DC announces upcoming movie and TV schedule, provides updates on The Batman and The Flash
Learn more about the newly announced DC movies and streaming series heading to a screen near you.
For a franchise known for reboots, DC hopes to finally land on one that sticks with the recent announcement of co-CEOs James Gunn and Peter Safran’s upcoming plans for the DC universe which include new movies based around some of the comic publisher’s most well-known properties like Superman and Batman.
Gunn and Safran announced their plans at a California-based press event yesterday, according to IGN. Gunn and DC subsequently released a video for the general public today detailing what he calls the “first chapter” of the new unifying DC creative initiative titled “Gods and Monsters.”
Among the 10 announced streaming series and theatrical releases are what Gunn calls the “the true beginning of the DCU,” the upcoming film Superman: Legacy releasing on July 11, 2025.
“It’s not an origin story,” Safran said of the film, which Gunn is currently in the process of writing, in a DC release. “It focuses on Superman balancing his Kryptonian heritage with his human upbringing.”
DC also announced an in-universe reboot for Batman called The Brave and The Bold based on famed superhero scribe Grant Morrison’s comics detailing Batman’s efforts to raise the son he previously didn’t know existed, Damian. The younger Wayne’s untraditional upbringing to that point revolved around training to be an assassin.
While the upcoming movie will not take place in the same universe as that of the recently released Robert Pattinson-led film, The Batman, it will not affect the scheduled release of Matt Reeves upcoming sequel on October 3, 2025.
Similarly, previously announced high-profile projects like Joker: Folie a Deux and the second season of HBO Max’s Peacemaker series are continuing as planned IGN noted.
The entertainment website explained that Gunn did not make any explicit guarantee on the future of Ezra Miller, troubled star of The Flash, in DC’s plans, however.
“Let’s see what happens,” Gunn said according to IGN. “When the time is right, we’ll have the conversation.”
Beyond those headline-grabbing announcements, Gunn also detailed a variety of other upcoming theatrical and streaming releases.
On the film side, Gunn announced movies based around longtime DC characters Supergirl and Swamp Thing, both of which he described as darker in tone. He also announced a film adaptation of The Authority, a superhero team from former independent comic imprint WildStorm Publications.
Some of the headline streaming series include what Safran called a “Game of Thrones-type story” centered around the birthplace of Wonder Woman, Themyscira. The HBO Max live action series, Paradise Lost, will explore the drama and political undercurrents around the island of the Amazons.
There will also be a live action Green Lantern series, aptly titled Lanterns, which Safran says is akin to True Detective as well as live action series based around Suicide Squad’s Amanda Waller as well as time-traveling hero Booster Gold.
Finally, kicking off the newly announced programming will be Creature Commandos. The HBO Max animated series, starring characters like Frankenstein and The Bride of Frankenstein, is part of an effort to help usher in a more unified front between animation and live-action properties where characters and their actors move fluidly between both mediums, Gunn explained.
Only time will tell if this diverse collection of upcoming shows and movies will be enough to finally push DC’s beleaguered expanded universe onto center stage next to the beloved Marvel Cinematic Universe.
