Ok, so we’re finally getting the Lanterns TV series this weekend, but there’s a lot of speculation about the future of the DCU and its TV shows after this… so just where are we with all the new shows?
So, first of all, Lanterns has not yet been renewed for a second season, but a writers’ room is in place, so DC/Warners are confident it’s going to be a hit, and based on the clips so far, I tend to agree. Halt and Catch Fire creator Chris Cantwell will serve as a co-showrunner alongside Chris Mundy, the showrunner on season one as well as the superb Ozark.
Word is that the first season is a complete story and doesn’t need a second season, but it does set up a few elements to tie into the wider DCU, especially Man of Tomorrow.
Speaking to the New York Times, Mundy said: “We’re trying to really put John Stewart on his feet inside our own show, but then, once he’s on his feet, he can walk around in the rest of the DC-verse.”
We also know that Creature Commandos season 2 is being worked on and is set to air shortly after next year’s Man of Tomorrow with showrunner Dean Lorey saying: “The artists, the directors have been killing it. I’m very excited for you guys to see it at some point next year.”
We also have a first-look image of the new team, including Khalis, King Shark and Nosferata who join the team this season. The image also reveals GI Robot’s new look:
Now, it was also reported that two shows we knew were in development – the Waller series starring Viola Davis once again and set after Peacemaker season 2 and Paradise Lost, the animated series about Themyscira and Wonder Woman – were cancelled at HBO. This is not true, although they have been put on the back burner
Waller was written by Watchmen’s Christal Henry and Supernatural’s Jeremy Carver and would have featured the Peacemaker cast again. It still might, but it’s going to be a while.
Another show that we do know is happening is the Jimmy Olsen series starring Skyler Gisondo, left, as Olsen and Scream 7 star Jimmy Tatro as the Flash’s archenemy, Gorilla Grodd – the series is rumoured to be called American Villain and is set to be filmed like a talk show focusing on villains from the DCU. The series from Tony Yacenda and Dan Perrault, creators of Netflix’s American Vandal.
http://www.followingthenerd.com/tv/watch-the-first-five-minutes-of-lanterns-is-here-ahead-of-sundays-premiere/
Jimmy Tatro confirms he’s playing Gorilla Grodd in the Jimmy Olsen series, and says they’re going to use motion capture to mimic his facial expressions.
(via @PardonMyTake) pic.twitter.com/pFqp5gUocx
— Home of DCU (@homeofdcu) July 29, 2026
It’s worth noting that that the DCU’s other boss, Peter Safran [the one who isn’t James Gunn], admitted that the recent Supegirl movie was a bomb and that they’re plan for the greater DCU remains unchanged: “While Supergirl didn’t meet our box office expectations, it’s just one component of a broader, long-term strategy at DC Studios that we remain confident in,” he said to the New York Times.
But it’s starting to look like that strategy IS changing.
AS of now, the Mr Terrific movie, based on the character as played by Edi Gathegi in Superman, is still reportedly in development woth Sandman’s Allan Heinberg writing. It remains to be seen if this actually happens.
Another project that is well into development is Mister Miracle, another animated series. At the recent Annecy Animation Festival, we learned that the show will feature Scott Free/Mister Miracle, Big Barda, Orion, Highfather, Granny Goodness and Darkseid and the animation will resemble the comic, left.
According to showrunner Tom King, Scott Free is the “son of God, raised by the devil”.
Bruce Campbell wanted to make a Dick Tracy TV series in the 1990s
Speaking further about the project at SDCC 2026 a couple of weeks back, King said creator and comic legend Jack Kirby is being honoured by the series and is very present throughout: “Jack Kirby is my every single day these days,” Tom King said.
“Jack Kirby is on my lips every day because… I’m insisting that every episode start with the baseline characters created by Jack Kirby, so that’s how each episode starts… Every time we get any design in, the first thing we do is we put the Kirby design next to the design and say, ‘Make it more Kirby.’”
Word is that Jack Quaid, star of The Boys and Scream V, is set to voice/play Scott/Mr Miracle in the show meaning that we could also see him in live-action at some point, played by Quaid as per Gunn’s one actor per character plan. The series will also feature Nathan Fillion as Guy Gardner – Fillion has now appeared in Superman and Peacemaker season 2 and he’s set for Man of Tomorrow and Lanterns. You’d never know he and Gunn were best mates, would you?
WATCH: First full trailer oozes in for DC’s Clayface and it looks stunning…
Finally, on to another two shows that were recently reported dead in the water but may actually still be in production and coming in the near future.
First up, Booster Gold.
It was revealed recently that Booster Gold, written by David Jenkins, was no longer happening. And that’s true. Mostly. The series, as imagined by Jenkins, is cancelled but it seems that DC/Warners are still developing Booster Gold, just a whole new take on it. Expect updates in the near future on this one.
No word either on if Kumail Nanjiani is still attached as Booster.
And finally, for now, on to Blue Beetle.
FIRST LOOK: Kevin Smith brings us Star Wars/Marvel: Hope Assembles comic series in 2027
Blue Beetle first appeared in 2023, right at the end of the DCEU and it all got a bit confusing because Gunn was promoting the movie and it quickly became, unofficially at least, the first movie of the new DCU. This seemed set in stone even more when Xolo Maridueña, who played the titular hero, announced that he was playing Beetle in a DCU animated series.
Then it was revealed that Maridueña would also appear as Blue Beetle in Man of Tomorrow.
Then it was rumoured that the animated series might not be happening anymore.
Well, it seems that the series is, according to Gunn himself: “still very much in development.”
It’s worth noting that Booster Gold and Blue Beetle in the comics are characters that are very reliant on one another.
So, there we have it. Confirmation that the DCU is a very complex machine but despite the rumours, while things are at different stages of development than we thought, many of them are still coming or are being reimagined.
As of right now, it looks like the DCU is set to finish 2026 strong with Lanterns and Clayface hitting cinemas in October. In 2027, as of right now, we have Creature Commandos season 2 and Man of Tomorrow.
So don’t believe the DCU is dead yet… It’s just, it seems, evolving. And I can’t wait to see all these projects come to life.
Sources: The Ankler, Deadline, THR, Nexus Point News, Collider, EW
Marc
Marc is a self-confessed nerd. Ever since seeing Star Wars for the first time around 1979 he’s been an unapologetic fan of the Wars and still believes, with Clone Wars and now Underworld, we are yet to see the best Star Wars. He’s a dad of two who now doesn’t have the time (or money) to collect the amount of toys, comics, movies and books he once did, much to the relief of his long-suffering wife. In the real world he’s a graphic designer. He started Following the Nerd because he was tired of searching a million sites every day for all the best news that he loves and decided to create one place where you can go to get the whole lot. Secretly he longs to be sitting in the cockpit of his YT-1300 Corellian Transport ship with his co-pilot Chewie, roaming the universe, waiting for his next big adventure, but feels just at home watching cartoons with his kids….
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