James Gunn's DC Universe May Feature A Weird Justice League 'Addiction'

James Gunn is gearing up to start his DC Universe, first with this year's animated show "Creature Commandos" — which will hopefully overcome the limitations of corporate synergy to deliver something unique and visually interesting — and then with the cleanly titled "Superman" in 2025. So far, Gunn has been doing his best to reassure fans that his take on the DC mythos will be respectful to every aspect of the comics — the uplifting, the heartwarming, the funny, the weird, and the silly alike. He's bringing back Jimmy Olsen, while the new Superman suit looks like his mom made it (and even includes the iconic red trunks). Elsewhere, the DC Universe's take on Batman will finally introduce the Bat-family to the big screen in live-action.

Gunn and his DC Studios co-head Peter Safran seem to be zeroing in on making the DC Universe stand out by starting as close to the feeling of a comic book as possible — as if the Marvel Cinematic Universe had begun with Sam Raimi's "Spider-Man" rather than the more grounded, Christopher Nolan "Batman"-esque "Iron Man." Moreover, one of the oddly specific things the new universe is bringing straight from the comics is the props ... including, it appears, Martian Manhunter's longtime "addiction" to Chocos cookies. On Twitter (or, as Lex Luthor calls it, X), Gunn shared what appears to be a simple Oreos-like bag of chocolate sandwich cookies. It's nothing special on its own, except for the fact that Chocos cookies don't exist (not to be confused with the Kellogg's cereal of the same name), and this is clearly a reference to the same product found in DC's comic books.

In the late '80s "Justice League" series by Keith Giffen, J.M. DeMatteis, and Kevin Maguire, the Justice League acquired an international charter. It was during that time that Martian Manhunter (aka J'onn J'onzz) developed a taste for the Chocos cookie snack (which had been previously called Oreos before the name was changed to avoid copyright infringement). Indeed, J'onn J'onzz would constantly be seen munching on a bag of Chocos when not on duty.

It was, of course, Batman who later discovered that the Chocos cookies produced a chemical reaction in martians similar to the reaction produced by addictive drugs. The Caped Crusader staged an intervention for J'onn and he resolved the issue by just using his shape-shifting powers to change the cells that contributed to his addiction, curing himself immediately.

The addition of Chocos definitely seems to imply that Martian Manhunter will make his way into Gunn's DC Universe sooner rather than later. After all, "Justice League International" appears to be the biggest inspiration for which heroes will appear in this new universe, which includes Batman, Booster Gold, Guy Gardner, Blue Beetle, and Metamorpho. As the original team also included Martian Manhunter, it seems likely he will make his debut in either "Superman" or another DC Universe title soon.

Gunn's "Superman" flies into theaters on July 11, 2025.