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Credit: DC / Warner Bros.Now that James Gunn’s Superman (2025) has opened the door for the new DCU — which replaces the DCEU — fans are wondering what’s next for the shared cinematic universe.
Directed and written by Gunn, Superman is soaring at the box office, having swept up over $400 million since its opening on July 11. The film has received mostly positive reviews from audiences and critics, with many praising David Corenswet’s performance as Clark Kent/Superman, his chemistry with Rachel Brosnahan’s Lois Lane, and the overall upbeat tone.
The First Wave of New DCU Projects
Superman‘s final moments feature a Kara Zor-El cameo, with Milly Alcock making a brief appearance in preparation for her leading role in next year’s Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow, which releases in theaters on June 26. That film will be followed closely by Clayface (the Batman villain), which opens on September 11.
Beyond those two films, other theatrical entries slated for release include The Authority, Swamp Thing, and an untitled Wonder Woman film, all of which form part of the DCU’s first wave of films and television shows, collectively dubbed “Chapter One: Gods and Monsters.”
Among that lineup is a Batman reboot titled The Brave and the Bold. But while that film has yet to cast an actor to portray Bruce Wayne/Batman — who will essentially take over from Ben Affleck — the Caped Crusader has already made his official debut in the new DCU.
Batman’s DCU Appearance Explained
“Gods and Monsters” will also include TV shows, and we’ve already had the first season of the animated series Creature Commandos. But this is where things get messy, as the DCU is salvaging parts of the DCEU, including Viola Davis’ Amanda Waller (as seen in Creature Commandos), and the upcoming second season of the live-action series Peacemaker starring John Cena (who appears in the new Superman).
Creature Commandos is an adult animated series based on the DC Comics of the same name (akin to Suicide Squad). Earlier this year, fans got their first look at Batman in episode 6, (“Priyatel Skelet”), in which his hulking silhouette can be seen through a skylight in between flashes of lightning.
But while he looks very similar to Ben Affleck’s version of the Dark Knight, as seen in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016), Suicide Squad (2016), Justice League (2017), Zack Snyder’s Justice League (2021), and The Flash (2023), all of which form part of the now-defunct DCEU, there’s a pretty good reason for it.
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Is It Ben Affleck’s Dark Knight?
“I wrote the series [Creature Commandos] before I took over at the head of DC, it’s something we had ready to go,” James Gunn told Rotten Tomatoes in January, which suggests that the version of Batman we see is, technically speaking, Ben Affleck’s iteration.
However, Gunn explains that he wanted to strip back on the amount of Batman initially set to feature in the show. “When they first gave it [Creature Commandos] to me, [we] saw a lot more Batman, and I was saying, ‘I’m not ready to commit to that, I’m not ready to commit to that, I’m not ready to commit to that! More silhouette, more silhouette, more silhouette!’”
He added: “But then I think it’s [the cameo] a great way to show that Batman does exist. He already exists in this universe, just like when we come to the Superman movie, we see that Superman already exists, he’s already known by the people in Metropolis, so we don’t need to hear the [Batman] origin story again.”
When Gunn was probed about which Batman appears in Creature Commandos, he playfully (and cryptically) responds, “This is the DCU Batman!”
So, we know that The Brave and the Bold will start with an already-established Caped Crusader, must like this year’s Superman and next year’s Supergirl. And based on Superman‘s vibrant aesthetics, we can also expect this new Gotham to be far more outlandish and fantastical than the dreary version from the DCEU/Snyderverse and the likes of Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight trilogy and Matt Reeves’ The Batman (2022).
Superman Kick-Starts the New DCU in Theaters
Superman is in theaters now.
It stars David Corenswet as Clark Kent/Superman, Rachel Brosnahan as Lois Lane, Nicholas Hoult as Lex Luthor, Isabela Merced as Kendra Saunders/Hawkgirl, Edi Gathegi as Michael Holt/Mister Terrific, Nathan Fillion as Guy Gardner/Green Lantern, Anthony Carrigan as Rex Mason/Metamorpho, María Gabriela de Faría as Angela Spica/The Engineer, and Krypto the Dog.
Are you excited about the new DCU? Who do you think should play Batman? Sound off in the comments!