DC Studios co-CEO James Gunn has made it clear that, moving forward, he wants pretty much all DC content to take place in the DCU. That includes animated TV shows, video games and, crucially, everything we see in live-action.
There will be some "Elseworlds" projects like Joker: Folie à Deux and The Penguin, but following the Arrowverse's conclusion, it seems the days of TV shows like Doom Patrol, Titans, and Superman & Lois and over. All but the latter have been cancelled, with the small screen Man of Steel set to receive a fourth - and presumably final - season.
The series has a dedicated fanbase and giving it one last batch of episodes appears to be a way of placating viewers (after all, Warner Bros. won't want #RestoreTheSupermanAndLoisVerse to join #RestoreTheSnyderVerse).
We've already heard that several supporting cast members have been released from their contracts - including Dylan Walsh, Emmanuelle Chriqui, Erik Valdez, Inde Navarrette, Wolé Parks, Tayler Buck, and Sofia Hasmik - with them now expected to make little more than brief cameo appearances across the course of the season.
Today, Deadline brings word that the show's writers' room has also been condensed.
It's gone from eight to five, and this comes as a result of Warner Bros. Television agreeing to deliver Superman & Lois for a significantly lower license fee to ensure The CW would produce it under its new lower-cost original programming model. That means major budget cuts.
As the the series boasts extensive special effects, this one being hit hard was inevitable, hence why only four of the twelve series regulars are returning (Tyler Hoechlin, Elizabeth Tulloch, Michael Bishop and Alex Garfin).
On a brighter note, one of the fired writers has been tapped to pen an episodic script as a freelancer, while another is going to direct and also write on a freelance basis.
Superman & Lois season 4 will consist of just 10 episodes and, hopefully, isn't going to become a victim of the SAG-AFTRA strike. As things stand, it may struggle to return before the end of 2024 and we can't say for sure whether Gunn will be happy for it to release the same year as Superman: Legacy...