The DC Universe (DCU) is an American media franchise and shared universe based on characters from DC Comics publications. It was created by James Gunn and Peter Safran, co-chairmen and co-CEOs of DC Studios. The DCU is a soft reboot of a previous franchise, the DC Extended Universe (DCEU), retaining select cast members and narrative elements but disregarding others. In contrast to the previous state of DC Comics adaptations, the DCU features a unified continuity and story across live-action films and television, animation, and video games. Concurrent DC adaptations that do not fit this continuity are labeled "DC Elseworlds".
After Discovery, Inc. and WarnerMedia merged to become Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD), CEO David Zaslav revealed a plan to revitalize the DC brand following the poor reception of several DCEU films. Gunn and Safran were hired to lead the newly formed DC Studios in November 2022 after working on some DCEU projects, including the film The Suicide Squad (2021) and its spin-off series Peacemaker (2022–2025). The pair spent several months with a group of writers developing the overarching story for a new DC continuity that features a mix of popular and obscure DC characters. Some DCEU projects in development were abandoned in favor of new takes, while others—including Peacemaker—continued within the new franchise. Certain DCEU actors reprise their roles in the DCU, with others recast. Gunn and Safran wanted to focus on storytelling needs rather than forcing creators to rush their projects to meet specific release dates.
The story of the DCU is divided into chapters. The first chapter, "Gods and Monsters", begins with the first season of the animated series Creature Commandos, released in 2024. Gunn and Safran consider the chapter's first film, Superman (2025), to be the true beginning of the DCU.
Background
DC Extended Universe By late 2012, Warner Bros. Pictures was deemed to be "lagg[ing] behind" rival company Marvel Studios and their shared universe of superheroes, the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). Warner Bros. began planning for Man of Steel (2013), based on the DC Comics character Superman, to start their own shared universe, which became known as the "DC Extended Universe" (DCEU). They announced a full slate of DC films in October 2014. Man of Steel director Zack Snyder was set to return for Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016) and Justice League (2017), with spin-off films planned for the Justice League members and other DC characters. Snyder was involved in creating the style and projects for the new DC brand, which at that point had films scheduled through 2020.
While Batman v Superman grossed $864 million worldwide and was considered profitable for Warner Bros., its box-office performance and divisive reception did not meet the studio's expectations, and many fans and critics scrutinized its dark tone and character choices, blaming Snyder. Warner Bros. executives felt they could no longer give Snyder the "long leash" he had on Man of Steel and Batman v Superman, and reorganized future DC projects under the new DC Films division, though it was not designed to override the studio's "director-driven" mandate. Warner Bros. executive vice president and frequent film producer Jon Berg and comic book writer Geoff Johns were set to run DC Films and wanted to make Justice League more optimistic and hopeful. When the studio was not satisfied with their efforts, Joss Whedon was hired to write reshoots for the film. Snyder left the film after the death of his daughter in March 2017, and Whedon completed the film with significant changes. Justice League was another critical and commercial disappointment for Warner Bros., and the studio was again rethinking its approach to DC in late 2017. Following the film's failure, Warner Bros. met with Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige to discuss whether he would lead DC. Feige apparently entertained the idea, but the talks reportedly "fizzled". Berg and Johns left DC Films, and a planned Batman spin-off film was reworked into director Matt Reeves's The Batman (2022), a film separate from the DCEU.
Warner Bros. intended for future DCEU films to be more standalone than their previous interconnected plan. Walter Hamada was appointed the new president of DC Films in January 2018. That October, James Gunn was hired to write and direct The Suicide Squad (2021), a standalone sequel to the earlier DCEU film Suicide Squad (2016) which retained some cast members but otherwise told its own story. He worked with producer Peter Safran, who also produced the DCEU films Aquaman (2018) and Shazam! (2019). In May 2020, Warner Bros. and Snyder announced that his original vision for Justice League would be released on the streaming service HBO Max as Zack Snyder's Justice League (2021). By the end of 2020, Hamada was planning spin-off DCEU television series for HBO Max, including Gunn's The Suicide Squad spin-off Peacemaker (2022–2025). At that point, there were around 25 other live-action and animated DC-based series in addition to the various film projects. Hamada planned to connect all of these using the multiverse, which was introduced in The Flash (2023).
Warner Bros. Discovery In April 2022, Discovery, Inc. and Warner Bros. owner WarnerMedia merged to become Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD), led by president and CEO David Zaslav. The new company was expected to restructure DC Entertainment so the film, television, and video game divisions of the company could be aligned. Even before the merger was complete, Zaslav began meeting with candidates to take over DC—including film executive Emma Watts—with the hope of finding an equivalent to Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige. Despite some recent successes with DC films and series, Zaslav and WBD felt DC lacked a "coherent creative and brand strategy" and were underusing key characters such as Superman. Hamada was still contracted until 2023, and his supporters felt Zaslav was not giving him enough credit for his DC plans and successes. In June, Zaslav announced that DC Films would be separated from Warner Bros. within the WBD structure but would be overseen by Warner Bros. film chairs Michael De Luca and Pamela Abdy until a new DC head was appointed.
At the start of August, WBD decided not to release the DCEU film Batgirl on HBO Max or theatrically, stating that it "simply did not work" and went against Zaslav's mandate to make DC films "big theatrical event films". Soon after, Zaslav said he wanted a new 10-year plan for DC films, and he had enlisted former Walt Disney Studios and Warner Bros. executive Alan F. Horn as a consultant to help find a new leader for DC. Hamada was reportedly upset by the cancellation of Batgirl and tried to leave DC Films, but was convinced by De Luca and Abdy to stay through the release of Black Adam in October 2022. Around that time, Henry Cavill reprised his role as Superman from Man of Steel for a cameo appearance in Black Adam. This was against Hamada's wishes and was approved by De Luca and Abdy when they were approached directly by Black Adam star Dwayne Johnson. Johnson began promoting the idea of a Black Adam vs. Superman film co-starring Cavill in the future, and Warner Bros. began pursuing a sequel to Man of Steel starring Cavill. At the end of August, producer Dan Lin emerged as a potential candidate for taking over DC, but exited talks weeks later, in part due to his concerns with the Batgirl cancellation. Todd Phillips, director of the standalone DC film Joker (2019), was also considered for the role but remained focused on directing the sequel Joker: Folie à Deux (2024).
Development DC Studios and initial developments
James Gunn and Peter Safran were announced as the co-chairs and co-CEOs of the newly formed DC Studios at the end of October 2022 and were set to take over from Hamada on November 1. The decision to have a high-profile director like Gunn transition to a top executive position at a film studio was considered shocking and unprecedented. Gunn was expected to focus on the creative side of the company while Safran focused on the business and production side, and their deal was reportedly for four years. In addition to their new roles, Gunn and Safran were expected to continue directing and producing projects, respectively, though exclusively for WBD. They would report directly to Zaslav and work closely with De Luca and Abdy. A week after starting their new roles, the pair said they had begun working with a group of writers to develop an eight-to-ten-year plan for the new DC Universe (DCU). Zaslav said they had begun work on a bible for future DC projects that would be finished soon. He also said the new plan would emulate Marvel's model of having a single, unified approach to each character, specifically highlighting new approaches to Batman and Superman. By mid-November, Gunn had already begun writing the script for a new DC film while Safran focused on "fixing" the DCEU film Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom (2023). At the time of Gunn and Safran's hiring, Reeves and Antonio Campos were working on a series centered on Arkham Asylum for the DCU that was originally developed as a spin-off from The Batman, but it was no longer moving forward by July 2024.
In early December, Gunn and Safran were finalizing their plans ahead of a meeting with Zaslav. Patty Jenkins was no longer developing a sequel to her DCEU films Wonder Woman (2017) and Wonder Woman 1984 (2020) after being told by Gunn and Safran that such a film did not fit within their new plans. Various rumors about the plans were circulating, including that the DCU would be a complete reboot of the DCEU that moved away from the actors cast by Snyder, that Matt Reeves's The Batman films would be integrated with the DCU, and that Aquaman actor Jason Momoa would be recast as the character Lobo. These reveals and rumors led to concerns within the industry and among DC fans about the direction Gunn and Safran were taking the franchise, and Gunn put out a statement saying they "were coming into a fractious environment" and there would be an "unavoidable transitional period as we moved into telling a cohesive story across film, TV, animation and gaming". A week later, Gunn announced that they had a slate of projects "ready to go" and would provide more details in 2023. He was writing a new Superman film that would not star Cavill, and Ben Affleck was confirmed not to be reprising his DCEU Batman role moving forward. Gunn and Safran discussed potentially returning for the DCU with Cavill and Affleck to portray a new character and direct a project, respectively; Affleck later said he was not interested in directing a DCU project.
Chapter One: Gods and Monsters