series with Cersei as a villain, head writer and producer James Gunn establishes the mysterious island of Themyscira, and the tease of Wonder Woman. In that jarring nightmare vision included in Creature Commandos Episode 4, Amanda Waller (Viola Davis) witnessed the violent end of the DCU, with loads of clever Easter eggs included. And this week, in an episode dedicated largely to the origins of Dr. Phosphorus (Alan Tudyk), we got our first real look at an alive, in-action Batman… which allowed Gunn the chance to talk a bit about his approach to the Caped Crusader in this new world.

Obviously, we saw a crucified Batman as part of Waller’s vision in Episode 4. But when Creature Commandos took us through Phosphorus’ tragic backstory in the current Episode 6, we got the above shot of the Dark Knight disrupting the criminal’s reign of terror. Like every DC fan out there (I’m sure), I went frame by frame on that very brief shot, trying to draw details about DCU Batman from the still. But as James Gunn revealed to Rotten Tomatoes TV, he went above and beyond to protect specific details regarding this look at Batman, for now. Gunn said:

Allow me to place the tin-foil hat of speculation on my head and guess that one of the main things that Gunn didn’t want to commit to in the rendering is the color of Batman’s suit. Personally, after a steady stream of jet-black Batman costumes on heroes played by Robert Pattinson, Ben Affleck, and Michael Keaton, I’m dying for a Batman to don the grey spandex with the brighter blue cape and cowl. Tell me you wouldn’t lose your mind if Gunn revealed that his DCU Batman, expected to star in The Brave and the Bold, would sport this costume in live-action? It would be Bat-tastic!

OK, so, James Gunn wouldn’t fully reveal the costume that his Batman will eventually wear in the live-action DCU. However, he did confirm a number of specific details that at least cleared up the status of this Batman. Namely, that he already exists when the DCU starts, and has been active for a while. As Gunn went on to explain:

I’ve loved the way that Creature Commandos really hit the ground running, introducing a Suicide Squad-esque villain team, but dropping them into a world that already has history (as shown through the inclusion of Sgt. Rock and Easy Company), and ample territory still to explore. It’s also very cool to see how Gunn has remained flexible, willing to greenlight a feature based on Clayface, so long as the script is in the right shape and it contributes to the overall world he and Peter Safran continue to establish.

The new episode of Creature Commandos is available on Max right now, so make sure you are caught up before the finale starts streaming on Thursday, January 9.

DC Studio heads James Gunn and Peter Safran are in the midst of launching a whole new era for the comic book publisher's presence on the big screen, and for actors, that means that there is an abundance of opportunity. While a number of key roles in the canon have already been taken (as perfectly illustrated by the trailer for Superman that dropped this month), there is no better time than now for a performer to throw their hat in the ring to play a specific character.

For that reason, I am very happy to see that Ben Schwartz continues to pursue his dream of playing a live-action version of Plastic Man.

The Sonic The Hedgehog star has been pitching the idea of playing the stretchy DC hero for years now, and with the DC Universe now starting to take shape, he is not letting the idea go. He recently explained to ComicBook that he has an existing relationship with James Gunn, and while he has a lot of love for what's going on at Marvel, he sees himself with a bright future in the DCU. Said Schwartz,

If you're familiar with Plastic Man and the comedic sensibilities of Ben Schwartz, it's hard not to see this as anything but a slam dunk – and the Deadpool comparison feels apt. While the DC character isn't as violent as the Merc With The Mouth, there are similar irreverent attitudes that fans have long appreciated about the characters that could see them translated to the screen in similar fashions. There is a silliness that would let Plastic Man exist as a unique energy in the DC Universe – and James Gunn has certainly demonstrated an appreciation for silliness in his body of work.

There's a part of me that wonders if a potential big screen future for Plastic Man (and the idea of Ben Schwartz playing the character) will be impacted by the arrival of Matt Shakman's Fantastic Four: First Steps next year. None of the Fantastic Four movies we have seen thus far have done a particularly great job portraying the stretchy abilities of Mr. Fantastic, and if that history can be changed with Pedro Pascal's portrayal in the upcoming Marvel movie, that could motivate DC to give the power a try (albeit with a totally different attitude).

We'll wait and see if the slate of upcoming DC movies ends up expanding with a Plastic Man project, but for now, audiences can start counting down the days until the big screen launch of the DC Universe with James Gunn's Superman on July 11.

The first moment that we see David Corenswet’s Man of Steel in James Gunn’s highly anticipated Superman, he isn’t looking very super. The iconic DC superhero plummets from the skies and crashes down onto the snowy tundra, seemingly near his Fortress of Solitude. Superman has been beaten and battered. He’s coughing up blood, injuries sustained in a fight we didn’t get to see. Speaking of not seeing things, the very next beat of the first Superman trailer features something we have never seen in a live-action Superman movie.

Krypto the dog, who zooms to Superman’s rescue.

James Gunn’s DC universe officially is underway with this exciting, action-packed and triumphant trailer, which you can watch at the top of this story.

You can tell that James Gunn assembled this trailer with his team knowing that every frame was going to be scrutinized by a ravenous fan base. DC crowds have not had a proper, standalone Superman movie since Zack Snyder delivered his unique origin story Man of Steel back in 2013. That film led into a Batman versus Superman team up movie that eventually killed off the Blue Boy Scout, and fans have been waiting for some form of a return for years.

During an event in Los Angeles to celebrate the launch of the first Superman trailer, writer and director James Gunn told journalists:

So what do we see? As one might expect from a Superman movie, we see the dichotomy of the all-powerful Superman in action, and the bumbling physicality that is Clark Kent (also Corenswet) at The Daily Planet, or in conference with his paternal figure, Jonathan Kent (Pruitt Taylor Vince). We get glimpses of the staple characters in the universe, from intrepid reporter Lois Lane (Rachel Brosnahan) to the sinister Lex Luthor (Nicholas Hoult), holding a gun that I have to assume is loaded to Kryptonite bullets?

But the unique aspect of James Gunn’s Superman is that the hero will be inserted into a universe that – from a narrative standpoint – already is up and running. So when the action kicks in, we see Superman (Corenswet) battling creatures alongside Hawkgirl (Isabela Merced) and Guy Gardner (Nathan Fillion), a member of the Green Lantern Corp. We catch a shot of Superman mourning what looks like the robots that protect his Fortress of Solitude, and fighting a being who is rumored to be Ultraman. There’s a lot happening here for DC fans to process.

Luckily, we have several months to work it all out. Superman is due in theaters on July 11, 2025, and will continue the expansion of this new DC universe under James Gunn and Peter Safran. What was your favorite part of this new look at the impending blockbuster?

In a social media post shared to his Instagram, James Gunn referred to the latest Creature Commandos episode, titled “Chasing Squirrels,” as his favorite episode to date. That’s probably because this episode managed to unveil the emotional backstory of a misunderstood creature: Weasel, the monster voiced by Sean Gunn who was introduced in The Suicide Squad. We had been led to believe that Weasel was in Belle Reve for murdering eight children. As this episode explained, Weasel was doing all that he could to save the children he thought of as his friends… until he was shot by townsfolk who feared him.

It’s exactly the type of tragic backstory that James Gunn has been cooking up for his Creature Commando team members in the previous episodes, so we should have been prepared to be moved to tears by the real reason that Weasel twitches in his sleep. He’s dreaming of the young friends he wasn’t able to save. However, in a subplot that still warrants discussing, Creature Commandos also gave audiences their first look at the DCU’s Trinity of Superman, Wonder Woman, and Batman. And given the fact that David Corenswet just made his live-action debut in the first Superman trailer, this glimpse at the rest of the DCU’s leaders is really special.

Batman and Wonder Woman have been sacrificed alongside Superman.

The first look at Batman and Wonder Woman comes as part of a nightmare vision that Amanda Waller (Viola Davis) suffers through when the Themysciran witch Circe (Anya Chalotra) tries to convince her that Princess Illana Rostovic (Maria Bakalova) is actually evil. Waller isn’t sure what to believe. Her instincts tell her that Circe is lying, but then the witch shows her an alternate future, where Rostovic has used her robotic guard to conquer the DC’s heroes, and march on Washington, DC.

Leading up the release of Creature Commandos Episode 4, we got the opportunity to speak with the show’s executive producer and showrunner, Dean Lorey. And when I asked him about the conversations he had with James Gunn about the vision – because it would be the first look that any of us got at the DCU’s Batman and Wonder Woman – Lorey explained:

The vision now creates a conflict in Waller’s mind. Initially, she sent her team to Pokolistan to protect the Princess. But Waller claims that the vision felt too real to be fictional. Now, she wants Rick Flag Sr. (Frank Grillo) to murder the princess before she can pull off this sinister plan. You know that’s not going to go over well, given their romantic entanglement.

What else do we see in the vision?

Familiar faces from the DCU.

The biggest reveals from Circe’s futuristic vision are David Corenswet’s Superman, an unidentified Batman, Wonder Woman, Supergirl, Hawkgirl, and even Peacemaker, who will get a new batch of shows when Peacemaker Season 2 arrives in 2025. They have all been sacrificed by Princess Illana, and her cohorts – shockingly, she appears to team up with the classic Flash villain, Gorilla Grodd.

But how much of this is real? That’s one way that James Gunn can get away with saying that this vision doesn’t really show off a first look at his planned Batman. Because it still might be years before we see the DCU’s Batman appear in what we think will be his first movie, the upcoming DC film The Brave and the Bold.

Then again, given the fact that Gunn recently greenlit a Clayface movie from writer Mike Flanagan, we might see Batman in that movie, too.

The possibilities are endless. All I know is, I didn’t expect to head into Creature Commandos this week and see the DC Trinity in crosses. But these surprises are just one of the many reasons why I am so excited for the way that James Gunn is building this universe. Wait until you see more of the tricks he has up his sleeve as this series rolls along.

It was the most important decision James Gunn had to make. OK, maybe not the MOST important. But given the way that comic book and superhero fans love to argue over specific details – especially when it comes to costumes on our favorite characters – the costuming choice of putting trunks on the new Superman outfit was generating headlines. The most recent silver-screen Superman prior to David Corenswet, Man of Steel star Henry Cavill, had no trunks on his costume. Of course, the icon that is Christopher Reeve sported the red undies. And the Superman comic books presented examples of both over the decades.

So I knew, when I traveled to Cleveland, Ohio to watch James Gunn and his cast film scenes for Superman, that I had to get to the bottom of the “trunks, or no trunks” debate. Let’s get to the bottom of what I was able to unearth.

James Gunn was anti-trunks for a long time.

As it turns out, the idea generated some heat on set, with creatives taking sides and Gunn admitting that not everyone in every department was completely on board. Judianna Makovsky has been Gunn’s costume designer since Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2. She followed him to DC for The Suicide Squad, then took on the task of suiting Ka-El (Corenswet) for a new universe. I asked Gunn during a break in filming about the “trunks versus no trunks” argument, and the director admitted to CinemaBlend:

You can look at various Superman suit designs over the years, and notice just how different they look when you remove a simple item like the red shorts. Heck, at one point back in February 2023, Gunn even made a poll on Twitter asking fans which they preferred.

However, when it came time to make the final call, it was the man wearing the suit who brought up a point that James Gunn couldn’t shake.

‘He dresses like a professional wrestler.’

As James Gunn went on to elaborate on the costuming process for Superman, the director spoke with leading man David Corenswet, who brought up a very interesting wrinkle in the superhero-suit conversation. According to Gunn:

As with so many superheroes in the DC universe, there are two sides that need to be reflected, and often, they are at war with each other. For Batman, there is the tireless vigilante hunting criminals in Gotham. But there’s also the elusive playboy billionaire Bruce Wayne, who seems not to have a care in the world. With Superman, every storyteller wrestles with Clark Kent and Kal-El – with the Kansas farm boy, and the alien from another planet.

So, as Gunn concluded to CinemaBlend:

Personally, I love it. I never viewed trunks as a make or break on a Superman suit, because I liked Henry Cavill’s Superman suit. But I’m willing to roll with a change, if Gunn and Corenswet think it’s the right way forward.

Superman is poised to be a massive blockbuster for Warner Bros. when it opens on July 11, 2025. We plan to have plenty more from the set as we get closer to the release of the movie. And you will be able to see the first Superman trailer when it arrives on Thursday, December 19, so stay tuned.

Warning: SPOILERS for the Creature Commandos episode “Cheers to the Tin Man” are ahead!

There are a lot of upcoming DC movies and upcoming DC TV shows to look forward to in the new DC Universe franchise spearheaded by James Gunn, which finally got underway a week ago with the debut of the animated series Creature Commandos. A few weeks ahead of the first two episodes premiering, though, it was reported that Daniel Craig is being lined up for a Sgt. Rock movie that will re-team with Queer director Luca Guadagnino. Now, upon hearing news like that, it’d probably be logical to assume that Craig is playing Sgt. Rock for such a movie… right? Well, it might not be so clear cut anymore now that the latest episode of Creature Commandos, titled “Cheers to the Tin Man”, has raised some questions.

The third installment of this series that can be streamed with a Max subscription split its time between showing the title team clashing with the Sons of Circe and their boss sorceress, and following along with G.I. Robot from World War II to his incarceration in Belle Reve in the 1990s. In the DC Universe, G.I. was part of Easy Company, the US Army Infantry unit led by Sgt. Rock. Prior to meeting Nina Mazursky, Rock and the Easy Company men were the only friends he made. Sadly, because G.I. was decommissioned after the war and ended up in the possession of various individuals, including scientist Will Magnus and a neo-Nazi named Sam Fitzgibbon, he never reunited with his “boys” to kill Nazis.

So Sgt. Rock has made his DC Universe debut, with Maury Sterling from Smokin’ Aces and Homeland voicing him. It was a minor appearance at best, but at least it establishes that he and Easy Company were active in World War II, thus planting the seed for Daniel Craig’s Sgt. Rock movie, assuming it moves forward. So what’s the problem?

Well, James Gunn, who co-created Creature Commandos and is co-president of DC Studios with producer Peter Safran, has said on numerous occasions that actors who voice characters in animated projects will also play them in live-action projects. For example, the Creature Commandos are led in this series by Frank Grillo’s Rick Flag Sr. and Grillo will reprise the character in live-action for Gunn’s Superman reboot and Peacemaker Season 2. So now that Maury Sterling has voiced Sgt. Rock in Creature Commandos, does that mean he’ll play him in the movie too rather than Daniel Craig, who would instead play a villain or important supporting character?

Honestly, this could just be a case where when Creature Commandos was being made, the Sgt. Rock movie hadn’t been thought up yet, so Sterling was simply cast because he was the best fit for the role. If that’s what happened, then James Gunn will likely make an exception and allow Craig to take over as that character. Now, one could argue that as seen above, Sterling looks closer to Sgt. Rock in Creature Commandos than Craig doesn’t, but again, Gunn could just ignore this in favor of putting the James Bond alum in the role.

I could just be overthinking this… but I also will occasionally continue pondering the subject until it’s officially confirmed who Craig is playing in Sgt. Rock. Until then, I’ll also continue to watch Creature Commandos, which drops new episodes Thursdays on Max.

When The Batman was released in 2022, we were still in the DC Extended Universe era, with that shared universe having its own Bruce Wayne being played by Ben Affleck, allowing Robert Pattinson’s version to exist separately. Now the DC Universe franchise is underway, the upcoming DC movie The Brave and the Bold will introduce its own version of the Caped Crusader for this new shared continuity. That said, DC Studios’ James Gunn has “contemplated” possibly using Pattinson’s Batman in the DCU instead, but I like what he had to say about why it’s better for this version of the character to exist in the Elseworlds space.

Gunn, who co-runs DC Studios with producer Peter Safran, discussed a variety of topics with reporter Josh Horowitz for the Happy Sad Confused podcast, including Creature Commandos, which has now premiered to Max subscription holders and is the first DCU project. When Horowitz inquired about if Gunn has contemplated having Pattinson’s Batman be incorporated into the DCU rather than keep him cordoned off in his own universe, the filmmaker/executive answered:

While much of what’s coming to the big and small screens DC-wise will be tied to the DC Universe, as James Gunn says, he likes DC Studios having the space to make content that isn’t connected to this new continuity. The Batman Epic Crime Saga, which so far comprises The Batman and The Penguin limited series, as well as the two Joker movies starring Joaquin Phoenix, are among the projects that fit that classification. The DC Universe will still be a big deal, but then there’s also the freedom to put different spins on these popular heroes and villains. Gunn continued:

To be clear, Marvel is no stranger to exploring versions of its popular characters from other universes, as evidenced by the source material that’s being pulled from for the MCU’s Multiverse Saga and the Spider-Verse movies. But I do agree with James Gunn that DC leans more heavily into that kind of storytelling, whether we’re talking about material stamped with the Elseworlds label or tales tied to the main DC continuity. Either way, Gunn is comfortable with Robert Pattinson’s Batman continuing to exist on his own, meaning the wait continues to learn who will don the cape and cowl for the DC Universe.

The Brave and the Bold doesn’t have a release date yet, but the first DC Universe movie, Superman, comes out on July 11, 2025. Robert Pattinson will don the Batsuit again for The Batman: Part II, which arrives on October 2, 2026.

The DC Extended Universe is over, but there will still be a few holdovers from this era for the new DC Universe franchise, including characters like John Cena’s Peacemaker, Viola Davis’ Amanda Waller and Xolo Maridueña’s Blue Beetle. Now Connie Nielsen would like to join that club, with the actress having previously played Hippolyta in Wonder Woman, both cuts of Justice League and Wonder Woman 1984. She’s even humorously (yet still passionately) pleaded for James Gunn and the rest of the leadership at DC to make this happen.

Nielsen expressed her eagerness to reprise Hippolyta while attending the premiere of her latest movie, Gladiator II, which opened last weekend on the 2024 release schedule. Here’s what the actress told IGN:

You gotta love that enthusiasm! Just like in the comics, Connie Nielsen’s Hippolyta was the immortal queen of the Amazons on Themyscira and mother of Diana, played by Gal Gadot. Hippolyta did her best to shield Diana from the outside world, but when Chris Pine’s Steve Trevor crashed on the island and informed the Amazons about World War I, the queen reluctantly allowed her daughter to accompany Steve back to help end the conflict. Hippolyta appeared in a flashback to Diana’s childhood years in Wonder Woman 1984, and in Justice League, she and the other Amazons unsuccessfully tried to prevent Steppenwolf from stealing Themyscira’s Mother Box.

So what are the odds Connie Nielsen could also play Hippolyta in the DC Universe? While I wouldn’t necessarily call them strong, in addition to there being precedent for this kind of casting move thanks to the aforementioned actors, there’s also an upcoming DC TV show that would be perfect for her to reprise the role in. Paradise Lost is set to explore the political conflicts on the DCU’s Themyscira before Wonder Woman was born. It’s a good bet that Hippolyta will be one of the main characters, and maybe James Gunn, who co-runs DC Studios with Peter Safran, would legitimately entertain bringing Nielsen back aboard.

However, it could be a long time before we learn if that’s a possibility one way or another. With Creature Commandos premiering December 5 on the 2024 TV schedule and Peacemaker Season 2 lined up for a summer drop on the 2025 TV schedule, the next DCU show in development is Lanterns, which will star Kyle Chandler as Hal Jordan and Aaron Pierre as John Stewart. That series isn’t expected to debut until sometime in 2026, and after that, it’s unclear which DCU show will be worked on next. Maybe it’ll be Paradise Lost, or maybe it’ll be something like Waller or Booster Gold.

Whatever the case, and with or without Connie Nielsen’s involvement, we’ll keep you apprised on news surrounding Paradise Lost once it comes in. Like the other DCU shows, it’ll be streamable with a Max subscription.

When James Gunn and Peter Safran took on the challenge of reinventing the DC cinematic universe, they inherited two curveballs. There were two franchises, at the time, that had established their own levels of success, and were deemed “Elseworld” projects – existing outside of the canon that Gunn and Safran were going to establish. One was Todd Phillips’ Joker, which effectively ended its run after the ending scene of Joker: Folie a Deux. But the other was Matt Reeves’ The Batman, which has a sequel on the horizon, and just expanded out with the critically acclaimed HBO series The Penguin. What is Gunn going to do with it?

I ask this because I spent this past week binging The Penguin all over again with my 20-year-old son, P.J., who is home for Thanksgiving break. P.J. grew up with all things Marvel and DC, and loves that type of interconnected, superhero world-building. And he devoured The Penguin, having loved Robert Pattinson’s take on the Caped Crusader, and really embracing the gangster atmosphere created by The Penguin showrunner Lauren LeFranc and her cast and crew. He thought Colin Farrell was awesome as Oz. He loved the additions of Sofia Gigante (the brilliant Cristin Milioti), the expansion of the Falcone story, and the tragedy of Victor.

And as soon as it ended, P.J. told me he couldn’t wait for Superman, because he felt like DC was finally heading in the right direction.

I didn’t have the heart – or the patience – to start explaining how the worlds would not be connected.

Again, my son grew up on this type of storytelling. He came of age during a time that I like to consider the Golden Age of Comic Book Storytelling. He watched Kevin Feige build the MCU, one feature at a time. He went to all of the DCEU movies, even coming with me to watch a 30-second tease for the trailer for Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, just so he could get two posters… which he proudly hung on his bedroom wall. He loves this. He understands this.

And even he thinks that Reeves’ Batman stories are part of the new DCU that’s kicking off in December with Creature Commandos.

Right now, the plan is to keep these universes separate. Matt Reeves is hard at work on The Batman: Part 2, which will open in theaters in October of 2026. There are rumors of a second spinoff series potentially being worked on to help fill the gap as fans of this Gotham wait for more stories in the world. Or maybe even a Penguin Season 2? I wouldn’t want them to force anything. The story would have to be as compelling as the narrative we got over the episodes of The Penguin. But it’s possible.

The problem is, James Gunn is eventually going to want to do his own take on Batman. And he has announced what that would be. The Brave and the Bold was part of Gunn’s initial announcement when he and Peter Safran revealed the DCU. The movie will adapt a Batman comic that focuses on Bruce Wayne and his biological son, Damian Wayne. Only, Damian was raised by his mother, Talia al Ghul, and the League of Shadows. So he’s a trained assassin, and a hothead. It’s a new take on Batman and Robin that we haven’t seen in live action. And it might be years before it ever makes it to the screen, because Gunn has said they won’t greenlight it until they have a finished script that he loves. Which makes a ton of sense.

In the meantime, the DCU will start laying groundwork for a developing universe with the animated Creature Commandos show, a live-action Superman movie in 2025, a planned Supergirl movie, Peacemaker Season 2, and a Green Lantern show that just recently ramped up its casting. And I’m fairly confident that many audience members will be like my son, and jump to the conclusion that Robert Pattinson’s Batman is part of this world. Because explaining the concept of an Elseworld story to a non-comic-book reader is confusing.

Do I think that Gunn should just absorb The Batman into his DCU? And that Robert Pattinson should be the Batman who interacts with David Corenswet? No, I don’t think so. I think Gunn should get the opportunity to put his own spin on the Dark Knight. And that Matt Reeves should be allowed to finish what he started, which sounds like it might be a trilogy of films, with a few shows sprinkled in. The market can handle multiple Batman stories.

They just should brace for some confusion, as multiple DC stories enter the marketplace over the next several years.

It's no secret that the 2024 movie release calendar is lacking in superhero movies. Deadpool & Wolverine is coming out at the end of the month, but between James Gunn and Peter Safran cooking up the new DC Universe and the Hollywood labor battles of 2023 delaying the slate of upcoming Marvel movies, comic book blockbusters have not been a big thing this year. All that being said, 2025 is set to be huge, and we are now exactly one year away from the release of Superman.

Featuring a stellar cast led by David Corenswet and Rachel Brosnahan, Superman will be arriving in theaters everywhere on July 11, 2025, and with that date now being exactly 365 days away, James Gunn has uploaded a celebratory post to Instagram. The movie is still in the midst of production, but the filmmaker is keeping an eye on the future:

While Superman hasn't been completely absent from the big screen in recent years thanks to Henry Cavill's performances in the DC Extended Universe, it has now been more than a decade since we last got to see a movie specifically centering on the red-and-blue-clad Kryptonian – the last one being Zack Snyder's Man of Steel from 2013. We don't know much of anything about the plot of the blockbuster, the cast of characters (including many staffers of The Daily Planet) suggests the movie will give us an intimate look into the world of Clark Kent along with plenty of superhero action.

Superman should be a special film, as while it's helping to launch a new era of DC movies and a fresh canon, it's also notably not an origin story that will retread material with which fans are already overly familiar. Not only will David Corenswet's incarnation of the character already be an experienced hero, he will be living in a world that is full of other heroes trying to keep the planet safe. Among others, we know about Isabela Merced playing Hawkgirl, Edi Gathegi appearing as Mr. Terrific, Anthony Carrigan playing Metamorpho, and Nathan Fillion making his debut as Guy Gardner a.k.a. Green Lantern, but there are also plenty of surprises expected.

There is a lot of hype and anticipation for Superman, but when looking at the film from exactly one year out, one must also acknowledge that it will be hitting theaters during what is set to be a massive summer blockbuster season that includes many upcoming superhero movies, including Fantastic Four, which is set for July 25, 2024 – just two weeks after the first DC Universe feature. A lot will surely be made of competition at the box office in the months to come between the projects, but presently, it just sounds like audiences are going to have a lot to be excited about 12 months from now.

While there are plenty of superhero identities that have been shared by multiple individuals in the DC Comics universe, there are literally thousands of Green Lanterns active at the same time. They all have one thing in common: their green rings allow them to fly, survive in space and forge amazing physical constructs using their immense willpower and imagination. The Green Lantern mythology has been explored in various movies, TV shows and video games, and now it’s time for the DC Universe to point the spotlight on these ringslingers.

The DCU is emerging from the ashes of the DCEU to create a new shared continuity for the public, comprised of numerous upcoming DC movies and upcoming DC TV shows. It’s already been confirmed the Green Lanterns will have a presence in this franchise, namely through the Lanterns TV series. So let’s go over 32 Green Lanterns that could appear in the rebooted DCU, starting with three confirmed to be on the way.

Hal Jordan

Although not the first superhero from Earth to go by Green Lantern, Hal Jordan is the first human who was recruited into the Green Lantern Corps. Although there was a brief stint where he was controlled by the parallax entity and became a villain, Hal has otherwise been one of the more prominent DC superheroes, and he’s often depicted as a founding member of the Justice League. Ryan Reynolds played him in the 2011 Green Lantern movie.

John Stewart

When John Stewart was introduced to the comics, he was selected to become Green Lantern because Guy Gardner, Hal Jordan’s previous backup, was injured. These days, though, he’s arguably the most well-known Green Lantern after Hal, if not more so, which is in large part thanks to the character being spotlighted in Justice League and Justice League Unlimited, two of the best animated TV shows of all time. John protects Earth alongside Hal in Lanterns, with the show marking his live-action debut.

Guy Gardner

Guy Gardner will be the first Green Lantern featured in the DCU, as Nathan Fillion plays him as a member of the Superman cast. As already mentioned, Guy was originally Hal Jordan’s backup as a Green Lantern in the comics, but like the other human Lanterns, he eventually started operating as a regular superhero. He’s best known for his brash and cocky personality, and was also one of the founding members of the Justice League International.

Kyle Rayner

When the Green Lantern Central Power Battery was destroyed by the Parallax-corrupted Hal Jordan, thus resulting in the Green Lantern Corps being wiped out, one of these green rings managed to be saved. That ring was bequeathed to an artist named Kyle Rayner, and for several years, he was the only one holding down the Green Lantern mantle. Kyle stuck around when the Corps was reformed as an Honor Guard, like Guy, and there was a period of time when he could harness all of the emotional spectrum as a White Lantern.

Simon Baz

Simon Baz was the first Green Lantern to be introduced during the New 52 era. His original ring was a fusing of Hal Jordan’s and Sinestro’s rings after they’d disappeared during a fight with Black Hand, and it selected him to be its wearer while he was being interrogated by authorities for a factory bombing. But even after Hal and Sinestro came back, Simon continued to operate as a Green Lantern, and eventually he learned to rely solely on his ring while in the field and stopped carrying a gun to use in case of an emergency.

Jessica Cruz

Originally Jessica Cruz was forcibly taken over by the Ring of Volthoom, which belonged to the late Power Ring from Earth-3. Jessica was already in a bad way mentally, as she’d been traumatized when she saw her friends being murdered during a camping trip a few years earlier. Fortunately, the Earth-3 power ring was destroyed and Jessica was selected immediately afterward to become a Green Lantern. For a time, she was partnered with Simon Baz when they were selected to protect Earth by Hal Jordan.

Alan Scott

Although Alan Scott was the first Green Lantern to be introduced in the comics, he’s not actually a member of the Green Lantern Corps. That’s because Alan, who became a superhero in the 1940s and helped found the Justice Society of America, uses a ring forged from a metallic meteorite that’s based on magic rather than science. The origins of Alan’s ring were later tied back to a Corps member called Yalan Gur, and rather than having a yellow impurity like most of the Corps’ rings once had, Alan’s has a weakness to wood.

Sojourner Mullein

Sojourner “Jo” Mullein was introduced as the lead character in the Far Sector comic book miniseries, being assigned to the title location, which is the farthest out the Guardians of the Universe’s jurisdiction goes, for one year. After the miniseries concluded, Jo started to be highlighted in the main Green Lantern comics. Unlike other power rings, Jo’s recharges slowly over time rather than needing to be recharged with a battery.

Abin Sur

Abin Sur was the Green Lantern of Sector 2814, meaning Earth was among the planets under his protection. While the circumstances in which Abin was gravely injured and crashed on Earth differ depending on the continuity, the end result was the same. With his dying words, he tasked his ring with finding a worthy successor, and Hal Jordan was selected.

Sinestro

Sinestro is chiefly known as one of the Green Lantern Corps’ greatest adversaries, and he’s specifically Hal Jordan’s arch-nemesis. His yellow power ring granted him the same abilities as a Green Lantern’s, but is harnessed through fear rather than willpower. But before his turn to the dark side, Sinestro was a Green Lantern who was kicked out of the Corps for his iron-fisted methods, though he was forced to temporarily become a Green Lantern again at the end of the War of the Green Lanterns storyline.

Kilowog

Just because someone is chosen to be a Green Lantern doesn’t mean they automatically know how to use their ring and are ready to protect the inhabitants of their sector. Someone needs to train them, and Kilowog is just the Green Lantern to do it. Outside of the human Green Lanterns and Sinestro, Kilowog is arguably the most well-known member of the Corps, frequently joining his comrades in battle when he’s not keeping busy as a drill sergeant.

Salaak

Salaak was quickly established as a follower of rules and protocols when he was introduced, and following the reformation of the Green Lantern Corps in the mid-2000s, the Guardians of the Universe chose him to be the organization’s senior administrator and keeper of the Book of Oa. However, when necessary, he’ll go back into the field to fight alongside the other Green Lanterns.

Katma Tui

When Sinestro was booted out of the Green Lantern Corps, Katma Tui, another native of the planet Korugar, was chosen as his successor. She would go on to later go on to train John Stewart when he took over being Sector 2814’s main Green Lantern after Hal Jordan resigned. Katma and John then fell in love and married, but she was killed by Star Sapphire at a time when she wasn’t using her ring.

Arisia Rrab

In a strange breaking of the norm, Arisia Rrab comes from a family of Green Lanterns, including her father. After he and her uncle died, Arisia became Sector 2815’s Green Lantern, albeit only as a teenager. She had a crush on Hal Jordan, and after subconsciously using the ring’s power to age her body, they formed a romantic relationship but ultimately broke up. Arisia was later partnered up with Sodam Yat. 

Sodam Yat

Sodam Yat is a Daxamite, a race of beings descended from Kryptonians. This means that in addition to wielding the power that comes with a Green Lantern ring, he also has the same kind of abilities Superman has when under a yellow sun’s light, like super strength, super speed, and heat vision. As if all that wasn’t enough to cement him as a heavyweight, there was a period when, like Kyle Rayner before him, Sodam became the vessel for Ion, the entity that embodies willpower.

Ch’p

No, a squirrel wasn’t chosen to be a Green Lantern. Ch’p comes from the planet H’lven, whose denizens just happen to look like those furry rodents. Ch’p was stationed on Earth for a while, though he had such a bad time on Earth because the squirrels on Earth aren’t sentient that he eventually went home. Bd’g died when he was crushed by a yellow tractor trailer… seriously.

Mogo

Since this is a sentient planet we’re talking about, it’s safe to call Mogo literally the biggest member of the Green Lantern Corps. Along with his Lantern powers, Mogo is capable of altering his own weather and surface conditions and plays an integral role in distributing rings to their new wearers. He also served as the Corps’ headquarters at a time when Oa wasn’t being inhabited.

Soranik Natu

When the Green Lanterns Corps was reformed, a surgeon from the planet Korugar named Soranik Natu was chosen to be the Green Lantern of Sector 1417. Soranik later learned that she was the daughter of Sinestro, and her mother was Arin Sur, Abin Sur’s sister. Although Soranik initially detested her father, she eventually followed in his footsteps by donning a yellow power ring and becoming the leader of the Sinestro Corps.

Tomar-Re

When Hal Jordan joined the Green Lantern Corps, he formed a friendship with Tomar-Re, who protected the neighboring Sector 2813. Tomar-Re played an indirect role in the creation of Superman, as he failed to stop Krypton, one of the planets in his sector, from exploding. When the Crisis on Infinite Earths event happened, he came out of retirement to aid the Corps once more, but he was killed by the supervillain Goldface.

Ganthet

Ganthet is arguably the best known of the Guardians of the Universe, distinguishable by being less stern than the others in that group and the one who gave Kyle Rayner his ring. As a Guardian, Ganthet already wields tremendous cosmic power, but during the Blackest Night event, he inducted himself directly into the Green Lantern Corps and stayed there until the beginning of the New 52.

G’nort

As one can presume from an anthropomorphic dog-looking alien, G’nort has mainly been used as comic relief in the comics, but what he lacks in intelligence he makes up for in courage and bravery. He was later revealed to be cousins with Lafleeze, the sole member of the Orange Lantern Corps.

Isamot Kol

A Lizarkon from the planet Thanagar, Isamot Kol was selected to become a Green Lantern right before he was going to be executed for killing a superior officer because he was going to surrender to the enemy. He frequently butted heads with the Rannian Vath Sarn because their two worlds were at war, but they eventually formed a friendship. He died when Oa’s Central Power Battery was blown up.

Vath Sarn

Vath Sarn was recruited into the Green Lantern Corps around the same time as Isamot Kol, and as already mentioned, the two did not get along at first. Making matters worse, they had to partner up to protect their shared sector, but over time, they overcame their differences, to the point that Isamot, who’s capable of regenerating his limbs, had his own two legs surgically grafted onto Vath after he lost his legs during Blackest Night.

Bzzd

Ironically, Mogo’s sector partner is the smallest Green Lantern, but despite his stature, he has just as much willpower as his comrades and often makes giant-sized constructs. Bzzd died in battle against Mongul II.

Hannu

Unlike other Green Lanterns, Hannu, who protects Sector 2, doesn’t use his ring except for traveling and staying alive in space. He instead prefers using his own strength when fighting enemies, though he made an exception during the Sinestro Corps War and broke out some constructs when going up against The Anti-Monitor.

Boodikka

When Boodikka was recruited into the Green Lantern Corps, she quickly became adept at using her ring but was criticized by other members of the organization for being undisciplined and having a problem with authority. Boodikka was one of the Lost Lanterns, i.e. a group of Corps members who Hal Jordan left to die when he was Parallax. Boodikka later became one of the cybernetic Alpha Lanterns to police the Corps, i.e. make sure no Green Lanterns were performing illegal actions with their rings.

Green Man

Coming from the planet Uxor, where individualism isn’t a thing, there was a being who longed for his own identity, so when he was offered the chance to join the Green Lantern Corps, he accepted and chose the name Green Man. Despite being shown killed by Durlans during Invasion!, he later resurfaced and was partnered up with the robot Stel and then became an Alpha Lantern.

Chaselon

Chaselon is a sentient crystalline being with 13 senses rather than six. He’d been a Green Lantern for quite some time when Hal Jordan joined, and after the Corps was reformed, he was among the first brought back. Chaselon joined the Alpha Lanterns Corps, but he was killed by the Black Lantern Corps during Blackest Night.

Varix

Varix came from the planet Naktos, whose people are so dedicated to justice that a murder has not been committed on the planet in 74 years. So naturally that made him a good fit to be a Green Lantern, which in turn resulted in him becoming an Alpha Lantern. However, that came to an end when he sided with John Stewart over his decision to kill a fellow Green Lantern who was about to reveal crucial information to an enemy. The other Alpha Lanterns were going to execute John, But Varix helped him and the other Green Lanterns destroy them, then destroyed himself.

Ke’Haan

Once Kilowog’s second-in-command, Ke’Haan was the first Green Lantern to be defeated when Hal Jordan was corrupted by Parallax. Rather than dying, he became one of the Lost Lanterns, who’d fallen off the grid when they were captured by the Manhunters. Even after rejoining the Corps, Ke’Haan despised Hal for what he’d done, and they never made peace, as he was killed by the Anti-Monitor during the Sinestro Corps War.

Larvox

Similar to Green Man, Larvox comes from a world where there are no individuals, but becoming a Green Lantern allows it to break off from the pact. Larvox can only communicate with his fellow Lanterns using its ring, and while it spent some time as a Darkstar, it embraced the emerald light of willpower again when the Corps was reformed.

Galius Zed

From fighting Krona and Nekron to surviving Crisis on Infinite Earths, Galius Zed participated in many of the Green Lantern Corps’ greatest battles. Like Larvox, he also became a Darkstar, but he was later killed by Fatality, a warrior who was exacting on John Stewart because he failed to save her homeward, Xanshi, from being destroyed.

The premiere of My Adventures with Superman and the influx of news concerning the upcoming Superman movie were just two of the reasons 2023 was a great year to be a fan of the Man of Steel. Cut to now, My Adventures with Superman Season 2 is now airing on the 2024 TV schedule, and James Gunn recently shared that Superman is a little over halfway through shooting. It will be a while until the public gets to see footage from this upcoming DC movie. In the meantime, cast and crew members from the Adult Swim series told us what they’re looking forward to most from Gunn’s reboot that’s one of the first projects set in the DC Universe shared continuity.

Creators Brendan Clogher, Josie Campbell And Jake Wyatt

Let’s kick off with the people who created My Adventures with Superman and serve as its showrunners: Brendan Clogher, Josie Campbell and Jake Wyatt. At the end of our conversation tied to My Adventures with Superman Season 2’s release, which included them talking about Lex Luthor’s alliance with Amanda Waller, Supergirl’s forthcoming arrival and that big Jor-El twist in “More Things in Heaven and Earth,” I asked them what they were hoping to see from James Gunn’s Superman movie. After Wyatt noted that none of the prior interviewers had posed that question to them during the junket that day, Clogher responded:

While Henry Cavill’s Clark Kent did get hired by The Daily Planet at the end of Man of Steel, and Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice showed him working as a reporter, that aspect of his life didn’t get a ton of attention. That’s not to say Superman will rectify that for the Clark David Corenswet is playing, but Clogher is hopeful that’ll be the case. Next, Campbell mentioned her satisfaction with Rachel Brosnahan being cast as Lois Lane:

She’s not alone in feeling that way, as our own Riley Utley declared Brosnahan playing Lois to be perfect casting when the news initially came out. Then Wyatt mentioned both being interested to see how these versions of Clark and Lois do paired together, saying:

Now that we’ve covered the creative minds behind My Adventures with Superman, let’s shift over to two of the show’s leading trio of actors.

Actors Ishmel Sahid And Alice Lee

In addition to Jack Quaid voicing Clark Kent/Kal-El, My Adventures with Superman stars Alice Lee as Lois Lane and Ishmel Sahid as Jimmy Olsen, with both characters frequently tagging along on their Kryptonian buddy’s superhero exploits, as the title of the show lays out. Along with Brosnahan coming aboard the Superman movie, Skylar Gisondo has has been cast as that project’s Jimmy Olsen. When I asked Sahid and Lee (who also commented on their characters’ “dynamic” with Lex Luthor) what they’re hoping to see from these live-action cinematic takes on the characters they voice in the animated television space, the former started off by saying:

Hey, there’s nothing wrong with just waiting to see how James Gunn does with one of pop culture’s most famous superheroes. Lee echoed Sahid’s thoughts, as well as joined in on giving Rachel Brosnahan props:

Superman is James Gunn’s third DC project under his belt, having previously helmed The Suicide Squad and the first season of Peacemaker. Although Superman is still rolling cameras, Gunn shared that filming has also begun on Season 2 of the latter TV series, which can be streamed with a Max subscription. As if that wasn’t enough to keep him busy, he’s also co-running DC Studios with Peter Safran, and together they came up with the opening “Gods and Monsters” slate of DC Universe movies and TV shows.

Superman flies into theaters on July 11, 2025, and new episodes of My Adventures with Superman premiere Sundays at midnight ET on Adult Swim. Keep checking back with CinemaBlend for all the biggest news item’s concerning the Man of Steel’s big and small screen adaptations.

In the last two decades, David Dastmalchian has done a wonderful job establishing himself within the ever-expanding DC multiverse. Fans will first remember seeing him playing one of The Joker’s henchmen in Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight, and while he has established extreme genre cred generally in in the years since then (from Dune to the Marvel Cinematic Universe to Stephen King movies), DC movies and TV have been a big part of his filmography. He was on multiple episodes of both Gotham and The Flash, voiced Calendar Man in the two-part animated feature Batman: The Long Halloween, and most recently played Polka-Dot Man in The Suicide Squad.

Unfortunately, it has not yet been announced whether or not he will end up being a part of what co-CEOS James Gunn and Peter Safran are presently building with the blossoming DC Universe… but the actor is excited regardless for what the filmmakers are planning with the future of the franchise.

David Dastmalchian’s latest movie, the wonderfully creepy Late Night With The Devil, is set to be released in theaters later this month, and when I spoke with him about the new film earlier this month, I made time at the end of the interview to ask about his status with DC. He told me that he hasn’t yet heard from James Gunn about a part in the DCU, but he is thrilled that the filmmaker is both holding the reigns of the brand and making the now-in-production Superman. Said Dastmalchian,

Not only does David Dastmalchian have history with James Gunn via the aforementioned The Suicide Squad, the two men also had a chance to collaborate back in the mid-2010s on the indie horror film The Belko Experiment (Gunn wrote and produced and Dastmalchian has a supporting role). The actor spoke to his personal affection for the co-CEO of DC Studios, saying,

Anyone who has seen James Gunn’s Guardians of the Galaxy movies and The Suicide Squad knows that he is a brilliant filmmaker who is beyond passionate about comic books and genre storytelling. His work on Superman already has buzz thanks to the tremendous talent that has been lined up to star, and the whole slate of upcoming DC movies looks like it could be filled with treasures.

As for David Dastmalchian, there are perhaps hundreds of characters that the talented actor could do justice to (no pun intended), and given his history both in DC projects and with Gunn, his involvement with the DCU at some point feels inevitable. It could be fun to see him play an alternate version of Abner Krill a.k.a. Polka-Dot Man (the one in The Suicide Squad having been crushed and killed by Starro), but it feels too limiting to suggest a part he’s already played.

We here at CinemaBlend certainly anticipate the day that a perfect role is found for him in the DC Universe, but until that news comes, fans can simply enjoy all of his previous contributions to the franchise. As noted, audiences will also be able to see his next film very soon, as Late Night With The Devil will be arriving in theaters on March 22. Be sure to stay tuned here on the site for more from my conversation with David Dastmalchian in the coming weeks.

When Superman, previously known as Superman: Legacy arrives next year from director James Gunn, it will also introduce a lot more than just a new version of the titular protagonist. The Superman cast is stacked with heroes and villains who will making their DC Universe debut in the film. The biggest among them is arguably Supergirl, who will be played by Milly Alcock. She will be the third different Supergirl in the last decade, but one of the previous actresses to don the cape says that it’s great to see multiple Supergirl interpretations.

Melissa Benoist played Supergirl for six seasons on television, and the character was also in The Flash movie played by Sasha Calle (one of the highlights of the film). A third iteration of the Kryptonian heroine in quick succession might seem like too much, but Benoist doesn’t think that there’s any way we could have too much Supergirl. She recently told ScreenRant that it is important for young women to see Kara Danvers in multiple ways, saying,

Melissa Benoist has a good point here. The versions of the characters played by her and Sasha Calle were certainly very different takes compared to each other. Benoist’s small screen take on Supergirl is a more traditional iteration, while Sasha Calle’s is a Supergirl raised in a brutal environment, and she is a much darker character because of it. Perhaps, if one version doesn’t work for some viewers, the other does.

As popular as the superhero genre still is right now, it’s incredibly male-dominated and there aren’t nearly as many female characters for young women to look up to and be inspired by. If Supergirl has to represent more, by being represented in different ways, so be it.

While we have yet to see Milly Alcock’s Supergirl, we can bet it will be different from both previous live-action interpretations. Alcock will follow her debut in the new Superman movie by leading her own film. Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow's release date is unknown, but we know the film has a script, making it further along than most other projects in the DCU Chapter 1.  The film is inspired by a comic that sees the character not grow up on Earth at all, leading to a very different outlook.

Superman the first upcoming DC movie in James Gunn’s new universe is now being filmed. Fans are certainly excited to see what this new Superman is like, and the same goes for Supergirl.

When it comes to superhero movies, for a long time, James Gunn was chiefly known for his work in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and for good reason. With the three Guardians of the Galaxy movies and The Holiday Special (available exclusively to Disney+ subscribers), he catapulted a team of previously obscure characters into pop culture icons. Nowadays though, Gunn is a DC man through and through thanks to his job co-running DC Studios with Peter Safran. And yet, #FireJamesGunn continues to be a viral hashtag on X (formerly known as Twitter), and I have some thoughts on this, though most of them boil down to confusion.

As you’ll see if you look through #FireJamesGunn, the hashtag has started trending again over the last few days. It’s unclear what exactly prompted this latest barrage, but it doesn’t take long to see that these many of these posts come from fans of Zack Snyder’s DC movies, i.e. Man of Steel, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice and Zack Snyder’s Justice League (not to be confused with the theatrical cut of Justice League, which was largely put together by Joss Whedon during extensive reshoots). A good chunk of these posts are also accompanied by the hashtags #RestoreTheSnyderVerse, #boycottwbd and #SellSnyderVerseToNetflix, with the latter referencing these fans’ desire to see Snyder’s Justice League saga completed over at Netflix.

I’m not going to fall down the DC Zack Snyder rabbit hole in this article, though bear in mind that Netflix subscribers already have plenty to look forward to from the filmmaker with Rebel Moon Part 2 and Planet of the Dead, among other projects. Rather, I’m perplexed by all the hate directed at James Gunn considering that, as far as his DC Studios work goes, none of it has actually been seen by the public yet. 

Now to be fair, the DC-related vitriol that’s been directed towards James Gunn stretches back to when he was tapped to helm 2021’s The Suicide Squad, and that continued when the spinoff series Peacemaker, which he also wrote and directed, released to Max subscribers. Both those projects were critically well received for the most part, but you’re certainly well within your rights not to like one or either of them. Opinions are subjective, after all.

But beyond that, we’re a ways off from the results of James Gunn creatively driving DC’s media efforts. Yes, Shazam! Fury of the Gods, The Flash, Blue Beetle and Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom did all come out in 2023, but all those movies were either completed, or at the very least in postproduction, when Gunn and Safran took the DC Studios reins. They may have helped promote these four movies, but they had nothing to with coming together in the first place.

Although the DC Universe will officially get underway later this year with the Max-exclusive animated series Creature Commandos, both Gunn and Safran have said that they consider 2025’s Superman: Legacy, the first DCU movie, to be the “true beginning” of this new shared continuity. Other projects on the horizon include the movies The Brave and the Bold, The Authority, Superman: Woman of Tomorrow (which will see Milly Alcock playing Kara Zor-El) and Swamp Thing, and the TV shows Waller, Lanterns, Paradise Lost, Booster Gold, a second season of Peacemaker and an Arkham Asylum series.

That’s a lot to look forward to on the upcoming DC movies and upcoming DC TV shows front, but it’s not fair to declare that James Gunn be fired when we haven’t actually seen what he has in store yet for the DCU. I sympathetic to those of you who wish the DCEU was still going, particularly if you were heavily invested in Zack Snyder’s corner of the franchise. But that shared continuity ended with the Aquaman sequel, and while there may come a day when we revisit some of its characters thanks to the DC multiverse, we need to embrace that a new era is coming… well, mostly new era since some people, like John Cena’s Peacemaker, Viola Davis’ Amanda Waller and Xolo Maridueña’s Blue Beetle are among the few sticking around.

I’m not saying that every DC Universe project is going to be a success, and if we regroup several years from now, you’re certainly welcome to voice criticisms for any of them. But let’s cool it with #FireJamesGunn right now and wait to judge the DC Universe based on its own merits. And honestly, even after some of these projects come out, let’s try to be more level-headed with sharing any issues we may have with them rather than immediately jump to wanting the man fired.

A few weeks ago, Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom hit theaters as one of the final 2023 movie releases, and with it, the DC Extended Universe era of the DC movies in order came to an end. However, the DCEU isn’t completely gone, as characters like John Cena’s Peacemaker and Viola Davis’ Amanda Waller are sticking around in the new DC Universe shared continuity. In fact, the Peacemaker show is still on track to air its second season to Max subscribers someday, and and creator James Gunn addressed why the series is sticking around, noting that he “has a way in.”

This started in a Threads… well, thread, when a fan asked James Gunn if Peacemaker Season 2 is going to be “totally different” from Season 1 because of the reboot or will only have “slight changes,” to which the Guardians of the Galaxy director said he’d “have to wait and see how that works out!” Another fan then asked if it will be “confusing” to have the second season set in a different universe, and also wondered why Gunn didn’t just have it be a “new show.” The creative responded:

Those are valid reasons for James Gunn wanting to keep Peacemaker going, although regarding it being the “biggest original Max show ever,” I don’t doubt that the streaming service would have ensured that the show keep running to keep those large viewership numbers up, new shared continuity or not. But what’s especially intriguing is Gunn saying he has a “way in.” This indicates that rather than Peacemaker Season 2 simply ignoring the new DC landscape it’s operating in, there will be something within it acknowledging the changed status quo.

So what’s coming up? Will the Peacemaker characters themselves be aware of how things have changed and address it in some kind of fourth wall-breaking way, or will it be something intended strictly for the audience and keep the characters in blissful ignorance. Either way, given that James Gunn is also steering the entire DC Universe ship as co-head of DC Studios with Peter Safran, not to mention his exemplary writing skills, particularly when it comes to superhero media, I’m hopeful he’ll handle this transition smoothly and look forward to seeing what he’s crafted.

When we left off with John Cena’s Christopher Smith in the Peacemaker Season 1 finale’s ending, he and his allies had vanquished the threat of the Butterflies, and right before the Justice League showed up, which included Jason Momoa’s Aquaman and Ezra Miller’s Flash. If that scene is revisited in Season 2, I can’t help wondering if it will be altered to fit within the new DC Universe, whether it’s through new actors playing those characters or different superheroes (such as the one’s appearing as members of Superman: Legacy’s cast) taking their place. The finale also saw Amanda Waller being outed as the person behind Task Force X and Project Butterfly, but that aftermath will be explored sooner in the spinoff Waller, another one of the upcoming DC TV shows.

Although it will be a while until Peacemaker Season 2 premieres on Max, James Gunn fans should remember that the filmmaker is also the writer and director behind Superman: Legacy, the first upcoming DC movie set within the DC Universe. It’s set for release on July 11, 2025, and once Gunn’s done working on the reboot, he’ll shift his attention back to Peacemaker.

With the arrival of Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom as one of the final 2023 movie releases, the DC Extended Universe era will come to an end, and from the ashes will rise the new DC Universe’s Chapter One slate. In the midst of this though, Matt Reeves’ The Batman saga, which takes place in its own universe, will continue running, with The Batman: Part II set to arrive in late 2025 and the spinoff TV show The Penguin headed to Max subscribers sometime in 2024. However, DC Studios co-president James Gunn has now revealed that Reeves is also contributing to the DC Universe, and I’m honestly surprised how it’s happening.

Those of you who’ve been following along with the goings on of The Batman saga will recall that in March 2022, the same time Robert Pattinson’s debut as the Caped Crusader was released, Reeves revealed that he was putting together an upcoming DC TV show about Arkham Asylum, the institution where many of Batman’s villains are incarcerated. Naturally it was assumed that this Arkham show would take place in The Batman world, but that’s not the case at all, with Gunn telling a fan on Threads who mentioned the series while inquiring about if Reeves had any other “Batverse” projects in the works:

Well that’s quite the curveball. Given that The Batman easily laid the groundwork for an Arkham show by having Paul Dano’s Riddler locked up there and quickly making friends with Barry Keoghan’s Joker, I’m taken aback learning that this upcoming Batman TV show won’t have anything to do with those characters, but instead take place within the DC Universe. It’s likely this was a creative pivot that occurred sometime after The Batman’s release rather than the plan the entire time, though I’d be curious to learn how this decision was reached. I’m also wondering if Gunn’s use of “for now” means that another series tied to The Batman could be announced at some point, or if the pause button has been indefinitely been paused on such projects.

The only major detail concerning this Arkham Asylum show that’s been shared with the public is that Antonio Campos, creator of the Max miniseries The Staircase, will serve as showrunner, per Variety. However, now that we know this series will take place within the DC Universe, that means it will be connected to the Andy Muschietti-directed The Brave and the Bold. That upcoming Batman movie will see Bruce Wayne teaming up with his son, Damian Wayne, but it hasn’t been announced yet who will play those characters.

Creature Commandos, Waller, Lanterns, Paradise Lost, Booster Gold and Peacemaker Season 2 are the other confirmed TV shows set in the DC Universe, and there will surely be more to follow. Keep checking back with CinemaBlend for updates on their progress, and be sure to learn what upcoming DC movies are officially lined up.

Following the release of the animated Creature Commandos series to Max subscribers sometime in 2024, the film side of the new DC Universe will kick off the following year with Superman: Legacy. Although we know David Corenswet is bringing the Man of Steel to life and he’ll be accompanied by various superpowered allies, we’ve been in the dark on what to expect from the upcoming DC movie on the antagonistic side of things. That’s no longer the case, as Legacy has cast its first villain, and they have ties with another movie on the DC Universe Chapter One slate.

Word’s come in that María Gabriela de Faría has been cast to play Angela Spica, a.k.a. The Engineer, in Superman: Legacy. This character, who is the second to go by The Engineer moniker, is empowered by nanotechnology built into her body, and she was created by Warren Ellis and Bryan Hitch for The Authority comic book series in 1999. As those who’ve followed along with the DC Universe updates over the past year will remember, The Authority is another movie lined up for this new shared continuity, and Deadline’s report mentions that de Faría’s Engineer will be part of a team of villains.

If you’re unfamiliar with María Gabriela de Faría, she has prior comic book adaptation cred from playing Maria Salazar in the short-lived TV series Deadly Class. More recently, she has guest starred in shows like The Moodys and Animal Control, and film-wise, her biggest appearance so far has been in 2019’s The Exorcism of God. Now she gets take part as Superman: Legacy as one of its villains, but now there’s the question of who she’ll be working alongside in the reboot.

Considering that members of The Authority had previously been rumored to appear in Legacy, the logical assumption is that this team will serve as Superman’s main set of opponents. However, while these characters usually take more drastic action with stopping bad guys and enforcing justice, they’re not usually depicted in an antagonistic light. So is the DC Universe first set to paint them in a darker light before they lead their own movie?

Frankly, if this is what’s happening, it sounds like Legacy might be using The Authority as a substitute for The Elite, a team of antiheroes that appeared in the Superman story "What's So Funny About Truth, Justice & the American Way?" and was DC’s response to The Authority back when the latter team was off in their own universe under the Windstorm banner. The Elite’s brutal tactics sharply contrasted with Superman’s more old-fashioned approach to fighting crime, so perhaps we’ll see a similar ideological clash in Legacy between him and The Authority. From there, The Engineer and her teammates can be portrayed more sympathetically in their own movie.

Superman: Legacy’s cast also includes friendly faces like Rachel Brosnahan as Lois Lane, Nathan Fillion as the Guy Gardner incarnation of Green Lantern, Isabela Merced as Hawkgirl, Edi Gathegi as Mister Terrific and Anthony Carrigan as Metamorpho. It’s also been rumored that Lex Luthor will appear, although writer/director James Gunn debunked that Daniel Craig will play him. If Luthor is present, it’s unclear if he’d somehow be allied with the other villains or pursuing his own agenda.

Gunn has confirmed that Superman: Legacy is still set to be released on July 11, 2025, so keep checking with CinemaBlend for updates on its progress between now and then. If you’d like to revisit older Superman cinematic adventures, or view any of the DC movies in order, head over to Max.

Although the DC Extended Universe comes to an end this December with the upcoming DC movie Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom, and the DC Universe will take its place, some elements of the former shared continuity are being kept around for this new era. This includes Xolo Maridueña’s Jaime Reyes, who debuted in Blue Beetle this past summer. While it remains to be seen what’s in store next for this take on Jaime, Maridueña used the perfect word to describe how he feels about continuing on in the James Gunn-spearheaded DC Universe while talking with CinemaBlend.

Our own Sean O’Connell chatted with Maridueña ahead of Blue Beetle’s arrival to Max subscribers on November 17, three months after its release on the 2023 movies calendar. When asked for his thoughts on getting to continue playing Jaime Reyes, the third character to hold the Blue Beetle mantle in DC Comics lore, the actor said the following about how “validating” it feels:

Blue Beetle occupies an interesting place when one looks through the DC movies in order, because although it was made while the DCEU was still running, there’s nothing that explicitly ties the movie to this particular reality. Yes, characters like Batman are mentioned, but this could easily be shifted to the version we’ll see in the Andy Muschietti-directed The Brave and the Bold rather than Ben Affleck’s Caped Crusader. More importantly, the goal was to give a platform for both Jaime and his family to shine on a cinematic platform, and Xolo Maridueña is pleased that these particular characters will get to keep going rather than be set aside. 

As for how Jaime Reyes and his family will specifically fit into the DC Universe, that’s hard to say at the moment. Blue Beetle’s end-credits scene set the stage for another adventure with its tease that Ted Kord is still alive, but there’s still no word on whether Blue Beetle 2 will move forward. If that ends up not being in the cards, perhaps Jaime and Ted’s stories could continue in Booster Gold, one of the officially-announced upcoming DC TV shows. After all, Booster is tight with both of these Blue Beetles, so it’s not like including them in his show would feel forced.

We’ll let you know once concrete plans for this Blue Beetle are publicly announced, but for now, Xolo Maridueña is just happy his time as Jaime Reyes isn’t over. He also has one final outing lined up as Miguel Diaz in Cobra Kai Season 6, which will debut to people with a Netflix subscription at a yet-to-be-announced date.

DC movies fans are only a few months away from the end of an era, with Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom wrapping up the DC Extended Universe in December, and the DC Universe taking its pace. While there will be a few DCEU holdovers sticking around in the new shared continuity spearheaded by DC Studios heads James Gunn and Peter Safran, including Viola Davis’ Amanda Waller and John Cena’s Peacemaker, apparently Jason Momoa’s Aquaman will not be sticking around for the DCU. Instead, there are reportedly plans to include the actor in a new role.

Within its report alleging that Momoa got drunk, dressed like Johnny Depp and tried to get Amber Heard “fired” on the set of The Lost Kingdom, Variety mentioned that none of the lead actors cast by Zack Snyder for Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice and Justice League will reprise their roles in the DC Universe. In Momoa’s case, the publications’s sources claim that Momoa has “engaged in talks” to play the antihero Lobo, and would debut as the character in either Superman: Legacy or his own standalone movie. 

Rumors have been swirling for a while about Jason Momoa potentially transitioning from Aquaman to Lobo, but when asked about this in November 2022, the actor played coy and simply said that “that would be amazing if that happened.” By the following January, Momoa posted a cryptic video after meeting with DC, which spawned renewed speculation that he might be playing Lobo going forward. Naturally his new report is only adding fuel to the fire, though it sounds like nothing has been set in stone just yet.

Created by Roger Slifer and Keith Giffen, and debuting in the pages of 1983’s Omega Men #3, Lobo is a Czarnian powerhouse who was originally depicted as a straightforward villain, but then brought back in the ‘90s as an antiheroic bounty hunter and quickly became a fan-favorite. In addition to appearing in animated shows like Superman: The Animated Series, Young Justice and Justice League Action, he was previously played in live-action by Emmett J. Scanlan in the short-lived Syfy series Krypton. 

If the DC Universe’s Lobo, whether he was played by Jason Momoa or someone else, were to first appear in Superman: Legacy, that would give it something in common with Superman: Man of Tomorrow, as that 2020 animated movie also featured the character in a prominent role. Unlike Man of Tomorrow though, Legacy will not be an origin story. Considering that Superman: Legacy’s cast already includes superheroes like Green Lantern, Hawkgirl, Mr. Terrific and Metamorpho, throwing Lobo into the mix doesn’t sound farfetched, although then the question becomes whether he’s be a major supporting character or simply cameo.

It’s unclear when or even if we’ll receive official confirmation about Jason Momoa playing Lobo, but for now, fans of his take on Arthur Curry can look forward to Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom opening in theaters on December 20. That, along with Superman: Legacy’s arrival on July 11, 2025, are just some of the upcoming DC movies that are officially slated, so keep checking back with CinemaBlend for our continuing coverage on them.

Earlier this year, DC Studios co-CEOS James Gunn and Peter Safran announced a full slate of film and television projects that will launch the newly minted DC Universe in the coming years, but one thing that has remained a big question mark is whether or not stars from the existing DC Extended Universe canon will be returning in their respective roles. Today, we have learned that at least three actors are set to be back as their established characters, but their existing continuity will not be maintained.

As he has been known to do, James Gunn took to his personal Threads account this morning to answer questions from fans, and in one of his posts, he confirmed that Xolo Maridueña, Viola Davis, and John Cena are all a part of the plans for the DC Universe. Or in his words,

Admittedly most of this isn't super new information. Viola Davis was confirmed to return as Amanda Waller when the news came out that she was getting her own TV show, and James Gunn went on record earlier this summer calling Xolo Maridueña's Blue Beetle "the first DCU character." 

But here's where things get a bit complicated.

In another post on Threads, James Gunn was asked "will the audience/viewers need to watch ANYTHING prior to Creature Commandos to understand what's going on?" The filmmaker/executive offered a succinct response:

That's a pretty big deal. It seems that in the DCU, Jaime Reyes, Amanda Waller, and Christopher Smith will look exactly like their counterparts from movies and TV shows like Suicide Squad, The Suicide Squad, Peacemaker and Blue Beetle, but they will be different versions of the characters. We can expect that some details will remain consistent between the canons, but otherwise the slate is being cleaned (if it makes it easier to digest, think about the supporting characters in the James Bond franchise who carry over after a new 007 is announced). 

This presumably means that fans shouldn't expect a direct follow-up to the end credits scene in Blue Beetle, and it raises a whole lot of questions about what is being planned for Peacemaker Season 2.

With their roles in the DC Universe, Xolo Maridueña, Viola Davis, and John Cena are presently part of a rather small group. The other actors who are confirmed to be in the franchise are limited to the announced casts of Superman: Legacy and the animated series Creature Commandos. The former will include David Corenswet as Superman, Rachel Brosnahan as Lois Lane, Isabela Merced as Hawkgirl, Nathan Fillion as Guy Gardner, Anthony Carrigan as Metamorpho, and Edi Gathegi as Mister Terrific. The latter will have Frank Grillo as Rick Flag Sr., Alan Tudyk as Doctor Phosphorus, David Harbour as Eric Frankenstein, Zoe Chao as Nina Mazursky, Sean Gunn as G.I. Robot, Indira Varma as Bride of Frankenstein, and Maria Bakalova as Ilana Rostovic.

As described by James Gunn, Creature Commandos is coming out next year as an "aperitif" to the DC Universe, and then Superman: Legacy, which will be released on July 11, 2025, will be the first big dive for audiences into the rebooted franchise. Stay tuned here on CinemaBlend for all of the latest news and updates about what's going on behind the scenes, and to keep track of everything that is on the way in the new canon, check out our Upcoming DC Movies and Upcoming DC TV guides.

SPOILER WARNING: The following article contains spoilers for Blue Beetle. If you have not yet seen the film, proceed at your own risk!

As fans are quick to note, the present state of movies based on DC Comics is a bit messy. While new DC Studios co-CEOs James Gunn and Peter Safran have an ambitious vision of a multiplatform, interconnected franchise that will be called the DC Universe and launch with the upcoming Superman: Legacy, not much is clear about where that leaves the heroes with blockbusters being released before then. The future beyond Blue Beetle, for example, is not entirely clear… but that hasn’t stopped the film from arriving on the big screen with a tease of a potential direction for a sequel.

Like just about all modern superhero movies, there is a Blue Beetle end credits scene, and it teases the introduction of a character who would become a very important figure in a Blue Beetle 2. We don’t presently know if that’s a movie that we will get to see, but if you’re confused by any of it or wondering about where it could lead, you’re in the right place. This feature has been put together to break it all down – and we’ll start with a quick recap of what actually happens in the mid-credits sequence:

What Happens In The Blue Beetle End Credits Scene

Following the flashy title card end credits, Blue Beetle returns to the Kord mansion and the lair of the original Blue Beetle: Ted Kord. Despite the fact that nobody is in the room, the lights start to turn on and the song “All Out Of Love” by Air Supply begins to play. After we spot an empty mannequin that was formerly outfitted with one of the hero’s costumes, the song starts to skip, and a fuzzy video appears on the main computer’s monitors.

A voice starts to come through, but there’s no clear video identifying who is speaking. The person asks if the transmission is working, and delivers a message to the person who turned on the computer. He first wants whoever is listening to get in contact with his daughter and tell her that he loves her, and he adds to say, “Her a dad is alive. Ted Kord is alive.”

Without another word, the scene cuts to black and the normal scrolling credits begin.

Who Is Ted Kord And How Does The End Credits Scene Tie Into The Film?

Ted Kord is a hero mentioned but not actually present in Blue Beetle, and we get to know a bit about him via different conversations between characters throughout the movie. The “daughter” mentioned in the mid-credits scene is Jenny Kord (played by Bruna Marquezine) and Ted is the sister of Victoria Kord (Susan Sarandon), the film’s central antagonist.

Victoria and her father created the technology firm, Kord Industries, together, but when the Kord patriarch died, he apparently left the company not in Victoria’s control, but Ted’s. He began to take the enterprise in a new direction, but his efforts were cut short when he mysteriously disappeared. His sister then reclaimed control of Kord Industries and began making moves to erase her sibling’s entire legacy – specifically by starting the OMAC project.

The public was aware of Ted Kord as an ambitious, eccentric millionaire trying to do good, but there was a side of him of which people weren’t aware. Kord would moonlight as the costumed vigilante named the Blue Beetle. While he was personally unable to unlock the power of the scarab – unlike Jamie Reyes (Xolo Maridueña) – he used his money and access to advanced technologies to fight crime.

The circumstances regarding Ted’s disappearance are ambiguous (presumably so that the filmmakers can have narrative wiggle room for when it’s time for that story to be told), but we do know that he is only missing and not dead. It also seems that wherever he is trapped, he has a connection to his lair but no way to return.

What The Director Has Said About Ted Kord’s Potential Future

As mentioned earlier, it’s unclear where things specifically stand with Blue Beetle and the future DC Universe. James Gunn has described Xolo Maridueña’s Jaime Reyes/Blue Beetle as “the first DC character,” but what that means in terms of canon is wholly unclear. It’s possible that director Angel Manuel Soto’s movie will retroactively end up considered part of the new franchise in the works, or it’s possible that Maridueña will keep playing the hero, but his backstory/origin will change.

The future of Jamie Reyes is up in the air presently, and that obviously means that the future of the Ted Kord teased in the movie is up in the air as well. That being said, there is an avenue that could be used to keep Kord in play, and that’s the Booster Gold TV show that is presently in the works.

Booster Gold was among the upcoming DC TV titles that were announced when Gunn and Safran formalized DC Universe plans earlier this year, and it’s a significant project in this conversation because of the long established relationship between the titular character and Kord. In DC Comics, the time-traveling hero Booster Gold (a.k.a. Michael Jon Carter) and Kord’s Blue Beetle are good friends and partners, so it would make all kinds of sense that the characters would be paired up for the show.

This is a future that Angel Manuel Soto believes could come to fruition in the coming years. Speaking with Entertainment Weekly, the filmmaker openly lauded the idea of having Booster Gold and the Ted Kord version of Blue Beetle come together in live action:

Booster Gold doesn’t have a release date or announced creatives attached yet. With Superman: Legacy not scheduled to hit theaters until July 2025, it may be a minute before we learn official updates about the project.

Speculation about the future of Blue Beetle (both Jamie Reyes and Ted Kord) will continue, but for now, audiences everywhere can enjoy the Blue Beetle movie, which is now playing in theaters everywhere. To learn more about all of the projects hitting the big screen based on DC Comics, check out our upcoming superhero movies guide.

James Gunn has demonstrated a clear appreciation for the acting talents of Pom Klementieff since their first collaboration in the making of Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 3. Not only is Klementieff's Mantis a substantial character in the Marvel blockbuster and its big screen sequel, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, but she is spotlighted in the Guardians Of The Galaxy Holiday Special and has a cameo in Gunn's first DC film, The Suicide Squad. This history in mind, it's hardly surprising that the two friends have had conversations about their professional futures together, which may include a role in the growing DC Universe.

Pom Klementieff has been doing the press rounds recently promoting her new movie Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part 1, and she was asked by The Movie Dweeb about the possibility of her having a role in James Gunn's plans as the new co-CEO of DC Studios. The actor confirmed that they have had talks about a character, and while she wouldn't provide any specifics, she did note that it's a role that would give her plenty more opportunities to kick ass on screen. Said Klementieff,

As alluded to above, fans will remember that Pom Klementieff made an uncredited appearance as a La Gatita Amable dancer in The Suicide Squad, but as James Gunn works to establish the new canon that is the DC Universe, it sounds like he has a much more significant role in mind for who to play. But what role could it be?

One thing that makes speculation difficult is the sheer number of projects that have already been announced as part of the DC Universe. It's possible that James Gunn is keeping a hero or villain role set aside for her in Superman: Legacy (which recently cast its Clark Kent and Lois Lane), but if not, there exist plenty of other opportunities for her. In addition to upcoming DC movies including The Authority, The Brave And The Bold, Supergirl: Woman Of Tomorrow and Swamp Thing, there is the possibility that she will be unleashed in one of the developing DC small screen projects – options including the animated Creature Commandos, Waller (starring Viola Davis), Lanterns, Paradise Lost, Booster Gold and (maybe) Peacemaker Season 2.

With Superman: Legacy not set to hit theaters until 2025, we are still at a point in time when there's a lot more that we don't know about the DC Universe than we do, so everything new we learn is an exciting piece that fits into the puzzle. Stay tuned for more updates about Pom Klementieff's potential future in the DC Universe – but for now, you can enjoy her previous collaborations with James Gunn by getting a Disney+ subscription and/or a Max subscription, and Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 3 is available for digital purchase at online outlets including Amazon Prime, Google Play, Vudu, and Apple.

Following the release of Shazam! Fury of the Gods and The Flash, and with Blue Beetle now said to be part of the new DC Universe shared continuity, that leaves just one upcoming DC movie left that’s still tied to the DC Extended Universe: Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom. After that, the DC Universe will first kick off with the animated Creature Commandos series next year, followed by Superman: Legacy in 2025. But despite the DCEU soon coming to a close, Aquaman 2 director James Wan has explained why it’s still worth seeing the sequel.

We’re six months out from Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom’s release, and by the time it is playing on the silver screen, five years will have passed since the first Aquaman movie came out and went on to become the highest-grossing DC movie of all time. While speaking with ComicBook.com, Wan explained that because like its predecessor, Aquaman 2 is delivering a standalone story, that means it’s still worth your time since it’s not really touching the wider DCEU mythology that’s wrapping up. In his words:

This statement follows almost a month after James Wan said how because “the Aquaman universe is pretty far removed from the rest of the world,” he barely needed to worry about the changes happening at DC Studios outside of a few “adjustments.” Will Aquaman 2 effectively conclude the DCEU era? Working off the available information, it doesn’t sound like it will, but that’s not the point. Wan was focused on delivering a compelling follow-up to Aquaman, so if you’re in the market to watch Jason Momoa’s Arthur Curry and Yahya Abdul-Mateen II’s Black Manta clash again, amidst other events happening across the Seven Seas, then that makes The Lost Kingdom worth your time.

Also keep in mind that just because Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom will be the last DCEU movie doesn’t mean it’ll necessarily be the last we see of Momoa as the underwater-breathing superhero. The actor indicated that he expects Aquaman to be involved in the DC Universe, and there’s a line in The Flash possibly teasing that Momoa will keep playing the character. That remains to be officially confirmed, but in the meantime, the Aquaman sequel will see Arthur teaming up with his half-brother, Patrick Wilson’s Orm, to protect Atlantis after a ancient power is unleashed. The Lost Kingdom’s cast also includes Amber Heard, Willem Dafoe, Dolph Lundgren, Temuera Morrison, Nicole Kidman and Randall Park reprising their roles, and newcomers like Vincent Regan, India Moore, Jai Zhao and Pilou Asbæk.

Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom dives into theaters on December 20. Max subscribers can easily revisit Aquaman and Jason Momoa’s other DCEU appearances prior to the sequel’s release, and obviously we’ll keep you apprised on all the biggest news concerning the new DC Universe.

Following The Flash prominently featuring both Ben Affleck and Michael Kenton’s versions of Batman, fans of DC Comics’ Caped Crusader have even more to look forward to in the coming years on the cinematic front. Along with Robert Pattinson continuing to play Bruce Wayne in Matt Reeves’ standalone The Batman franchise, a new Batman will be introduced in the DC Universe’s The Brave and the Bold, which now has Andy Muschietti attached to direct. It remains to be seen when we’ll learn who will play this upcoming DC movie’s Batman, but Jensen Ackles has addressed the rumors that he’s up for the role, and he used that opportunity to humorously call out Pedro Pascal.

For those of you wondering why Ackles would mention Pacal while discussing Batman, the Supernatural alum had his own panel at the recently-held JIB13 convention, and during the Q&A portion, a fam brought up the rumors that he’s in talks to play Gotham City’s shadowy protector on the big screen. In the middle of Ackles answering, a fan mentioned Pascal, as earlier in the panel, the former mentioned that he’d lost out on leading HBO’s The Last of Us to the latter. With that context set up, read what Ackles had to say below (via YouTuber Aurélie Kitty):

Look at Jensen Ackles, using a Batman question as a platform for throwing some shade Pedro Pascal’s way, though at least we know it didn’t come entirely out of the blue. Regardless, with Pascal having already been selected to play Joel in The Last of Us, Ackles jokingly shared that he’s ready for him to also swap Batman from him too. On a more sincere note, while the actor who’s more recently played Soldier Boy in The Boys (which is streamable with an Amazon Prime Video subscription) wasn’t able to comment on the veracity of these Batman rumors, he certainly sounds like he’s game to take on the role for The Brave and the Bold. Let’s be real though, there are plenty of people out there who’d be interested in seeing a Pascal-played Batman too.

Of course, Ackles is no stranger to the world of Batman, In 2010, he voiced Jason Todd, a.k.a. Red Hood, in the direct-to-video animated movie Batman: Under the Red Hood, and by 2021, he was first heard as Bruce Wayne himself in the two-part adaptation of The Long Halloween, which takes place in the Tomorrowverse line of movies. The actor has since reprised the role in Legion of Super-Heroes, and his Batman will be one of the leading characters in Justice League: Warworld. Still, I can imagine how jazzed Ackles would be learning he’d get to portray the character in both animation and live-action, a feat that’s only been done before by Adam West and Kevin Conroy.

The only major detail that’s been revealed about The Brave and the Bold’s plot so far is that it will see Batman teaming up with his biological son, Damian Wayne, who’ll be taking on the Robin mantle. It will also be inspired by Grant Morrison’s Batman run in the comics that lasted from 2006 to 2013. The Brave and the Bold is one of five movies on the DC Universe’s Chapter One slate, the others being Superman: Legacy, The Authority, Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow and Swamp Thing.

If you’re interested in hearing how Jensen Ackles sounds as Batman, Max subscribers can stream the Long Halloween movies and Legion of Super-Heroes now, and Justice League: Warworld will be released on July 25. You’ll also find The Last of Us Season 1 on Max, and it’s already set to return for Season 2 on a to-be-announced date.

In 2013, seven years after Brandon Routh’s sole cinematic outing as Kal-El/Clark Kent in Superman Returns (he later reprised the role during The CW’s “Crisis on Infinite Earths” crossover), Henry Cavill took over Superman duties for Man of Steel. The actor went on to reprise the role in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, both versions of Justice League and briefly in Black Adam, and there was briefly a time where it looked like his DC run was going to continue. Instead, we’re now getting a new Superman for, well, Superman (it was originally titled Superman: Legacy), one of several upcoming DC movies that’s officially part of the new DC Universe’s Chapter One slate, which is titled Gods and Monsters.

So who will play the new Superman? Well, that decision has finally been reached, and there are various other details that have been shared about this new version of the character and actors who are reportedly up for the role. So without further ado, let’s talk about who was chosen to bring the Man of Steel to life on the silver screen for this new era.

Who’s Playing The New Superman

It was announced on June 27, 2023 that David Corenswet will play the DC Universe’s Superman. He’ll be accompanied by The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel’s Rachel Brosnahan, who was the perfect choice to play Lois Lane. Both actors went through “full costume and makeup” screen tests, and after the news was unveiled to the public, DC Studios co-head James Gunn said they are “not only both incredible actors, but also wonderful people.” While we haven't gotten a full look at Corenswet in his Superman suit, the 'S' insignia on the costume was revealed on February 29, 2024, and it looks a lot like the insignia Supes wore in the Kingdom Come limited series, albeit with a yellow background instead of black.

Where David Corenswet Has Appeared Before

Although Superman will be David Corenswet’s biggest project yet, he’s by no means a stranger to the big and small screens. Film-wise, horror fans might remember him as The Projectionist from Pearl, the prequel to X, and he’s also set to star in Twisters and The Greatest Hits. However, some of you might be familiar with Corenswet from TV, as he guest-starred on shows like Elementary and House of Cards, appeared in multiple episodes of The Politician and We Own This City, and led and executive produced the 2020 miniseries Hollywood. Corenswet also has a 1960-set miniseries coming up called Lady in the Lake, which will be accessible to Apple TV+ subscribers.

Henry Cavill's Departure And The Announcement Of A New Superman

Although the release of Zack Snyder’s Justice League in early 2021 allowed the public to see the original Justice League scenes Henry Cavill’s shot under the title filmmaker's direction, the fact of the matter is prior to Black Adam, the actor hadn’t put on the costume in more than half a decade. It was unclear if we’d ever see him back in the role, but after Dwayne Johnson’s anti-hero character was done fighting the Justice Society and Sabbac, he came face to face with Cavill’s Superman in the Black Adam mid-credits scene. For years, Johnson teased that there would come a day when these two characters would fight on the big screen, and this scene set the stage for such a conflict.

After Black Adam’s release, Cavill shared on social media that his appearance in the DC movie was “just a very small taste of things to come,” and he said elsewhere that his Superman had a “bright future” ahead of him. However, just two months later, it was announced that Cavill wouldn’t keep playing Superman after all. Instead, the character would once again be rebooted, with this decision coming a little over a month after James Gunn and Peter Safran started running DC Studios. Maybe there will come a day when Cavill’s Superman will return in some multiversal adventure like Michael Keaton did in The Flash, but for now, we have another cinematic Superman on the way.

When This New Superman Will Debut

As mentioned earlier, this new Superman will debut in his own movie. This won’t be the first DC Universe project to arrive, as the animated Creature Commandos series premieres on Max sometime in 2024, and there will also be some holdodver DCEU performers, like John Cena as Peacemaker, Viola Davis as Amanda Waller and Xolo Maridueña as Blue Beetle. Nevertheless, James Gunn and Peter Safran have said that Superman marks the “true beginning” of the DCU, so once the new guy wearing the red cape flies across the screen, then the ball will really get rolling. 

Superman is currently dated for July 11, 2025, and fortunately, the SAG-AFTRA strike did not disrupt those plans. James Gunn revealed on February 29, 2024 that principal photography had begun.

What’s Been Said So Far About This New Superman

Though specific plot details for Superman: Legacy are being kept under wraps, we do know that the story is partially inspired by All-Star Superman More importantly, though, this new version of Superman looks to be taking a page from The Batman’s book, because just like with our first meeting with Robert Pattinson’s Bruce Wayne, we will not see this Clark Kent’s origin story unfold.

Instead, although the new Superman will be younger than Henry Cavill’s version, he’ll already have been active in protecting the innocent for a little while now. This also means he’ll already be acquainted with characters like Lois Lane, although with his fellow Daily Planet reporter, it remains to be seen how close they are with one another. 

Superman's cast will also include superheroes like Green Lantern (the Guy Gardner version), Hawkgirl, Mr. Terrific and Metamorpho, and there are even rumblings of Milly Alcock's Supergirl appearing this movie ahead of Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow. The lineup of villains include Nicholas Hoult's Lex Luthor and María Gabriela De Faría's The Engineer, who's said to be part of a team of villains that may end up being The Authority.

Actors Who Were Rumored To Play The New Superman

Once it was announced that Superman was in the works, naturally fans immediately started speculating on who could take over as the new Superman. But as far as actors being rumored/reported, among the earliest was Logan Lerman, but in late March, Gunn debunked the claim that the Perks of Being a Wall Flower actor was his “top choice,” saying that he hadn’t had a “single talk with a single actor.” There was a brief period where Euphoria’s Jacob Elordi was allegedly being looked at for the role, but that was soon said to be false.

Then at the top of June, Variety said that The Bold and the Beautiful’s Pierson Fodé “could be in the running for the coveted role,” as he’d sent in a self tape, and Gunn “liked what he saw.” Finally, prior to David Corenswet being officially announced as the new Superman, it was reported that the actors on deck for in-person testing included him, Nicholas Hoult and Tom Brittney, while Emma Mackey, Rachel Brosnahan and Phoebe Dynevor were trying out for Lois Lane. In the end, Corenswet and Brosnahan were selected as Legacy’s two leading actors, but as already mentioned, Hoult is still lined up to participate in Superman by playing Lex Luthor.

So the question of who will play the next Superman has finally been answered, but there are still plenty of mysteries surrounding Superman. CinemaBlend will continue passing along updates on the movie’s progress and what we can expect from it come summer 2025, but for now, revisit past depictions of Superman on film and television using your Max subscription.

Sasha Calle's life changed in February 2021 when it was made official that she would be playing Supergirl in director Andy Muschietti's The Flash movie, and one can easily imagine that it has been an emotional ride for the actress ever since. For example, she had an all-caps reaction to the debut trailer footage of her character – but that was seemingly nothing compared to seeing herself as Supergirl on screen for the first time.

Speaking with People, Sasha Calle recently opened up about what it means to her to be the first Latina Supergirl and what it was like seeing footage of herself in The Flash flying for the first time. She told the magazine about seeing playback of a scene where the heroine from Krypton is levitating in front of the sun, and she was taken aback by it. Said Calle,

While Sasha Calle is not the first actor to play a live-action version of Supergirl (she follows in the footsteps of Helen Slater and Melissa Benoist), she is the first non-white person to take on the character, and the importance of that is not lost on her. As she explained,

While there are a lot of surprises in The Flash that deserve to remain a secret prior to the film arriving in theaters, it can at the very least be said that Barry Allen a.k.a. The Flash (Ezra Miller) meets Supergirl after going back in time and preventing his mother's murder – which ends up radically changing his own future. He ends up on a timeline that is very different from the existing DC Extended Universe, and his desire to try and save the world requires the help of a Kryptonian.

In addition to Sasha Calle and Ezra Miller, the impressive cast of The Flash also includes Ben Affleck, Michael Keaton, Kiersey Clemons, Michael Shannon, Maribel Verdú, and Ron Livingston. After many delays that forced development to last nearly a full decade, the DC blockbuster will be heading to theaters on Friday, July 16. Stay tuned for more of our coverage of the film here on CinemaBlend, get hyped with our review of The Flash, and learn about all of the blockbusters coming from DC Studios with our Upcoming DC Movies guide.

It was 2014 when Ezra Miller was first announced to be portraying the The Flash, and now, nearly a decade later – after appearances in Suicide Squad, Batman v Superman: Dawn Of Justice and Justice League – fans will finally get to see them lead their own movie. The Flash held its world premiere at CinemaCon tonight ahead of its June 16 release, and the first reactions are here to help expand what we know about The Flash. Is the upcoming DC Extended Universe movie worth all the delays, director drop-outs and rewritten scripts? 

Fans have a lot of questions about what’s to come from The Flash, and we’ll keep it SPOILER-FREE here, but we do know the movie will follow the “Flashpoint” storyline, which is one of DC’s most important, with the potential to change the DCEU as we know it. Ezra Miller’s Barry Allen screws with time to the point of rewriting history and affecting other DC characters’ paths. The latest trailer featuring Michael Keaton’s Batman proves that the Caped Crusader will factor heavily into this. CinemaBlend’s Eric Eisenberg was one of people who screened The Flash at CinemaCon, and he Tweets that it is safe for fans to go ahead and get excited: 

CinemaBlend Managing Editor Sean O’Connell has a similar sentiment post-screening, praising Ezra Miller’s performances (plural!) and writing that his viewings of the blockbuster will hit triple digits: 

Nicola Austin calls The Flash a love letter to DC, and this writer is one of many making note of just how funny this film is: 

This one’s for the nerds, Erik Davis of Fandango says, as the movie left him in tears. He is floored by how good The Flash is. While there was some question about how much Ben Affleck is actually in The Flash, Davis says he gives some of his best Batman moments, and Michael Keaton and Ezra Miller are “amazing” as well: 

Scott Menzel of We Live Entertainment is just one of the CinemaCon patrons calling The Flash one of the best superhero films of all time. The critic says avoid spoilers at all costs, because there are some awesome surprises awaiting audiences:

Brandon Davis of ComicBook.com Tweets that the movie is inventive both in its storytelling an style. He also joins pretty much all of the other CinemaCon audience members in saying he can’t wait to see a repeat viewing: 

Ezra Miller is, as expected, garnering a lot of praise, but Michael Keaton is the center of a lot of the reactions as well, including that of film critic Scott Mantz, who says The Flash is the perfect blend of action, heart and humor: 

Daniel Howat of Next Best Picture raves about what he calls “one of the better multiverse movies out there.” The moviegoer also notes how well the movie balances some great humor with intense emotional stakes, Tweeting: 

Of all the upcoming superhero movies, this one so far sounds like a can’t-miss option. The CinemaCon crowds seem to be really fired up, so now we’ll just be counting the days until The Flash hits theaters on Friday, June 16. In the meantime, you can see what else is coming to theaters soon with our 2023 Movie Release Schedule.