DC Studios’ Slate Evolution: Some Projects Put on Backburner as Others Are Full Steam Ahead
In 1984, DC Comics hit a renaissance period, putting out titles that were really connecting with readers. There was even a well-known slogan from that era: “The New DC. There’s no stopping us now.”
Just over 40 years later, a case could be made that the same mantra is coursing through DC Studios, the Warner Bros. Discovery division focused on bringing the popular comics characters to screens big and small.
“We don’t want these characters to die out,” said DC Studios co-head James Gunn at a press event Friday. “We want to bring new stories and new life, we want to introduce these characters to new generations. And I think we are doing that, slowly but surely.”
DC Studios, which Gunn runs with Peter Safran, is just over two years old. And its big test will be this summer’s Superman, which Gunn wrote and directed as the division’s inagural fim.
But Gunn and Safran are not waiting to see how Superman flies before making next moves. The duo are moving with the speedy deliberation of the Flash to get as many projects going as possible. Maybe before anyone can stop them.
The space fantasy Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow is halfway through production in London. Lanterns, a HBO series featuring heroes Hal Jordan and John Stewart, began shooting in Los Angeles last week.
Clayface, a body horror thriller based on the Batman villain finally found its director and will shoot this summer for a fall 2026 release. Sgt. Rock, a period war movie to be directed by Luca Guadagnino, is actively looking for its star. And an animated movie titled Dynamic Duo is in pre-production.
This August, season two of action comedy series The Peacemaker will debut on Max. Smaller but key steps for the identity of the division included acquiring the documentary Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story, which in the last several weeks won awards from BAFTA and the PGA; and unveiling its first MAX animated series, Creature Commandos.
At the meeting with journalists Friday, the WBD’s Burbank lot’s own dynamic duo gave updates on the slate and explained the ethos and strategy driving their decision-making.
Gunn and Safran took over in November 2022 after WBD head David Zaslav made it a priority to revitalize the storied IP factory after the merger of Warner Media and Discovery. Prior to that, DC had fractured into several fiefdoms, with actors, filmmakers and producers competing for a piece of the pie. It was a dark time for the brand.
“The DC brand was being defined by different creative teams at the company, each was pursuing their own distinct vision of the characters, the story… the result was not one DCU but many,” summed up Safran. “This fracture proved very challenging to consumers and it chipped away at the identity of the brand.”
From the duo’s perspective, a lot of work has already been done, even ahead of Superman’s release. “We’ve unified the brand, we’ve greenlit five theatrical films, made three live action series, and are producing five animated series,” he said. (My Adventures with Green Lantern and Starfire are two of the animated titles.)
The goal for the company is to make two live-action films and one animated movie per year while also producing two live-action and two animated series for Max per year.
The company aims to work in multiple genres and sizes of projects. “We don’t serve one kind of audience, so why make one kind of movie?” Safran said, adding, “Working in a multitude of genres, it affords us the opportunity to allocate resources where they can make the biggest impact. We budget according to the demands of the story, and the revenue expectations of each title.”
And while there will be connectivity between movies and shows to give that “universe” feel, the duo don’t want each entry to feel like a chapter to a larger story.
“We remain steadfast that each of these projects work as a standalone project,” said Gunn. “So you can see Superman, you can watch Lanterns, without having to see both of them. Although if you can, there will be special things in there for people who have seen both.”
