There will be no shortage of insiders spinning tales about whose power struggle led to whose firing at Warner Bros. That’s what happens during a post-merger bloodbath. But with James Gunn and Peter Safran suddenly out, it’s hard to imagine things not getting even messier for the DCU from here on out. It’s reportedly in “reboot mode,” and even David Corenswet’s Superman could be on the chopping block.
“I’m told plans are already afoot to dismantle much of what Gunn and Safran had plotted out beyond next summer’s Gunn-directed Man of Tomorrow, the currently shooting The Batman: Part 2, and an in-the-works HBO series,” Puck‘s Matthew Belloni wrote earlier today. “So DC Goes back into reboot mode…again.”
There have been some rumors swirling about Man of Tomorrow doing poorly with test audiences and Warner Bros. being in panic mode about how much money it could lose. That’s the narrative being pushed by one alleged Skydance Media insider who is now claiming to Cosmic Book that even Corenswet could be unlikely to return as Superman in a third movie.
I’ll be honest, I’m not sure I have it in me to care about Hollywood’s hunt for a potential third Son of Krypton in just a decade. I thought 2025’s Superman was pretty good. I’m interested to see how Man of Tomorrow shakes out. I’m very much not interested in seeing new DCU head Jeremy Latcham try to sketch out yet another referentially dense, Easter egg-laden take on DC comic book lore.
It’s funny to think that less than two years ago it seemed like the DCU had truly outgrown its years of cringe and chaos. The joyless Snydercut and all of the fan mobs arguing about it, Dwayne Johnson’s awkward attempt to strongarm Black Adam in through the backdoor, Gal Godot’s forgettable Wonder Woman–I thought we’d finally come out the other side of the Boom Tube into something better and more stable. We finally had a good live action Green Lantern!
Now it sounds like things are going back to square one. David Ellison reportedly wants a new Justice League movie as soon as possible. HBO’s Lanterns reportedly wasn’t a big enough part of the zeitgeist and won’t get a season 2. Maybe Bari Weiss can take a stab at a new Snydercut.
At least we’ll always have Absolute Batman. The critically-acclaimed spin-off reportedly spared DC comics its own reboot.
