DC fans are ready to explore the brand new world of James Gunn and Peter Safran's DC Universe. The most devoted of them have already begun that journey, tuning into the first season of animated series Creature Commandos to get a sense of what the next big cinematic universe is going to be like. Based on the response to that series, they're in for a heck of a ride.
It all officially kicks off with Gunn's own directed Superman this summer which will pave the way for many titles that have already been confirmed to come next, including Peacemaker season 2, Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow, Clayface, and so much more. That doesn't even include the many previously-announced titles that DC Studios is still working on, including Waller, Paradise Lost, The Brave and the Bold, and The Authority. A new addition to that line-up is a Wonder Woman movie that Gunn has just officially confirmed is happening.
That being said, in the midst of all the good news, there was the recent announcement that one project in the DC Universe won't be going ahead.
James Gunn announces the cancellation of a high-profile DC Universe title
James Gunn and Peter Safran's DC Universe may have a lot of exciting projects on the horizon but it appears that one of them won't be going ahead. Speaking to Rolling Stone ahead of Superman's release next month, Gunn discussed his commitment to having finished scripts for the DCU movies and that they won't proceed without one, saying:
"Yeah. We just killed a project. Everybody wanted to make the movie. It was greenlit, ready to go. The screenplay wasn’t ready. And I couldn’t do a movie where the screenplay’s not good."
Gunn didn't reveal what the cancelled project is, but speculation has suggested that it might have been the planned Sgt. Rock movie. The project was set to be directed by Luca Guadagnino with Daniel Craig set to play the lead role (reuniting the director and actor after their recent collaboration on Queer) but the latter departed the project due to scheduling conflicts. Colin Farrell, who already has a DC role to his name in Matt Reeves' separate The Batman Universe, stepped in to replace him, but the project was ultimately nixed in April.
Insiders noted that the unexpected cancellation was likely due to scheduling issues as the project needed to begin filming by summer and wasn't going to make that deadline. Could the script not being ready have been the reasoning behind that? It would certainly explain why the movie went through such a whirlwind journey in its six-month existence.
There has also been speculation that it could be The Authority as Gunn previously revealed that it was having a tougher time coming to fruition than some of the other projects. And, honestly, in today's day and age of lesser-known comic book characters struggling at the box office, it's always been a bit of a target when it comes to likely cancellations.
The good news is that Gunn is excited about the upcoming slate of DC Universe movies, saying:
"And we’ve been really lucky so far, because Supergirl’s script was so f*cking good off the bat. And then Lanterns came in, and the script was so f*cking good. Clayface, same thing. So f*cking good. So we have these scripts that we’ve been really lucky with or wise in our choices or whatever the combination is."
Taking all of that into account, things are still looking pretty on track for the DCU. It's unfortunate that the potential Sgt. Rock cancellation (if that is indeed the title that was shelved) prevented audiences from seeing what would have undoubtedly been a thrilling, unique comic book movie, the franchise is still on track to come out of the gate strong if Superman and Supergirl succeed. Here's hoping that they do!
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