As the DC Universe takes form under the management of DC Studios co-CEOs James Gunn and Peter Safran, one of the key things that audiences will look for is how the franchise establishes itself apart from what's been cooking at Marvel Studios over the last 15 years. Having written and directed the Guardians of the Galaxy films, Gunn is extremely familiar with how business is done with the MCU, and there are questions about how the DCU will establish itself as a new and different entity.
Obviously there's a lot that we don't know right now, but one interesting new update that we've learned is that there won't necessarily be Avengers-esque event blockbusters that serve as capstones for different phases of the new canon.
James Gunn was asked about the possibility of big DC team projects this week during a special press presentation on the Warner Bros. lot in Burbank, California, and his response should definitely inspire some excited chin-stroking from DC die-hards. Rather than developing special, specific projects for crossovers on the slate, Gunn explained that audiences will see crossovers happen all the time in the new movies and TV shows. Said the filmmaker,
Everything is crossing over throughout. These characters are all interacting throughout the different stories. Now, it doesn't mean always. Brave And The Bold may just be Batman and Robin and the characters involved in that. But I know a lot of other times these characters cross around.
James Gunn even went as far as to specifically identify a small-screen crossover that audiences will get to see relatively soon in the DC Universe's Chapter One (which carries the subtitle "Gods and Monsters.") Two of the shows that will premiere early in the canon will be the animated Creature Commandos and the live-action Waller, starring Viola Davis, and fans will eventually see a character from the former appear in the latter. Said Gunn,
I know in Creature Commandos, one of the main characters shows up in Waller – but this is animated, this one, he's live action.
During the presentation, James Gunn revealed that the roster for Creature Commandos includes Rick Flag, Sr., Nina Mazursky, Dr. Phosphorus, Frankenstein, Bride of Frankenstein, G.I. Robot, and Weasel (who live-action DC fans will remember was memorably played by Sean Gunn in James Gunn's The Suicide Squad). Who will be the one who appears in Waller? We have no idea, but we're excited to find out.
You can sneak a peek at the animated Creature Commandos roster below:
Sadly, the only DC Universe title that has a release date is Superman: Legacy, which is set to be released on July 11, 2025, but surely it won't be too long until we hear dates for more upcoming DC projects. When we do, hopefully the news comes with details about different crossovers that are going down.
