Filmmaker James Gunn recently became the co-CEO of Detective Comics (DC) Studios with Peter Safran. James Gunn fabulously revamped “The Suicide Squad” with a new movie in 2021, and he has many more planned projects coming out soon. Before we receive any new DC comics and animated and multimedia universe content, we should recap what has come so far and some crucial connections. (Note: I will mainly focus on the live-action content in this article with little discussion of animated works; I can only cover so much content at a time.)
DC has multiple universes similar to the multiverse in Marvel’s Cinematic Universe. There are so many different comic book interpretations of favorite characters and content in general that there are various alternate realities, universes, and even backstories for characters. However, the comics are usually connected by a universal character or base material.
The first DC universe I will explore is the DC Extended Universe (DCEU), which includes all the live-action movies from 2013 to 2023. This universe consists of the following films: “Man of Steel” (2013), “Batman v. Superman” (2016), “Suicide Squad” (2016), “Wonder Woman” (2017), “Justice League” (2017), “Aquaman” (2018), “Shazam” (2019), “Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn)” (2020), “Wonder Woman 1984” (2020), “Zach Snyder’s Justice League” (2021), “The Suicide Squad” (2021), “Black Adam” (2022), “Shazam: Fury of the Gods” (2023), “The Flash” (2023), “Blue Beetle” (2023) (read my review of this movie here, spoiler: I loved it and recommend that you watch it! It is way better than anything else in the DCEU in my opinion.), and the final project in this universe is “Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom” (2023).
There are two different Justice League movies in this universe. The two movies are various versions of the same movie. There are four versions of the Justice League movie, which you can read more about here. The 2017 “Justice League” garnered a 39% score on Rotten Tomatoes, while the 2021 “Zach Snyder’s Justice League” garnered a 72% score on Rotten Tomatoes. I saw the “Justice League” movie when it came out and was very disappointed because, as a long-time DC fan, they turned the plot into something that was not very enjoyable. A key aspect of the film was the “Mother Boxes,” which are devices popularly associated with supervillain Darkseid, who was not even in the movie. Apparently, “Zach Snyder’s Justice League” rectified that mistake and included Darkseid in the much longer extended version, which I have not watched yet because it is a grueling four hours long.
The next DC universe is the “Arrowverse,” which just refers to all the connected CW shows based on DC comics. The universe includes “Arrow, “The Flash”, “Legends of Tomorrow, “Supergirl”, “Black Lightning”, “Batwoman”, “Stargirl”, and “Superman & Lois.” Although, it should be noted that some of the series are a part of the same universe within the universe that contains all of them. It is a multi-layered multi-verse type deal. All of the series just mentioned have ended except for “Superman & Lois,” which is renewed for a fourth season. These live-action CW TV series are also all connected to two animated web series: “Vixen” (which was also condensed into a movie that you can watch on HBO Max for those who do not want to watch both seasons of it) and “Freedom Fighters: The Ray.” The NBC “Constantine” series also aired in 2014-2015. The “Constantine” series is not necessarily a part of the universe. Still, Matt Ryan (who played Constantine in the live-action series and actually voices him in most Constantine animations) did appear in “DC’s Legends of Tomorrow” series. The CW also has a new series called “Gotham Knights,” but it does not appear to be connected to any previous CW content, and it features around less popular characters in the Batman comic book lore area; I believe it is the same for CW’s “Naomi” that was canceled after its first season.
Outside of those two central live-action universes, not a lot of other live action content is connected. Like the series “Smallville,” “Titans” (so good! It is a little weird if you do not already know the characters or what is going on, but I highly recommend it), “Gotham” (AMAZING), “Watchmen” and “Constantine.”
In terms of live-action movies, the “Batman” movie series (1989-1997) that featured a multitude of different actors portraying Batman were all connected but not connected to anything else. The same goes for the “Superman” film series (1978-2006; and a live-action series that I absolutely adore and was a key part of my childhood, the “Wonder Woman” series (1976-1979) starring Lynda Carter.
“Joker” (2019), starring Joaquin Phoenix, will soon be getting a sequel, “Joker: Folie à Deux,” that will be released on Oct. 4, 2024. The two movies are entirely separate from everything else and the first film tells Joker’s origin story and how he became a supervillain. The second film will include Lady Gaga playing the role of Harley Quinn, which I am very excited about.
“The Batman” (2022), starring Robert Pattinson as Batman, was a huge success, and the sequel , “The Batman Part II,” will be releasing Oct. 3, 2025. Like “Joker”, this series is separate.
The “Peacemaker” series, starring John Cena as Peacemaker, is a spin-off based on the DC comics character introduced into the DCEU in “The Suicide Squad” and will be receiving a second season that is currently in development. There will also be another spin-off series, “Waller,” based on Amanda Waller who oversees Suicide Squad missions. Viola Davis will reprise her role as Amanda Waller in the series. The series is also still in development.
Excitingly, there will be a new Superman live-action movie, but unfortunately, Henry Cavill will not reprise the role of Superman in “Superman: Legacy,” which is supposed to start production in March. The film, which will be released on July 11, 2025, will follow a young Clark Kent (Superman) early in his career as a reporter and will show his struggle with balancing his Kryptonian heritage with his normal upbringing in Kansas. The film will star David Corenswet as Clark Kent and Nicholas Hoult as Lex Luthor.
Several other live-action projects spearheaded by James Gunn are currently in development. These include “Brave and the Bold” , a new Batman movie that will be separate from Robert Pattinson’s Batman movies. It will feature all of the Bat-family and its various members but will focus on Damainn Wayne (Bruce Wayne/ Batman’s youngest and only biological child/ son). We will also see Damain Wayne in real life for the first time! You do not even understand how excited I am about this. I literally named my cat after him. Also included are “Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow” movie based on comics of the same name, “Paradise Lost” TV series which is set in and about Wonder Woman’s homeland, Themyscira (also known as Paradise Island), and a “Lanterns” TV series following the Green Lantern Corps who are basically intergalactic law enforcement.
I will wrap up this article with news of “Constantine 2” being in development which is the sequel to the 2005 “Constantine” movie. The cult classic follows Keanu Reeves as Constantine and is based on the comics. This series is not connected to any of the Constantine content I discussed previously (multiverse). I personally felt like the 2005 movie was okay but not exceptional, so I was shocked when I found out that we were getting a sequel for it 20 years later. t I am still excited to see it when it comes out. I hope they include Zatanna (a superhero magician who is Constantine’s love interest in some media) in the movie, not just so Constantine can have a different love interest that I may like more, but because she is an awesome character, and I want to see some powerful magic.
Overall l, this is my completed wrap of all the previous DC live action content and what we can look forward to.
