All New DC Universe Movies, TV Shows, And Games Will Share A Multiverse

DC Studios has finally unveiled its plans for the next few years, and they're a doozy. Studio co-chairs and co-CEOs James Gunn and Peter Safran shared their vision for the future of the DC Universe at a press event attended by /Film's Jenna Busch yesterday, with an emphasis on the word universe. Yep, the DCU is finally going to do what DC has been trying to do with its films for years now, and connect the dots between each and every one of its projects.

"Superman really kicks off the DCU," Gunn says. "Everything will be canon going forward after that." The filmmaker cites the new Superman project, "Superman: Legacy," as the proper start of the DCU, and also mentions that the animated series "Creature Commandos" will be "intertwined" with other parts of the DCU. Gunn also clarifies rumors that the studio is cleaning house entirely when it comes to stars that have previously appeared in DC projects, saying, "We'll be using some actors from the past, we're not using other actors from the past, but everything from that moment forward will be connected."

Peter Safran said that the idea of "creating a standalone entity where there could be a unified creative vision" appealed to Warner Bros Discovery President and CEO David Zaslav, whose reign has so far brought major changes not just to DC, but to HBO Max as well. "DC Studios is a standalone production entity," Safran shared, "And it's unprecedented because it's the first time ever that all films, all television, live action, animation, gaming is all centralized under one creative vision."

The pair were also refreshingly frank about the creative disarray that has been synonymous with DC's live-action journey thus far. When Safran asked Gunn to talk about the history of DC on screen, Gunn replied, "Yeah, I mean well the history has been s**t." He went on:

"It's been a, you know, real f***ed up journey for DC. I think that there was basically no one minding the mint and they were giving out IP to any creatives that, you know, smiled at whoever was in charge. There was never any real power given to the people in charge. And so somebody could always go over their head and do whatever they wanted."

Gunn referenced the complicated and competing worlds of Joss Whedon's "Justice League," the Snyderverse, the Arrowverse, the two "Wonder Woman" films, and multiple "Suicide Squad" films and properties. "And then, you know, all of sudden Bat-Mite's a real guy," he quipped. "So how can we take these things together and make them make sense and have them unified and have one real universe, one real world?" Gunn described the ways in which the films that were already in motion before he and Safran took over, including "Shazam: Fury of the Gods" and "Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom," all lead into one another and, ultimately, the DCU's next chapter. He also says that the character Blue Beetle "can totally be part of the DCU," and that "The Flash" is the project that "resets everything."

This vision sounds ambitious, and it is, but Gunn and Safran are also clear that it won't be stylistically homogeneous. "It's important to point out that in these stories, although interconnected, they're not all tonally the same," Safran says. "Each set of filmmakers brings their own aesthetic to these films." They even have a plan for some titles that may not exactly fit into the bigger picture, with Todd Phillips' not-so-family-friendly "Joker" and the children's animation show "Teen Titans GO!" cited as two past examples. "The DCU's a multiverse but we're gonna be focusing on one universe from that multiverse," Safran says. When it comes to the odd show or film meant as a standalone for kids or adults, he says, "We're going to make it very clear that those are DC Elseworlds." They also insist that despite all this, the DC will still be accessible to newcomers. "I want people to understand the story, no matter who walks in," Gunn says.