James Gunn kept us waiting until the last day of January to announce DC Studios’ new DC Universe (DCU). The co-chair of DC Studios was at pains to stress early on that he and co-chair Peter Safran have a critical responsibility — to ensure continuity between DC movies, TV shows, games, and animation that’s not been there before. That kind of intricate continuity can only recall the phenomenal effort of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU).
While DC has struggled to replicate its comic book properties on screen, its great comic book rival has built a shared universe that’s the most successful franchise in Hollywood history.
However, the MCU is now 15 years old and has faced issues reinventing and diversifying its ever-growing story despite its inspired saga and phase approach to storytelling. DC has a fresh start and a new emphasis that could trample all over MCU’s Phases Five and Six.
1. Lines of justice are instantly going to blur
A surprise in Gunn’s announcement was a movie of The Authority, the dark and violent superteam from DC’s Wildstorm imprint that sits at a polar extreme to the Justice League. It’s a bold call, setting up the tantalizing prospect of the League forming to overthrow and return optimism to an Earth controlled by authoritarian superheroes.
The superteam’s history since Wildstorm’s characters folded into DC continuity in 2011 has been far more complicated and interesting than that. Still, there’s much to be said for establishing this uncompromising team of antiheroes first. Over in MCU’s Phase Five, we’ve got the rag-tag Thunderbolts, one villainous superteam that has, it’s fair to say, left fans cold.
2. It’s going to represent
The Authority always has comments to make on broad comic book history, and two of its prominent members are analogs for Batman and Superman. Even better, they’re a married couple with a long backstory in the comics. Just a hint of Midnighter and Apollo knocks the MCU’s approach to LGBTQ+ into relief.
For all its series and movies, the MCU has yet to represent the community like that. The next two phases are slow to confirm any characters who could. Xochitl Gomez’s America Chevez may return after Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, but the MCU character is far from the comic version. Michaela Coel’s Aneka and Florence Kasumba’s Ayo are yet to be confirmed for a return after Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. There’s also a question about whether King Valkyrie will return any time soon. So far, the two phases’ representation is left to Loki and variant Sylvie in Season 2 of Loki.
3. It’s a clean slate
It’s a sign of success more than anything, but there’s no forgetting that MCU’s Phase Five picks up with the 31st film of the franchise. Even as it heads to a new realm, that’s a lot of baggage to honor and trade on.
The DCU won’t have that problem for a long while as it resets and concentrates on introductions. While the threat of Kang in the MCU promises to pull on the franchise’s past, the DCU is readymade to look forward.
4. It’s big on double-acts
Gunn and Safran have realized the potential of DC’s teams, and particularly their double-acts. Retelling Grant Morrison’s Batman and Son promises a fresh approach to the much-adapted Dark Knight with an odd-couple father-and-son dynamic. It’s no mistake the movie’s picking up The Brave and the Bold for its title — a watch-phrase for legendary Batman team-ups. Booster Gold is set to come to HBO Max, and as everyone will soon know, that charismatic walking imposter syndrome is nothing without his partner Blue Beetle (although which version remains to be seen).
There’s also the fascinating prospect of Green Lanterns Hal Jordan and John Stewart playing True Detective. Over in the next two phases of the MCU, you have to really look for a good double-act, especially since Cap and Buck’s partnership is set to be split between Captain America: New World Order and Thunderbolts.
5. Multiple continuities are fine
The MCU’s strengths and weaknesses are in its continuity. True, the explosion of the multiverse has let other continuities come to play — most notably in 2021’s Spider-Man: No Way Home — but Earth-616’s connections still define the story. Nothing in the MCU can sit outside that continuity.
Gunn and Safran have inherited a mixed bag of DC successes and curated content. Matt Reeves’ Batman is an excellent example of a series designed not to operate in a shared DC universe (but to establish its own). Todd Phillips’ Joker is another Bat property that sits parallel to other incarnations of the Dark Knight in time and theme. Well, the planned sequels to both hits aren’t going anywhere.
The solution lies in DC history. The Elseworlds imprint that explored tales of familiar characters out of continuity will be applied on screen. Multiple continuities are guaranteed, with at least four Batmen appearing in the next few years.
6. It has James Gunn
7. It’s playing a better game with generations
The MCU competently assembled its Avengers during Phase One, which inevitably left later phases looking for repeat talent. It’s been particularly acute since the clear-out of Avengers: Endgame. We’ve been waiting for the Young Avengers to appear for ages, and we think we’ve met a few members in Kate Bishop’s Hawkeye and Kamala Khan’s Ms. Marvel, but… there’s no sign of them.
The DCU will introduce a new Batman just as he discovers he has a son. Damien Wayne isn’t just the heir to the world’s greatest detective and the world’s most infamous terrorist (Ra’s al Ghul’s daughter Talia is his mother), he’s also one of the greatest Robins and a Teen Titan.
8. It’s a new kind of connected universe
There’s a sense that the MCU’s Multiversal Saga has quickly taken a formulaic approach to the multiverse, letting individual characters discover it one by one. After Phase Four let Spider-Man, Doctor Strange, and Scarlet Witch in on existence’s worst-kept secret, Phase Five will take it to the next level as Ant-Man and Wasp head to the Quantum Realm. It’s been the formula since Asgard made its presence felt in Phase One.
Aside from signposted Elseworlds diversions, rebooting the DCU with the flagship movie Superman Legacy is a sign that multiple worlds will exist from the start. A crucial building block will be young Kal-El balancing his Kryptonian heritage and human upbringing while Supergirl brings a wholly different alien experience to her epic space opera.
9. It’s going supernatural straight away
We may have to wait until Phase Seven for things to get supernatural in the MCU. We’ll know more when Blade sets us straight on vampires at the end of Phase Five. The dark side of the MCU feels like a long overdue cog, as Doctor Strange has pretty much gone it alone on the dark side. Hints like Werewolf by Night have been relegated to Disney+ specials. It will be a long two phases, given there’s already a clamor for Man-Thing and Ghost Rider’s return.
The DCU won’t have any such worries as it drops the origin of the elemental Swamp Thing straight into its opening chapter.
10. We don’t know who the villain is (and nobody’s talking about them)
Right now, we’re pumped to dissect the broad range of projects that Gunn has promised will represent a new continuity (or will be signposted as Elseworlds), and that’s just about enough.
Is there a shared villain behind this opening chapter? An inevitable slide to assembling Avengers (check), ending in an epic timeline mashing fight (probably check)? No, we don’t even know the chapter’s destination, and you know what? That feels good.
The World’s Finest could rise to take down the Authority, the Flash could mess everything up, or Swamp Thing could spend an entire movie just hanging out in the Green. We just don’t know! We only know there’ll be monsters to go with the gods…