It's been three and a half years since DC Studios first unveiled its slate of DCU projects. It hasn't all been smooth sailing since then, and there are questions about what Paramount's acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery will mean for James Gunn and Peter Safran.
Supergirl losing upwards of $200 million won't do them any favours with the Ellison family, meaning the fate of both the co-CEOs and the DCU could now rest on the shoulders of Clayface and Man of Tomorrow.
Nothing has been announced beyond those—aside from the Jimmy Olsen-led DC Crime TV series—and a new piece from The Hollywood Reporter could explain why.
"There are a few clauses in the merger agreement that could cause issues as time goes on," writes the trade. "For starters, there are limits on deals involving 'key property' IP, both for new deals (e.g., a film or series) or a licensing deal to a third party. The agreement does not specify what qualifies as a key property, but one can safely assume that franchises like Harry Potter, Game of Thrones and DC are among them."
In simple terms, this means that Warner Bros. Discovery will likely hold off on producing any new DC content until being given the green light from Paramount. That could significantly delay planned projects. Similar to when David Zaslav took over WBD in 2022, it may lead to projects in active development (like Batgirl) being scrapped if they don't fit the new owner's vision.
So, until mid-2027, it seems all DC Studios can do is work on projects already in the works before the merger process began. The deal is expected to close by late next year, and this update potentially explains why The Batman Part II has been pushed to 2028. That move ensures Paramount can benefit from the movie's release.
Despite facing various legal hurdles, Deadline has confirmed that UK authorities have now given Paramount's $111 billion acquisition the green light.
The UK represented one of the last major obstacles to David Ellison finally landing his prize. With that now out of the way, the Paramount boss can focus on the U.S. lawsuit, which is set to go to trial in March 2027.
"Paramount is grateful to the CMA for its constructive engagement and its review of the transaction," Paramount said in a statement. "These clearances recognise that the combination of Paramount and WBD will enhance consumer choice and enable a creative-first company to invest in more projects and bring stories to audiences worldwide."
Ellison wrote, "As with any transaction of this nature, opportunities to improve operational efficiencies and effectiveness may be identified over time. These may include the consolidation or combination of certain back-office functions, technology stacks, legal, financial and platform delivery and other non-editorial operational arrangements, where this serves the interests of efficiency and audience."
"Paramount wishes to make clear that any such measures will be kept entirely separate from editorial and content decisions, and will in no way diminish the breadth, quality or diversity of content available to UK audiences."
In an earnings call today (via The Wrap), Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav briefly commented on the state of DC, but declined to address Supergirl directly. Instead, he hyped up the handful of projects currently in the works.
"On the DC side, James is focused on 'Man of Tomorrow.' I saw some pictures yesterday that looked amazing. Actually, yesterday was James' birthday, and he’s out working. He’s working 16, 18 hours a day. It looks fantastic. We’re super excited about it. Matt Reeves, I spoke to over the weekend, and he’s working very hard on Batman."
"We have ‘Clayface’ coming up soon, which looks terrific. We got 'Lanterns' launching in the next few weeks on HBO, which Casey [Bloys] and Sarah [Aubrey] are super excited about. So DC feels very good, and we have a robust pipeline, and Peter and James are hard at work."
Stay tuned for updates as we have them.