Posted in: DC Universe, Movies, streaming, TV, Warner Bros | Tagged: dc studios, dcu, james gunn, peter safran

Think You Know DCU Chapter 1? Gunn Says We Don't Know the Half Of It.

Just when we thought we knew a lot about DC Studios' DCU "Chapter 1 - Gods and Monsters," James Gunn says we don't know the half of it.

So we're a little more than a month out since DC Studios' James Gunn & Peter Safran rolled out "Chapter 1 – Gods and Monsters," their first wave of films (Superman Legacy, Swamp Thing, The Authority, The Brave and the Bold & Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow) and series (Waller, Lanterns, Booster Gold, Creature Commandos & Paradise Lost) comprising their vision of a new DCU. And as you can see from what we have listed below, just on the series side, there was a solid amount of intel released at the time and a number of updates since then (like Creature Commandos being close to finalizing casting). We've gone on record as saying that we were more than impressed with what was rolled out at the time – we were expecting maybe three series announcements at best. But now we're getting a friendly reminder from Gunn via Twitter that as much as we think we know about Chapter 1? Apparently, we literally don't know the half of it.

When asked, "about how much of the Chapter 1 slate did you tell us about," Gunn responded, "less than half." Hmmm… could Gunn be referencing more film & series announcements? Or does he mean we only know "less than half" of what they need to announce about what we already know? I'm leaning towards a mix of the two – take a look:

DC Studios "Chapter 1 – Gods and Monsters": DCU Streaming Series

"Creature Commandos": Created by writer J. M. DeMatteis & artist Pat Broderick and first introduced in Weird War Tales #93 (November 1980), the comic book series focused on Frankenstein's monster teaming with a werewolf, a vampire, and a gorgon to fight Nazis in World War II. The series has the distinction of being the first DCU project that Gunn & Safran gave a green light to, with Gunn having penned the series (with some serious The Suicide Squad roots). In addition, the series is being cast with voice actors who could also play their characters in a live-action project down the road.

"Waller": With Peacemaker Season 2 on hold while Gunn works on Superman: Legacy, the Viola Davis-starring series will include the "Peacemaker team" and serve as a "continuation" of the HBO Max series. The series will be executive produced & penned by Jeremy Carver (Doom Patrol) and DCU writers' room writer Christal Henry.

"Lanterns": Being compared to "a huge HBO-quality event" along the lines of "True Detective," the series will 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." This series will replace Greg Berlanti's previous take on a "Green Lantern" series.

"Paradise Lost": Set before the birth of Diana (Wonder Woman) and set on the island of Themyscira, Safran & Gunn see the series as a "Game of Thrones" -like take on Wonder Woman's origins ("It's really about the political intrigue behind a society of all women": Safran). Comic fans may recognize the title from Phil Jimenez & George Pérez's Paradise Island Lost comics series. "How did that come about? What's the origin of an island of all women? What are the beautiful truths and the ugly truths behind all of that? And what's the scheming like between the different power players in that society?" were the rhetorical question that Gunn asked when explaining the series' themes.

"Booster Gold": Seen as the DCU's deep dive into comedy, Safran describes Mike Carter/Booster Gold as "a loser from the future who uses basic future technology to come back to today and pretend to be a superhero." From a series perspective, we're looking at a possible 25th-century setting, where Mike is a disgraced former football star who uses a time machine on display in the Metropolis Space Museum to gain fame and fortune… and maybe the desire to be a real superhero (if the sponsorship is right?). "Basically, "Booster Gold" is imposter syndrome as a superhero," Gunn added.

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