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EXTENDED UNIVERSE

DC Unveils Upcoming Slate: ‘The Batman’ Sequel, Superman’s Future, and Surprising Changes

Under James Gunn’s regime, it’s out with the old (like Henry Cavill and Greg Berlanti), and in with the new (Booster Gold, the Authority, and a Viola Davis spin-off).

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Photo composite by The Daily Beast/Getty/Everett

By Fletcher Peters

As DC continues to wrack up controversy after controversy—from Ezra Miller’s violent outbursts to Zachary Levi’s seemingly anti-vax tweet—the studio pushed past the noise today to announce its upcoming slate. During a secret press event last night–followed by a video posted to Twitter—new bosses James Gunn and Peter Safran announced what is coming next from the superhero universe.

Just a few months ago, the DC Extended Universe faced a major shake-up when Gunn and Safran were named heads of the film, TV, and animation divisions at the company. Now, after name-brand folks like Zack Snyder, Henry Cavill and Patty Jenkins have parted ways with the franchise and its storytelling begins to unravel, the new bosses have unveiled what’s to come from the DC Universe. In short, DC is about to start fresh.

But first, yet another big name is departing from DC. After 10 years of helming DC’s array of popular CW series, like The Flash and Batwoman, Greg Berlanti has parted ways with the franchise, noted by The Hollywood Reporter. This means that his upcoming Green Lantern HBO Max series has been scrapped, but it’s set to be replaced with Lanterns, a True Detective-inspired saga about space cops.

And while we’re still on the bad news, before we get to bigger reveals, Gunn also announced that the second season of his Peacemaker series at HBO Max has been delayed. Gunn has been tied up writing Superman and other new titles, so we’re going to have to wait just a bit longer for the John Cena-led Suicide Squad spin-off. In the meantime, Waller will be airing on HBO Max, featuring Viola Davis reprising her role as Amanda Waller.

Speaking of Superman, the duo announced that the highly anticipated DC Expanded Universe reboot will begin with a new film featuring the iconic hero. On July 11, 2025, Superman Legacy will start this new phase of the franchise, which Gunn is set to write.

“It’s not an origin story,” Safran said of Legacy during the press event. “It focuses on Superman balancing his Kryptonian heritage with his human upbringing. He is the embodiment of truth, justice, and the American way. He is kindness in a world that thinks that kindness is old-fashioned.”

Superman will no longer be played by Henry Cavill, which was initially teased and later backtracked. Other than Superman and Batman, this new DC Universe features a handful of new creatures we haven’t seen on the big screen before—like cult-favorite hero Booster Gold and the more obscure superhero team the Authority

Also releasing in 2025 is The Batman: Part II from Matt Reeves. Robert Pattinson will return to play the Dark Knight once more in the upcoming sequel, which is slated to release on Oct. 3, 2025. “2025 is going to be a very big year for DC,” Safran said, as we’ll get “Superman and Batman within the same year.”

As the duo work on the core DC Expanded Universe, unrelated films like The Batman: Part II and Joker: Folie à Deux will fall under a new banner: DC Elseworlds. Other titles falling into the DC Elseworlds umbrella include cartoons like Teen Titans Go and Ta-Nehisi Coates’ Black Superman project, which remains in the works.

The DC Expanded Universe projects, however, will focus on tightening the superhero franchise’s connections. It will also unite movies and TV, with characters moving in and out of live-action and animation with the same actor portraying both versions. In this new, better-unified DCU, animation and live-action projects will bleed into each other more, allowing for different styles of the same characters.

Finally, while discussing old projects, Safran brought up Batgirl, the DC film that was set to be released on HBO Max but was shelved as Warner Bros. Discovery undergoes massive shifts in its content. Safran said that Batgirl was actually “not releasable” in retrospect.

“I saw the movie, and there are a lot of incredibly talented people in front of and behind the camera on that film. But that film was not releasable, and it happens sometimes,” he said.”I actually think that [David] Zaslav and the team made a very bold and courageous decision to cancel it because it would have hurt DC. It would have hurt those people involved.”

Below is the full line-up of the new DC Universe, from film to TV:

  • Creature Commandos (animated series)
  • Waller (Peacemaker spin-off series)
  • Superman: Legacy (film)
  • Lanterns (Green Lantern TV series)
  • The Authority (film)
  • Paradise Lost (Wonder Woman spin-off TV series)
  • The Brave and the Bold (Batman and Robin film)
  • Booster Gold (TV series)
  • Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow (film)
  • Swamp Thing (film)
  • The Batman: Part II (film)
Fletcher Peters
Fletcher PetersEntertainment Reporter

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