Is 2025 a year of reckoning for DC Studios?

The date was January 31, 2023, a time on the calendar when DC Studios moved all their chips to the middle of the nerd table. The partnership of James Gunn and Peter Safran was announced. The dynamic duo would co-helm the newly minted DC Studios and the first motion picture we would get was none other than Superman (formerly known as Superman: Legacy).

Fast forward to December 2024, we "looked up" and caught our first glimpse of Krypton's last son. Accompanying the social post below came the bellowing of every nerd's expectation in the known universe.

Nearly two years from that illustrious announcement - and 46 years since Christopher Reeve first made us believe a man could fly - we get a poster providing much more than a tease for some trailer or movie date.

• Most importantly, the poster reeks of Alex Ross, the illustrator of the revered 1996 Kingdom Come series (or the dude behind the new Superman insignia).

• It's a GIF! The dang poster of Superman moved, and only going up.

• DC Studios shut down the naysayers exaggerating that Superman would be a dramedy, all because of Krypto. This is no comedy. It may have laughs, but not a recent series of jokes.

• In copywriting, simplicity is genius. "Look Up." That's it. What's up? A bird? A plane? What about a new horizon? How about, uh... what does that insignia mean again? Oh yes, Hope.

• An ethereal siren humming her way into an earworm that lives in our heads and culminates with the iconic John Williams' score. It's a red-trunked glop of icing on this red, gold, and blue cake.

Then, for good measure, James Gunn drops this...

A clockwise spiral to the new Kryptonian seal of truth, justice, and the American way. And don't let that makeshift Richard Donner font escape. Gunn may be many things to several people. Someone ignorant of details is not among those monikers.

Given all the hype, hubbub, and ballyhoo over the past two years. All the "Where the hell is the rest of Zack Snyder's ideas?" or "Can we get the Ayer Cut like now?" or even "DC is not the Guardians of the Galaxy." From people criticizing WBD for the hires to the fluid vitriol hurled at Gunn and Safran like monkey feces at the zoo, the commentary is everywhere.

It all comes down to this: Will 2025 become a year of reckoning for DC Studios?

Look Up (what) DC Studios (is doing so far)

If you are not familiar with Mark Waid's supreme scribe abilities and the expert illustrative quill of Alex Ross, do so. The riveting four-episode graphic novel earned five Eisner and Harvey awards. (Think of the Eisners as comics' Oscars and the Harveys more like the Screen Actors Guild awards.) Kingdom Come is an unparalleled nerd utopia in comics.

What many hardcore DC homers love about Kingdom Come (and many more casuals may not understand) is the swath of characters in the graphic novel who range from the core all the way down to the clearance rack of "Who?!" They all have a place in the Elseworlds composite. Some seasoned heroes - many you know - are retiring and realizing that crimefighting may be for the future generation - many you may not. Others represent what's wrong with the younger generation, unveiling a regime of anti-heroes.

Earth-22 had never seen this kind of paradox. Imagine a world where superheroes question their frailty and effect, while others believe their powers don't necessarily need to be always used to benefit those who have taken this service as a gift. (And if you think that's complicated, DC Comics has over 60 Earths, each with a solid array of good and evil in its plane of the multiverse.)

Why focus on Earth-22? This is the genesis of internal conflict and external control. It's a dynamic perspective on what could happen to the average person if faced with supreme power. Gunn is no stranger to this niche vantage point in the superhuman world. Brightburn, anyone?

Any artist begins with a bevy of tools and materials - all the colors, clays, and pencils they can muster. Waid and Ross must have stopped by Costco because Lawd, have mercy! Earth-22 and Kingdom Come is a DC Comics fan's lollapalooza. Seriously. Stop us when you need to "look up" some of these spandex supers online. They all make an appearance in Earth-22 (which bodes well for what Gunn may have planned in 2025 and beyond).

• Core: Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Red Robin, Green Lantern, Flash, Hawkman, Aquaman, Green Arrow, Shazam, Martian Manhunter, Joker, Catwoman, Lex Luthor, Riddler (Edward Nigma)

• Tier Two: Sandman, Midnight, Brainiac, Mister Miracle, Big Barda, Booster Gold, Black Canary, Nightstar, Darkstar, Huntress, Batwoman, Captain Atom, Peacemaker (yes, that Peacemaker), Mister Terrific, The Spectre

• Tier Three: Power Man (no, not that one), Atlas, Zatara, Spy Smasher, Vandal Savage, Magog, Nightshade, Shiva the Destroyer, Hyperman, Lord Naga, Norman McCay, Steel (God, please not that Steel)

There are volumes of untapped story potential and unquestionable depth of characters just in that example of Alex Ross' and Mark Waid's brainchild. But Gunn had to begin with Superman. DC Comics did in June 1938, leaving Batman to show up less than a year later in May 1939. And although this will be a no-origin story, there will be the seeds of an origin and a kingdom to come.

Here are just a few detours we could take with those characters:

• Captain Marvel vs. Superman? It's in here.

• Big Barda and Mister Miracle? Maybe Ava DuVernay could create "New Gods" after all? They're here.

• There is a litter of superhero progeny on display, such as Black Canary's daughter with Oliver Queen, Jade (daughter of Green Lantern Alan Scott) and Obsidian (son of Green Lantern Alan Scott), Kid Flash (son of Wally and Iris West), Nightstar (daughter of Starfire and Robin Dick Grayson), The Whiz (heir of Shazam's power), Hyperman (son of Superman and Wonder Woman, Jonathan Kent II), Zatara (Son of Zatanna and John Constantine), Lightning (daughter of Black Lightning) and even Joker's and Brainiac's baby girls get some considerable action. They are all in there.

• And one of the most powerful and immovable characters in all comic folklore, The Spectre. If you're not in the know, he was originally a demon named Aztar who fell from heaven. Following repentance, he was given divine powers and a single purpose--as the embodiment of the wrath of God. Yeah, Thanos would pee is purple pants.

And that is James Gunn's muse for Superman: Legacy. See?

Check the date. That was two full months before DC Studios announced their future production slate or how "Chapter One: Gods & Monsters" would begin. James Gunn has a palette full of more colors than most rainbows have seen.

Back to the initial question about a "reckoning." The word has a peculiar origin - Old English, Dutch, and 14 century Germanic. The stem of the word means "a narration of accounts," as in storytelling. However, it's a detailed summation of accounts during an event, like a list of billed charges that need to be understood. When we hear a "Day of Reckoning," it means a specific point when someone or something must account for each charge against them, and at that time, only will a judgment be rendered.

Will 2025 be a good year for DC Studios? It must be. Why? When Superman soars on the screen and in our lives, James Gunn's, Peter Safran's and DC's day of reckoning begins. Look up, gang. The entire future of DC Studios and Warner Bros. in the comic world is up there. No pressure.