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Arkham/Lanterns: Gunn Reaffirms Who DCU Decision-Makers Are & More

Arkham/Lanterns: James Gunn reaffirmed who makes the (non-comics) DCU decisions and offered a "non-update" update on the Green Lantern series.

From a social media standpoint, DC Studios co-head James Gunn has hit 2024 strong when it comes to offering updates on all of the projects in play stemming from the first chapter in his & co-CEO Peter Safran's efforts in creating a new DCU, "Chapter 1 – Gods and Monsters." Earlier, we had updates on Superman: Legacy and Peacemaker Season 2 to pass along – but for this, we get to revisit two other DCU projects that have started getting a lot more attention – Lanterns and "Arkham." Kicking things off with the latter, Gunn recently confirmed/reaffirmed that Matt Reeves's "Arkham Asylum" series will be set in the DCU (not the universe of Robert Pattinson-starring The Batman) and that Reeves will be working on projects in both universes. On Threads, a fan asked Gunn how the use of characters will work in the new DCU – citing Reeves' upcoming series as an example. In this case, they want to know if Reeves (or other creators) are restricted from using certain characters or if they have the freedom to use characters if they fit the story – with Harley Quinn, Joker, Batman, and Riddler used as examples.

"Peter [Safran] and I are the curators of DC characters. That means any characters writers want to use in media of any type that's not comic books (and a couple other things, like, I believe, podcasts), DCU or not, has to go through us," was Gunn's response – which makes sense. You can't really have an "open door" policy any more than you can have a "stay in your lane" policy – to me, that reads like it's more a case-by-case basis. But in the end, Gunn & Safran make the call on all of the non-comics DCU stuff.

Now, for a major shift in tone & topics, we have someone near and dear to our hearts – a fan who wants an update on Lanterns. We're with you because this has the potential to be the breakthrough series in an already impressive lineup of projects to come. Unfortunately, Gunn didn't have any to share – but there was hope even in his response. "Not publicly, not just yet…," Gunn shared – so it's not that there isn't any news to report… it's just not ready to go public. Okay. We like the sound of that. Of course, the one-year anniversary of "Chapter 1 – Gods and Monsters" at the end of the month would be a great time… just sayin'…

Compared to "a huge HBO-quality event" along the lines of "True Detective," Lanterns is set to focus on Hal Jordan and John Stewart, who investigate a mystery that Safran said "plays a really big role leading us into the main story that we're telling across our film and television. So this is a very important show for us."

Back in 2022, Reeves confirmed that his previously-announced spinoff series focusing on Gotham City PD was on hold and that a series focusing on Arkham Asylum had "evolved" out of it. When Reeves' spinoff project was still focusing on the GCPD, Terence Winter was set to write and executive produce, but Winter would depart months later over creative differences. From there, Joe Barton (Giri/Haji) was brought on to tackle the project, but Barton would depart the project when the focus shifted to Arkham Asylum. In October 2022, it was reported that Antonio Campos (HBO's The Staircase) had boarded the project as its new writer, and to direct episodes, serve as showrunner & executive produce.

Reeves is set to executive produce the Arkham Asylum project under his 6th & Idaho banner alongside Daniel Pipski and Adam Kassan. Dylan Clark is also set to executive produce with 6th & Idaho's Rafi Crohn on board to co-executive produce. Warner Bros. Television will serve as the studio, which is where Reeves currently has an overall creative deal.

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