Yesterday, we unveiled to all of you hardcore DC fans that we had a chance to chat with James Gunn and Peter Safran at an exclusive, intimate press conference recently, in which they discussed the current status of the DCU. It was a conversation so epic, we had to split it up into two parts.
While Part I focused on the duo’s prepared updates, the rest of the conversation was spent with them taking questions from members of the press. Now we’d like to share this half of the conference with all of you fans out there!
Following their prepared statements, in which Safran and Gunn touched on the upcoming projects of Clayface, Dynamic Duo, Lanterns, Supergirl, Peacemaker Season 2, and Superman, the DC Studios heads took the rest of the time to take questions and answers from everyone in attendance. The first question was about which of the “Gods and Monsters” slate that was presented in January 2023 was still active and which projects were put on the backburner.
“Paradise Lost is totally still important. We’re working heavily on scripts,” began Gunn. “Booster Gold is going pretty strong. Waller has had a couple of setbacks, frankly. And The Authority has had some some issues, but everything else has gone pretty well.”
Safran touched on James Mangold’s Swamp Thing. “Then you have things like Swamp Thing. Our writer/director went off to make another little movie, called A Complete Unknown. And, you know, we hope that, he’ll come back to Swamp Thing when he’s ready. Because, again, that was one of those ones where we loved him as a filmmaker, so we’re happy to wait for him. Plus Swamp Thing is not integral to the larger story we’re telling.”
Gunn added, “He’s always been outside of that. I mean, it was because James came to us with that… [He was] one of the first people that we talked to when we became heads.”
They were then asked about whether or not the interconnectivity of the universe has shifted, in response to new projects like Clayface getting greenlit.
“Clayface is totally DCU,” stated Gunn.
“The only thing that’s [Elseworlds] is… [Matt Reeves’] world,” Safran continued. “His crime saga that he’s telling. The Batman trilogy, The Penguin series. That’s what’s in that lane. So still under DC Studios. Still under us. We have an incredible relationship with Matt. But those are the only things. It was important that Clayface be part of the DCU. It’s an origin story for, you know, a classic Batman villain.”
“One that is outside of the sort of grounded, non-super metahuman characters in Matt’s world,” Gunn added.
When asked if the release date push for The Batman Part II would affect the release date for Batman: The Brave and the Bold, Safran joked, “Well, we announced that October 2027, there will be *a* Batman movie.”
When asked if Robert Pattinson’s Batman would become part of the DCU, Gunn answered, “It’s certainly not the plan. It’s certainly not.”
“And we love him,” added Safran. “But we’ve got to introduce a Batman to the DCU. It’s imperative. And so that’s the plan with The Brave and the Bold.”
When asked if animated projects like Dynamic Duo will all be family-oriented, Gunn said, “No. Absolutely not. In fact, one of the things that we’re talking about right now is very much not a family story that’s animated. No. For instance, Creature Commandos is animated. And it’s certainly not for little children unless you’re a really good parent.”
When asked about committing to teases for future films and plans, Gunn stated, “There’s some things that we would really like to do. And then, you know, we have writers working on those things. And then we hope that they work out. There are other things that are really important to us, including the big three characters that I am actively, actively involved in. You know, we have a writer on Brave and the Bold now. It’s going very, very well. And I am actively, actively involved with every beat of that coming across. So, like I am, I’m part of the engine that’s pushing that’s pushing that across. Supergirl is like that, you know for the linchpin projects. But then there’s other things, like Swamp Thing that was always kind of outside of the rest of the stuff. And I would love for it to come together, you know. And then there’s other things, like Sgt. Rock, which we’re like, ‘oh, maybe, okay, that could be cool.’ Luca came and talked to us about it. And then Justin [Kuritzkes] came and wrote a really excellent script, and we loved it. And so we’re like, ‘Oh, okay. Let’s make this movie.’ So the, you know, everything can shift depending on the quality.”
Safran added, “We know where we’re headed to with for the larger story. And so James makes sure that those building blocks are going to be put in place. And then around that, there’s a tremendous amount of latitude in terms of what we do.”
Gunn also touched on the problematic nature of post-credit teases. “Those post-credit scenes, like, they can be a real nightmare. I’ve done things before where I put in post-credit scenes and, you know, like writing Guardians 3. And I was like, I wasn’t really sure if Adam Warlock should be in it. But I fucking promised people! Now, like, I’m writing the script, and things change, and I’m like, kind of, you know, cramming him in there. And I like him in the movie. I like the character, but it made it a little less elegant in some ways. And so I’m really careful about those sorts of promises.”
When asked if, following completion of Superman, and production moving forward on Supergirl and Lanterns, the narrative story has shifted at all from what was discussed in 2023, Gunn had this to say: “No. Not really. The basic plan is still exactly the same, but some things shift a little as you go along. And you find these characters that have a certain magic to them, whether it’s in the writing of the character or the performance of the the performer that’s playing the character. And so those things shift. So maybe you expected one character to play this important role in a movie that’s two movies away. But then [you find out] it’s better if it’s [a different] character instead. Things, things like that. It’s very it’s all fluid.”
Gunn was then asked about upcoming ensemble films, and whether Superman would be considered an ensemble movie. “I do not think of Superman as an ensemble film. It’s about three characters: Superman, Lois, and Lex. Those are the three characters. Everybody else serves that story…every single frame of the movie is about Superman’s story. Like it’s about his personal journey. It isn’t Guardians of the Galaxy. Every character has their arc, like I would have in any story. But it really is about Superman.”
Gunn continued to address the ensemble film portion of the question. “There’s a plan of movies with more characters in them. Yes.”
When asked about his next project in the DCU, Gunn stated, “I’m writing something else now that would be the next directing thing. It’s connected to Superman.”
On Lanterns being multiple seasons, and when asked about how many episodes, Safran addressed, “Lanterns is eight episodes. And it could easily be a continuing series. And I will just say that. You know, we are incredibly fortunate to have Tom [King], Chris [Mundy], and Damon Lindelof at the helm. Those guys are just masters. And you know, Aaron Pierre is magnificent. Kyle Chandler is amazing. We really, really are lucky. James Hawes, who’s directing it — you know that first season of Slow Horses was incredible television, and he’s bringing all of his skills to the table. So we’re feeling good.”
Gunn then addressed the casting of Jason Momoa as Lobo. “Jason was literally the first text I got after DC Studios was announced. And his text was, ‘Lobo baby’ with ten billion exclamation points. So essentially, I was like, ‘I think that’s a pretty good idea’ so it was always part of the plan.”
Safran was then asked about a Bane/Deathstroke movie. “Without confirming that there’s a even a Bane/Deathstroke film out there, Matt Orton is writing a big action movie for us right now. Something that’s in that vain. And you know, we’re waiting on a screenplay.”
When asked about adding obscure characters to the DCU, Gunn said, “I’m always looking for – like, Deadpool was about to come out, and everybody’s like, ‘Oh, you know, who is this guy?’ But if you’re comic fan, you know, Deadpool is an enormous character. Tons of people love him. You know, same thing with Harley Quinn coming out in Suicide Squad. She’s not well known by everyone, but there is a lot of fandom behind Harley Quinn. And Lobo is one of those characters you know? Deathstroke is one of those characters. Those are characters that have a lot of people behind them and who love them, but aren’t known by the general public in the way Wonder Woman or Superman are. So Lobo was always something I wanted to play with in the DCU.”
Safran continued talking about Lobo’s appearance in Supergirl. “It’s one of the fun things about working with Craig Gillespie. He’s just been such a great collaborator on creating Millie’s look and Jason’s look and Matthias Schoenaerts’ look. It’s been fun.”
When asked when we’d be seeing an image of Jason Momoa as Lobo, Gunn said, “It’s probably going to be a while, to be frank.”
When asked about Sgt. Rock and whether it was true that Daniel Craig was out, Safran stated, “Daniel Craig was never in. Daniel and Luca have, you know, a really close relationship. They were out promoting Queer together, and he obviously, you know, they spoke about it. But, you know, James and I, we never met with him. No, he was never in. We just never comment on, you know, on casting rumors. So we just left it.”
Gunn added, “I mean, it’s interesting to see the way these things happen online. Because certain things are thought of as, you know, reality. And other things are thought of as reality. But it was never like Daniel Craig was Sgt. Rock, you know? Other things you guys are right about. I mean, Ana Nogueira has been writing a Teen Titans script for a little while. It’s very early stages. But, you know, we never announced that, we never said that, but it got out, and it’s out there. You know, sometimes it goes wrong.”
Safran continued, “But Luca had this ability to tell a really compelling story about heroism in a time of armed conflict. And they had a really interesting take, he and Justin Kuritzkes, on on how to tell this story within the DCU. And so we loved the idea of being able to tell something that’s a war movie. So it’s a different genre. But then Clayface is a different genre, and Superman is different, And to be able to be able to tell all these stories within the DCU — that’s why we’re so excited about what we’re doing. We’re not just servicing one audience. Not every movie has to be for everyone, but we want to have something for everyone.”
When asked about the photo Gunn took with Zack Snyder, Gunn stated, “I was just talking to Zack as a friend. We were just hanging out and then we’re like, ‘let’s take a picture together.’ We knew full well what we were doing. We weren’t shocked that people responded. He thought it was funny. I thought it was funny. And that’s it.” Gunn also confirmed he has not shown Synder a rough cut of Superman.
On the idea of getting experimental within the DCU, Safran said, “It’s very important for us. To be able to have just the spectrum of films and television shows that we can do, and games and experiences; that’s the opportunity we have. To take these characters and show them in ways that maybe they haven’t been seen before. And build upon that incredible legacy that exists.”
When asked about what’s going on with DC video games, Gunn said, “We see designs for the projects in their very earliest stages. We talk about those. We talk about what the story might be. We say, ‘well, you know, maybe you want to go this way, because we’re planning on maybe doing something with this character.’ And so forth and so on. And help to deal with that.”
Safran added, “James has always been such an avid gamer, until now. You’ve been a little bit busy. But it’s been great. And, you know, we’ve enjoyed it enormously… Everything had been so siloed, and now that’s completely broken down. And it’s been great because it also applies to consumer products and experiences. And everything that DC touches runs up through us now, which is awesome.”
When asked when the first game would arrive, Gunn said, “A couple years [from now]. But, yeah, I mean, we’ve had some pretty active involvement in some stuff coming up.” Safran even confirmed that plans to incorporate Superman skins into existing games like Fortnite are imminent.
On whether or not Dynamic Duo would have an impact on Brave and the Bold, given it’s a Batman film, “We’ve never said that Dynamic Duo is DCU,” stated Gunn. “There’s no impact.”
Safran was then asked about the Blue Beetle animated series. “We’re getting very close to them, presented for, for greenlight. You know, Gareth and Angel have been very involved in the development of that as well. And again, remains something we’re excited about.”
When asked about what the identity of DC Studios will be, Gunn had this to say: “So I’m watching the dailies of Lanterns the other day, and it’s so different from Superman. Superman is this big spectacle superhero film that has its own total style. Guy Garner is ridiculous. And then we have Lanterns, which is so grounded and gritty, you know? And then we have Supergirl, which is this sort of beautiful but gritty science fiction film. Then we have Clayface: pure fucking horror… it is so real and true and psychological and body horror-gross. Each of those things are totally different. And that’s what I find fun for me.
“It is then being able to take Clayface and Supergirl, and have these two characters that are completely different genres in a world together. How does that happen? You know? I mean, that’s what I think is, for me, that’s what’s that’s fun, because we’ve seen a lot of a bunch of characters in the same sort of universe, and then meeting up, and it’s not the same excitement as it used to be. But to be able to create totally different types of movies and then see how can you merge the two into something that’s a totally different from the first two, or a melding, or taking on one or the other.
“You know, it’s cool. I mean, Rick Flag, we see him in Creature Commandos, as a, you know, cartoon. He’s a cartoon. And it is a little bit different. It’s a little broader. And then he’s in Superman. And then he’s in Peacemaker; a much grittier show. Then there’s still a consistency to, obviously, being played by Grillo and the character itself. Like you can see one with the other. It was really fun to do, you know? Because we have a few characters actually in Peacemaker that were in Superman. And Superman is just one big, brash movie. And to see the way that actors subtly change, and you see a different kind of version of the character when they’re presented more grounded dialog. And then see how those those actors and those characters subtly change is really fun for me.”
When asked if we may see characters from Creature Commandos pop up in other DCU live action projects before Season 2, Gunn confirmed, “Before Season 2, probably not. But after we do have plans for some of the Commandos to appear outside of Creature Commandos.”
When asked if Lanterns was inspired by any specific comic story, the way Supergirl was inspired by Tom King’s run, Gunn stated, “No, it’s more like Tom doing a version of Lanterns the same way that he did Woman of Tomorrow, the same way he did Mr. Miracle, or in the same way he did my favorite, Strange Adventures.”
When asked about when we might find out what the new theme song for Peacemaker Season 2 will be, Gunn said, “I don’t know… [for the first season] we totally kept that from the public until the first episode aired, and it flipped people out, which was the most fun about it. Now, people know it’s coming, so it’s not as exciting in that respect. But I went through a lot of permutations of potential songs that I was going to have it open to, including reusing [the Season 1 song but] doing a different dancing to ‘Do You Want to Taste It?’ But then we ended up with something else that I think works. And I think the second season is much more about the characters and the interconnectivity between the characters and their personal lives. And it’s more about Chris Smith than it is about Peacemaker. And so I think that the song reflects that overarching theme.
“I will say it’s the only song that you sent us,” Safran said.
When asked if everything announced at this current press conference was cannon to the DCU, Gunn confirmed it was, with the exception of Dynamic Duo. “It’s not necessarily not. But the reason I haven’t answered it is because there might be a way it might fit into the [universe]. I would love for this animated puppet movie to be a part of the DCU. That’s really appealing to me. But the story is unique, and so it may not work within our universe.”
When asked about the potential for DCU properties to be used in Six Flags theme parks, Safran said, “Conversations are being had.”
When asked if The Flash director Andy Muschietti is still attached to The Brave and the Bold, Safran stated, “We’re developing the script right now. we’re going to show Andy when we have it in a place where we think it’s ready, and then see if it’s a great let’s see if it’s a good fit.”
Gunn added, “I’m very actively involved in that script.”
Gunn was asked if he was writing or working on anything other than the script he previously stated he was working on. “No, I’m writing that one thing [only]. I can’t do what I did the first year, frankly. The first year I wrote, I think, 650 pages, and the next year I filmed 650 pages. And I can’t do it again. I really, I just can’t. So, like, I knew that I needed to do it those first two years to get things kick started. But it is not physically possible for me to do it again… I like being able to do different things. I’m not having a difficult time now editing Superman and Peacemaker at the same time. I find it kind of fun to go back and forth between those two things. So I like being busy. I like doing a lot of things. But I also have to be a little careful to not collapse, because I want to be able to do this for the next, you know, 20-30, years of my life and not have to, you know, die.”
When asked about how the past two years as head of DC Studios has gone, Gunn had this to say: “Overall, I feel just so lucky. I mean, the fact that, you know, Ana was on Supergirl and came out with this great script. The fact that there’s another — my favorite project nobody even knows about — yet, it’s been my favorite project for a few months. Nobody even knows. The fact that we’re an organization of, basically, 13 people that’s able to, you know, produce all this material and have it all be high quality. We’re going to make mistakes. Some things are going to be better than others, but I don’t want to be a mess, you know. And so we’re doing everything we can to make everything as good as possible. And I feel remarkably fortunate.”
When asked about reshoots and test screenings for Superman, Gunn informed us, “We’ve done screenings. We’ve done real screenings. Definitely learning stuff all the time, definitely editing and making little changes. You know, we might shoot a couple little, tiny things. All my additional photography is so hard, because it’s like, I used to be kind of against it. Because, you know, you don’t want to have to shoot again. It’s a pain in the ass. But as time has gone on, and I’ve made more movies, I really like being able to say, ‘You know what? I wish I had a shot that fist hitting that…’ And so I do tend to go back and pick that kind of stuff up. So it wouldn’t be anything major, but those kinds of things, yeah, I’ll cover you a couple more things like that.”
On the next trailer for Superman, Safran stated, “We’re cutting it now. It’s really a first trailer. Because if the first one was a teaser, this will be a two and a half minute teaser for what Superman is going to be. But we’re into that now.”
When asked about the setbacks on The Authority, Gunn stated, “Honestly, Authority has been the one that’s been the hardest, both because of the shifting overall story, and because of getting it right in a world with The Boys and all the things that The Authority influenced that came out after it. And also having a lot of characters that we’ve fallen in love with that we’ve already filmed and have, and that we want to continue their stories and see them, you know, meet each other. And so, I will admittedly say, it’s a little bit more on the back burner right now.”
The final question asked was about where Gunn and Safran see their slate of films in terms of being a reflection of contemporary times.
“A lot of my work, but you know, especially Superman… is about those things that are not contemporary. Superman is about those values that are perennial. It’s about the things that don’t change. It’s about the goodness of the human spirit. It’s about kindness. It’s about protecting the weak. It’s about loving each other. It’s about romantic love. It’s about, you know, the joy of being overly generous. And I think of those as things that are perennial. So if there’s anything that I want to add to contemporary conversation, it’s remember the things that really matter right now. Talk to most of us, no matter what your beliefs are.”
Overall, it was a generous and informative conversation that truly reflected, not only that DC Studios is on the right track, but that Gunn and Safran are glowing examples of how to run a movie studio. Candid filmmakers that address the press directly, and refuse to oversaturate the market with product, preferring to place the emphasis on quality over quantity. At a time when most contemporary genre studios are showcasing that their eyes are bigger than their stomachs, and prematurely announcing projects that are at risk of never seeing the light of day, Gunn and Safran’s perspective is to play it safe, and let the quality of a story and characters speak for themselves. It’s the very reason why filmmakers have a better shot at running a studio that makes films, over those with an MBA degree who only see dollar signs. And for this reason, above all, I have a feeling that is what is going to take DC Studios up, up, and away!
Stay tuned to The Nerds of Color for more coverage on Superman, Supergirl, Peacemaker, and Lanterns, as well as all your upcoming DCU news to come!
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