And just like that, James Gunn and Peter Safran are done as the bosses at DC Studios. Fans are reeling from the news – some are bummed out, some are psyched, and others just have whiplash from the constant moves at the studio (and its parent, Warner Bros.) over the past decade. But one of the biggest questions that has immediately come to mind for most of us is what does this mean for the slate of movies and TV shows that the co-CEOs already had in the works?
Let’s not forget, the corporate overseers at Warner Bros. have dumped projects in the past, even when they were high-profile movies that had already been shot, like Coyote vs. Acme and, most infamously, Batgirl, a film that to this day has still not seen the light of day.
Is it possible that movies and series already in production under Gunn and Safran could now get the Batgirl treatment, be it for tax reasons, cost-saving measures, or even a creative overhaul in terms of the bigger DCU mission statement under new management? Certainly anything is possible these days in a world where Skydance somehow now owns Paramount and Warner Bros.! Let’s look at some of the key projects that we know were pretty far along in development at the time of the Gunn/Safran announcement, and what their chances of actually being released are.
And a quick note: Typically, specific production timelines on movies and TV shows are not public information, but reports from reputable outlets that cover the industry will often have reliable information on a project’s status.
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Man of Tomorrow
Could It Get Batgirl’d? No.
Gunn’s follow-up to his Superman solo movie from last year, Man of Tomorrow has already been shot and is currently in post-production. This is essentially the Avengers of Gunn’s DCU in that it reportedly features pretty much every superhero we’ve met in this world so far, with a cast that includes Milly Alcock (Supergirl), Aaron Pierre (John Stewart), Edi Gathegi (Mister Terrific), Nathan Fillion (Guy Gardner), Isabela Merced (Hawkgirl), and even Xolo Maridueña (Blue Beetle), who is a holdover from the old DCEU!
As part of the announcement today about Gunn and Safran’s departure as co-CEOs, the studio made sure to mention that the pair would still be overseeing post-production on Man of Tomorrow. That, combined with what a public relations nightmare it would be to shelve a film like this, makes it clear that Man of Tomorrow will still arrive in theaters next summer.
The Batman Part II
Could It Get Batgirl’d? No, but don’t be surprised if this is the last film in the series.
This is another one that just has to come out at this point. Director Matt Reeves had to leave the production due to personal matters, with Steven Soderbergh coming in to help finish off principal photography. And this after an extremely lengthy development period – the first film, The Batman, came out in 2022, and after several delays the sequel currently has a February 18, 2028 release date.
But one does not simply cancel a Robert Pattinson Batman movie, even if, as IGN’s Jim Vejovda points out, it is increasingly feeling like this series very well could just end with this film. No, The Batman Part II will hit theaters, meaning the amount of time it took to make will have outdone Gunn and Safran’s tenure by about two years.
Dynamic Duo
Could It Get Batgirl’d? A direct to HBO Max release doesn’t seem out of the realm.
This is one of those projects that we simply don’t know all that much about. Currently expected to be released in 2028, Dynamic Duo has been reported to be an origin story for two different Robins – Dick Grayson and Jason Todd. Additionaly, the film is expected to be made via “animation, puppetry, CGI, and live-action performance.” It was recently reported that The Black Phone’s Mason Thames had been cast in the film as Dick Grayson, while Ghostbusters: Afterlife’s Logan Kim will voice Jason Todd.
That said, while this certainly sounds like it could be a cool and visually interesting project, it also feels like Gunn and Safran pushing the boundaries a bit on what a standard studio superhero release might be. One could see this film, which is being produced by the relatively unknown Swaybox Studios, eventually being released directly to HBO Max instead of in theaters. Hopefully that’s not what happens, but we’ll see…
Mister Miracle and Creature Commandos Season 2
Could They Get Batgirl’d? Probably not.
These are a pair of animated series that have been in active production for a while, with Mister Miracle featuring, as Safran told IGN last month, the voices of Josh Hutcherson as Scott Free and Mackenzie Davis as Big Barda. Eisner-winning writer Tom King has written all eight episodes of the series himself, based on his 2017 Mister Miracle comics series.
As for Creature Commandos, the first season already streamed on HBO Max in 2024 as the first title released in the Gunn/Safran DCU. The series was renewed for a Season 2 at the end of 2024, which means production has likely been underway for quite some time at this point. (Indeed, Gunn said on social media a few months ago that it is “long in production.”) It would be surprising if the studio didn’t see these two series through to completion at this point in the process.
The People v. Gorilla Grodd
Could It Get Batgirl’d? Probably not…?
A lot of folks were surprised by the announcement of this show, which stars Skyler Gisondo as Jimmy Olsen in what is reportedly a riff on a true-crime TV series. It traces, obviously, the DC supervillain known as Gorilla Grodd and whether or not he was wrongfully convicted of a crime he did not commit. And yes, Gorilla Grodd is a gorilla. And he talks.
Sounds fun, right? And also weird and off-kilter and maybe not what a lot of superhero fans who are waiting for Batman and Wonder Woman to show up in the DCU might have really been excited to see next? So is a true-crime docu-series about a talking gorilla what new DC boss Jeremy Latcham wants under his tenure? Presumably it wasn’t a terribly expensive show to produce, and it’s already shot, so it will likely still get its HBO Max run. But don’t hold your breath for a People v. Condiment King Season 2 either.
Lanterns Season 2
Could It Get Batgirl’d? Yes, though it’s a bit of a different situation.
Lanterns became increasingly buzzy over the course of its first season, and it was also a show with a high enough pedigree that “normies” seemed to be watching it in addition to diehard comics fans. Starring Kyle Chandler as Hal Jordan and Aaron Pierre as John Stewart, both Green Lanterns, the series offered storytelling swerves and some really cool world-building – even while frustrating some viewers with its willingness to kill off the Hal Jordan character, who is typically considered the preeminent Lantern of DC comics.
A second season has never been officially greenlit, but we do know that a writers room was formed to work out ideas for a potential return. Safran told IGN recently that a decision would be made by the end of this year regarding whether Season 2 happens or not. He specifically talked about Pierre, who is appearing next in Man of Tomorrow. “We introduced him in Lanterns, and audiences will see him next summer in Man of Tomorrow,” said Safran. “So, it’s really important to us in continuing to tell aspects of the story that we’re not telling in the feature film world, so there’s more to come.”
The thing is, Lanterns also felt like it had a natural end, Pierre returning for the Superman sequel notwithstanding. So the question becomes, why would the new regime want to invest more time and effort into a show that was kind of polarizing and which hasn’t shot a frame of film yet?
Batman: The Brave and the Bold
Could It Get Batgirl’d? Oh yes, though again, it’s not really a 1:1 situation.
Originally announced as part of Gunn and Safran’s initial “Gods and Monsters” plan for DC, The Brave and the Bold was meant to bring a different take on Batman to the big screen that would not conflict with Matt Reeves and Robert Pattinson’s The Batman (which of course is set in a different universe anyway). “Everybody knows I love Batman and it’s important to me so I’m working very closely with the writer on Brave and the Bold,” Gunn said last February. More recently, he teased in his The Suicide Squad: Is It Canon? podcast that it wouldn’t be “too long” before the DCU Batman was cast.
Unfortunately, now it seems like it will be very long before he’s cast – or at least, until the version Gunn had in mind is cast. Like, forever long. With Batman being such a key character for any DC universe, be it on the printed page, in animation, in games, or on the big screen, it seems likely that the new DC Studios powers that be, led by Latcham, will want to get their hands on whatever this film was going to be and turn it into something that they can claim as their own. New studio bosses are rarely fond of outgoing studio bosses’ projects, and they certainly don’t want to be outdone by them or want their predecessors to be able to claim success after they’re gone. No, it’s safe to say that The Brave and the Bold will cease to exist in whatever form it has held up until this point, and that an entirely new DCU Batman will appear from the entirely new DC Studios regime.
But what do you think of these projects’ chances of making it to the screen? Let’s discuss in the comments!
Top image credit: Photo by Stewart Cook/Warner Bros. via Getty Images.
