The full slate for the DCU‘s Chapter One — officially subtitled “Gods and Monsters” — has been unveiled, and while it is stacked full of must-see projects starring everyone from Superman to Swamp Thing, DC fans may be somewhat disappointed to discover that there isn’t a Justice League movie or TV series among them. In a curious move, however, DC Studios co-CEO James Gunn has announced a solo vehicle for a Justice League pastiche instead.
Namely, a movie based on The Authority is in the works. For those not in the know, which is understandably pretty much every casual DC fan who doesn’t have an encyclopedia knowledge of the comic book world, the Authority were created by writer Warren Ellis and artist Bryan Hitch and originally hailed from future DC Comics chief Jim Lee’s Wildstorm universe, before later being folded into the mainline franchise.
Here’s how the project, which is said to focus on “a team of superheroes with rather extreme methods of protecting the planet,” has been described by Gunn and co-producer Peter Safran:
“One of the things of the DCU is that it’s not just a story of heroes and villains,” said Gunn. “Not every film and TV show is going to be about good guy vs. bad guy, giant things from the sky comes and good guy wins. There are white hats, black hats and grey hats.” Added Safran: “They are kinda like Jack Nicholson in A Few Good Men. They know that you want them on the wall. Or at least they believe that.”
The most famous members of the Authority have to be Midnighter and Apollo, two characters closely modeled after Batman and Superman, but with one key twist — they are a gay married couple. The pair have long been one of the most popular LGBTQ+ couples in DC Comics, so fans should be excited to see them finally brought into live-action. Honestly, the franchise making this big stride is probably even better than bringing the real Batman and Superman together in a movie yet again.