January 31, 2023, will be known as a major day for DC. James Gunn, who is now the co-president of DC Films, revealed his plans for the next era of DC storytelling which looks to unite all the stories across various forms of media including film, television, animation, and video games. Gunn, who is co-running the studio with Peter Safran, is a very busy man and while he is a talented filmmaker he cannot do this all alone, so he brought on a team of writers to help map out the future of the DCU and give it a sense of direction it has not had in quite some time.
Gunn assembled a writer’s room, gathering some screenwriters he respected to help come up with ideas for the direction of the new DCU and planned projects. He announced ten projects, with five films and five television series, and said there was more to come. While none of the writers are officially attached to any of the announced titles, with some exceptions, these writers were chosen for specific reasons and will help usher in Chapter 1, “Gods and Monsters.” With that in mind let’s take a look at the writers assembled and see how their past work may influence the DCU.
James Gunn is not only the co-president of DC Studios, and as a writer and director himself, it makes a certain amount of sense he would be involved in this writers’ room. Gunn was a prolific screenwriter before he became a director having penned the scripts for the superhero satire The Specials, the two live-action Scooby-Doo movies, and the remake of Dawn of the Dead. He has written every film he has directed including all three Guardians of the Galaxy films and both The Suicide Squad and Peacemaker.
Gunn was already confirmed to be attached to pen the script for Superman Legacy which will be a reboot of the Superman franchise and the official start of Chapter 1. Gunn is also working on the television series based around Amanda Waller, which will take place between season 1 and season 2 of Peacemaker. Gunn also wrote all the episodes for Creature Commandos, which reportedly was the secret DC project Gunn had been working on at DC around the time The Suicide Squad was coming out and before he was made head of DC Studios.
Drew Goddard was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay for his work on The Martian. He’s also written the scripts for acclaimed hybrid horror films like Cloverfield and The Cabin in the Woods (which he also directed), and both wrote and directed the critically acclaimed and highly underrated Bad Times at the El Royale.
Goddard also has a long history of developing superhero projects that never got off the ground. He was the original writer on Netflix’s Daredevil before departing the project to write and direct Sinister Six. After Sinister Six was scrapped, he signed on to write and direct X-Force for 20th Century Fox, and then the X-Men films were scrapped after Disney acquired Fox.
As both an accomplished writer and director, it is likely he will also be brought on to pen a full project and maybe helm a feature film. While his horror background would suggest Swamp Thing, the fact that he was previously attached to two superhero team movies about morally questionable characters might make him the perfect fit for The Authority.
Christina Hodson feels like the perfect writer to be a part of the DC’s writers’ room as she has a history of soft rebooting a franchise, and also a lot of history adapting DC Comics. Hodson wrote Bumblebee, which was loosely a prequel to the Michael Bay Transformers films that also acted as a reboot of the franchise, something the DCU is in the middle of right now. Hodson also wrote the scripts for Birds of Prey, the canceled Batgirl movie, and the upcoming film The Flash which will reportedly reboot the DCU into the vision that Gunn and Safran have.
With The Flash set to reboot the DCU, Hodson could take on a number of projects. Her work has always been a great balance of paying respect to what has come before but also not feeling burdened by it and allowing her entires to stand on their own and feel fresh and excited. The Flash is set to introduce a version of Supergirl, played by Sasha Calle.
It is unclear if Calle will reprise her role as Supergirl in the planned adaptation of Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow, but given Hodson’s involvement in the original DCU and the upcoming new slate, it is entirely possible. She could pen the script for the new Supergirl movie and bring over the actress they cast for the multiverse adventure. Hodson could also be the showrunner on Paradise Lost, the Themyiscara set Wonder Woman prequel which has been described as Game of Thrones-like. She could build off the established lore introduced in Wonder Woman and Wonder Woman 1984 while making her own unique version of the world.
Jeremy Carver has a rich history writing superhero television, having worked on another DC series the highly popular Doom Patrol. Carver is already confirmed to be working on the Amanda Waller spin-off series alongside Christal Henry and he will likely be brought on board to pen one of the projects given his involvement in other superhero streaming series and working relationship with Warner Bros. The most obvious answer is Lanterns, the Green Lantern-based cop series which will focus on Hal Jordan and John Stewart.
Christal Henry has already worked in the worlds of DC before, being one of the writers on the hit HBO series Watchmen, which was a sequel to the groundbreaking graphic novel. Henry was previously announced to be working on the Amanda Waller spin-off series as the co-showrunner, and it appears she is also involved in shaping the franchise even more. While unclear if she will be involved in a future project, Gunn clearly was impressed with her work and wanted her to help shape the franchise’s future.
Tom King is a prolific comic book writer, having written many critically acclaimed comics like The Visions (which was partially the inspiration for WandaVision) and has had a great time at DC with an acclaimed run on Batman. He wrote for highly regarded comics miniseries like Mr. Miracle and Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow, which was confirmed to be one of the projects that are being adapted. King also worked with filmmaker Ava DuVernay on developing a New Gods movie that was canceled in 2021, which may give hope that the project will eventually be revived under James Gunn and Peter Safran’s leadership.
With Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow being adapted, that is the most obvious one for King to be attached to, given it is the comic he wrote. Yet his time working on Batman might also make him a candidate to write the upcoming Brave and the Bold film, which will see Batman teaming up with his son Damian Wayne as the new Robin. King has yet to be a credited screenwriter, so he might only be a consultant for now, but with the critical praise his work has generated for DC it is a good sign they have brought him on board.
