DC Studios held a press event last week which saw co-CEOs James Gunn and Peter Safran share several updates on the DCU's future. It was a bit of a mixed bag overall; Clayface and Sgt. Rock are moving forward, for example, but work on The Authority and Booster Gold has stalled.
On the plus side, Lanterns started shooting in Los Angeles last week and James Gunn was quick to praise the "marvellous" work of the show's creative team, Tom King, Damon Lindelof and Chris Mundy.
"I've been watching the dailies with that. It's really so cool because it is connected to Superman because we've got Guy Gardner in that, and then we've got these Green Lanterns over here," the filmmaker and studio executive revealed. "It's just such a different tone from what Superman is."
"And it's exactly what I want to bring to the DCU is being able to have these very different films and television series that are still part of an overall connected world, but have completely different feels to them."
Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow is also halfway through production in London and Gunn called the movie, which is being directed by Cruella helmer Craig Gillespie, "an extraordinary experience so far." He added, "The script was one of the first things that we greenlit when we got here. Ana [Nogueira] turned in a marvellous first script that just kept getting better."
"She's been a blessing, and Craig Gillespie was a dream for me. I, Tonya was one of my favorite movies, and he has been everything that I would hope for a director on a big project like this [when] working with him as a studio head," Gunn continued. "Which is weird to say, but I love working with him."
The Superman director also had plenty of good things to share about Supergirl actor Milly Alcock. "Woman of Tomorrow was one of the first things that I brought up, even before we got the job, that I wanted to make, because it was a very different view of Supergirl and how she is in this world from the sweet thing that she usually is."
"[Peter] says, 'Well, who would you cast?' And I said, 'There's this girl in House of the Dragon that I think would be amazing,' and she just fulfilled that," Gunn recalled. "So, this has been wonderful, and watching the [progress] has been great."
Alcock's Supergirl is expected to make her DCU debut this summer in Superman.
Finally, we have news on Dynamic Duo, the unique animated feature coming our way from Swaybox Studios. Expected to feature a mix of puppets and CGI, we know it will revolve around Dick Grayson and Jason Todd as two Robins.
The biggest question fans have had is whether it'll be set in the DCU (filling in some of the gaps in Bat-Family's history before we meet them in The Brave and the Bold) or a standalone Elseworlds take.
Safran confirmed it's being written by Matt Aldrich (Coco) and called it "a perfect on-ramp for the family audiences into the world of Gotham." Gunn, however, revealed, "There might be a way it might fit into the DCU. I would love for this animated puppet movie to be a part of the DCU. That's really appealing to me, but the story is unique, and so it may not work within our universe."
Even two years on from that initial slate announcement, the DCU appears to be in a state of flux, particularly when it comes to Batman's corner of the DC Universe. However, Gunn has confirmed that he has a six-year plan set to culminate with an Avengers: Endgame-level event story.
There are definitely some exciting DC Studios projects on the horizon and the hope is that the next DCU update will be perhaps a little more definitive than this latest effort.