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James Gunn's Secret DCU Project (Is Corenswet's Superman Involved?)

Some thoughts (and maybe some clues) about James Gunn and his secret "favorite thing" DCU project. Is David Corenswet's Superman involved?

Of course, our focus is on DC Studios' David Corenswet, Rachel Brosnahan, and Nicholas Hoult-starring Superman, set to hit screens this week. But ever since studio co-CEO and writer/director James Gunn dropped a ten-ton tease about a secret project, that's all we've been thinking about when it comes to the DCU. Speaking with EW for an exclusive interview that went live around the middle of June, Gunn had something exciting to say about a project that wasn't announced. "Then there's another TV show that's my favorite thing in all of this, that is hopefully getting made soon. It's just my favorite thing," Gunn shared.

Apparently, it's something that Gunn pitched to Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav when describing what the new DCU would look like. "We did not announce in that first meeting because I felt like it was too easy to rip off by another company," Gunn explained. You can see why we would become obsessed, right? Now, we have some thoughts on what we hope it will be (more on that in a minute), but we wanted to get you caught up on some things that have gone down since Gunn dropped that news.

During a recent interview with Brandon Davis from the Phase Hero podcast, which we reported on at the end of June, Gunn was asked when we can expect to see Corenswet's Man of Steel again, and his response was very interesting. "A couple years," Gunn shared before adding, "Well, no, you might see him… no, you'll see him before then." Gunn then confirmed that he was talking about seeing Corenswet's character again and not when a potential sequel would hit (kicking in at around the 4:03 mark in the first video below). And then, at the top of July, Gunn and the cast of Superman were taking part in a group interview with Omelete, where Corenswet and Gunn have a brief exchange regarding the secret project that Gunn was working on – one that seems to involve Corenswet's Man of Steel (kicking in at around the 18:00 mark in the second video below):

James Gunn's Unannounced "Favorite Thing" DCU Project: A Theory

Gunn has a "favorite thing" that's a television series that's being kept on lockdown so no one steals it? How is that not begging for speculation? Just to make it clear, this is pure speculation and nothing more. That said, I'm really hoping that it's a live-action anthology series that would offer single-episode spotlights on various characters in the new DCU: heroes, villains, and everyone and everything in between. Why would that be pretty awesome? For a couple of reasons. First, it would take some of the pressure off the films to have to have any number of other characters appearing (unless they're essential to the story). Second, it would be a great way to test the waters on certain characters without having to commit to a full series or feature film upfront to see if they're popular enough to warrant a return. Third, it's an effective way to quickly expand the DCU without leaning too hard on the films and shows to accomplish that goal.

I know that some will argue that Marvel Studios was kinda-sorta doing that with "Special Presentation" efforts like Werewolf By Night. Still, they were infrequent at best (and possibly even less frequent now that Marvel Studios has pulled back on the number of films and shows it produces). For what we're talking about, we could see a 6-8-episode season of one-hour adventures, or possibly a season of three, 90-minute specials (like how Columbo and Sherlock were rolled out), and a mix of live-action and animated would also be intriguing. While there are a number of ways it could be approached, a DCU anthology series could be exactly what DC Studios needs to stand out from the pack.

That said, Corenswet's Superman could appear in any number of projects that have nothing to do with Gunn's secret project. Maybe he filmed something for the second season of John Cena-starring Peacemaker, and then there's Milly Alcock-starring Supergirl hitting next year, and Kyle Chandler and Aaron Pierre-starring Lanterns on the way. We could see him voicing the Man of Steel for the second season of Creature Commandos, too. It's clear that there are options in play – we can't wait to see how it all plays out.

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