With the end of Creature Commandos, the very first project in James Gunn’s new DCU is over. The show was able to provide stellar action, humor, and most importantly gave its main cast wonderful characterization and made its audience feel emotion for some of the most obscure DC characters to ever be adapted into a show or film. Much like James Gunn’s work for Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy trilogy, Gunn has grabbed a group of nobodies from the comics and made them into lovable and deep characters. Creature Commandos also sets the stage for the world the new DCU takes place in.
James Gunn has set a plan of films and tv shows that will release within the next eight or so years. This first chapter of the DCU has been outlined, with films such as Superman, Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow, The Authority, The Brave and the Bold, and Swamp Thing. This lineup was recently updated, with Clayface’s announcement. There are also a handful of shows being made, such as Lanterns, Waller, Paradise Lost, and Booster Gold.
Recently a second season of Creature Commandos was announced, and interestingly a second season of Peacemaker was announced to be a part of the DCU. The original season of Peacemaker was made before the new DCU started, suggesting that some plotlines and ideas from the DCEU, DC’s previous cinematic universe, will carry over to the DCU. This was also shown in Creature Commandos, which referenced many plotlines from Peacemaker and The Suicide Squad. Keep in mind Peacemaker and The Suicide Squad were both directed by James Gunn, so they will likely be the only DCEU projects to be carried over to the DCU.
The DCU’s first film, Superman, will be released on July 11th of this year. The teaser trailer showcases the DCU’s version of Metropolis, as well as classic Superman characters like Lois Lane, Lex Luthor, Krypto the Superdog, and of course Superman himself played by David Corenswet.
There’s also a large variety of other DC characters shown in the trailer, such as Hawkgirl, Guy Gardner, Mister Terrific, and Metamorpho. As cool as it is to see these characters in live action, I do wonder how James Gunn can balance their screen time, giving them enough prominence to appease fans of these characters, but not too much to the point where they overshadow Superman’s story. I also wonder how all these characters will fit into the plot, and I hope the film finds a way to make each character feel like part of the story, and not just fan-service.
Superman and the movie following it, Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow in June of 2026, are the major starting points of the universe. It is possible to estimate when other major DC characters could appear in this universe based on what has been announced so far. Guy Gardner, a member of the Green Lantern Corps, will appear in Superman, setting up the future for the Green Lantern in this universe. The Green Lantern Corps will be a main focus in the upcoming show Lanterns, which will involve the two most iconic Green Lanterns, Hal Jordan and John Stewart, solving a mystery.
Wonder Woman’s inclusion in this universe has been hinted at. Her home of Themyscira was mentioned in Creature Commandos, and the upcoming show Paradise Lost will take place in Themyscira, however it takes place before Wonder Woman was born. While we don’t know when we’ll see Wonder Woman herself, considering how much she’s been hinted at it’s likely to be sooner rather than later.
The DCU version of Batman has perhaps been the most teased character of all. He made a brief cameo in Creature Commandos, but all that was shown was his silhouette. The film Clayface will be released in September of 2026 and will focus on the Batman villain of the same name. Clayface was a struggling actor who gained the ability to shapeshift after a freak accident, and the film will focus on his backstory and how he became the monster that he is today. Considering how closely tied Clayface’s story is to Batman, it’s possible Batman may appear in the film. It would be interesting to see Batman from a villain’s perspective, being a terrifying and unstoppable force, before we see him as a protagonist in The Brave and the Bold, the first Batman movie to be released for the DCU. The film will focus on Batman and his son, Damian Wayne, implying this version of Batman will separate himself from other live action Batmen by focusing more on the whole Bat-Family rather than just Batman himself.
The DCU won’t only focus on characters audiences are familiar with; there are also a handful of more obscure characters getting their own films and shows. The Authority is a film about a team of characters who want to fix a broken world through any means necessary, whether it be killing or overthrowing governments. Booster Gold is a show about Booster Gold, who’s an absolute loser from the future who goes back in time to our world to become a hero using futuristic technology.
The thing that most heavily separates the DCU from the MCU is its variety. Characters will occasionally jump from animated projects to live action projects, and many films are tonally different from other films. Clayface and Swamp Thing will be darker, scarier films. Some projects will focus more on comedy, some will be rated PG-13 and some will be rated R. Based on what we have seen from the DCU, Creature Commandos and the trailer for Superman, DC seems to be in good hands. For the first time in years, DC’s future is bright.