Some DCU projects are struggling, while some fresh ones just got announced, and I’m wondering if anyone at DC has learned from Marvel’s mistakes.
Another day, another fresh batch of DC projects have been announced, most of them being animated this time round. Last week, select journalists got to attend a presentation from DC Studios co-CEOs James Gunn and Peter Safran which spoke about where they are at with the new DCU, as well as announcing some new projects in the works (via Variety). First up is a trio of new animated series, all of which seem to be their own thing separate from the DCU. There’s My Adventures with Green Lantern, obviously now a sort of series following on from My Adventures with Superman, which will follow high school student Jessica Cruz whose life gets turned upside down when “a Green Lantern Power Ring falls from the sky” and chooses her to “be its champion.”
Then there’s DC Super Powers, another animated series that follows high school versions of characters like The Flash, Green Lantern, and Aquagirl, who “level up their powers under the supervision of Principal Martian Manhunter, in the hopes of one day graduating and becoming the next generation of Earth’s defenders.” And the last of the animated projects is Starfire, an origin story for the Teen Titans character. Speaking of Teen Titans, it was also properly confirmed that a live-action adaptation about them is in the works.
On the other side of things, Gunn and Safran also shared there have been some roadbumps with other projects – the Amanda Waller spinoff series apparently hasn’t found the right script, Booster Gold hasn’t progressed too much after a showrunner that had expressed interest moved on, and the script for The Authority has apparently had a “harder time coming along.”
The thing that seems most concerning of all, though, is how many projects a year DC Studios wants to get out a year, with Safran saying its goal is to release two live-action films and one animated film per year, and two live-action and two animated TV series per year. That’s a lot to keep up with, and has been Marvel’s biggest downfall in recent years.
There’s just too much to keep track of with all the shows that tie into the film universe, and even if Gunn has said he doesn’t want people to have to do homework, with only Creature Commandos out there right now ahead of his Superman film later this year, the proof isn’t there just yet. Time will tell if this plan pays off.
