DC Studios’ upcoming slate stretches well beyond Lanterns, with a growing list of movies and TV series in the works. All eight episodes of Lanterns Season 1 are now streaming on HBO Max, but the new series from James Gunn and DC Studios is just a glimpse into what the future holds for the creative architect’s incoming vision. The DCU got its canonical start with the Creature Commandos TV series before most people were reintroduced to the world with 2025’s Superman. Now, a few more projects in, the new DC cinematic universe has built up a stronger reputation, especially with Lanterns proving to be a well-regarded hit.
The Lanterns Season 1 finale, “Dirt and Stars,” debuted on HBO Max on October 4. Without delving into spoilers, the episode answers some of the show’s biggest questions while leaving plenty of doors open for the future. Gunn even confirmed on Threads that Episode 8 was a “season finale,” not necessarily a series finale.
And fans hopefully won’t have to wait for a potential second season to see more of John Stewart (Aaron Pierre), as the actor is set to reprise the role in Gunn’s Man of Tomorrow next summer.
Following up on Lanterns, DC Studios has a wide variety of projects in various stages of development, and there’s actually one releasing in theaters in a matter of weeks to keep up this momentum.
DC Studios Project Greenlit
Clayface
Right around the creepy corner, Clayface is the DC Studios movie hitting theaters this month, arriving on October 23 as the DCU’s first outright horror, R-rated story.
Matt Hagen (Tom Rhys Harries) is a rising actor whose face gets disfigured by a Gotham gangster, and the experimental procedure meant to fix it goes horribly wrong. The film is a Batman villain origin story that could set up future battles, and its latest promos offer the best look yet at Clayface’s final form.
Man of Tomorrow
Streamlined for success, Man of Tomorrow wrapped filming on August 26 after a 93-day shoot, keeping Gunn’s next big-screen crossover on track for its July 9, 2027, release.
Gunn’s sequel will have Superman (David Corenswet) and Lex Luthor (Nicholas Hoult) working together against a “much, much bigger threat:” Brainiac (Lars Eidinger).
The director has even called it “as much a Lex movie as it is a Superman movie,” and new official Man of Tomorrow art shows the pair battling robots side by side.
The People v. Gorilla Grodd
HBO Max’s mockumentary The People v. Gorilla Grodd follows Jimmy Olsen (Skyler Gisondo) as he produces a “true” crime docuseries about Gorilla Grodd (Jimmy Tatro), who was convicted of killing his father.
Filming began in Atlanta in early September, and it is on pace for a 2027 release, but Guinn confirmed that it won’t come out until after Man of Tomorrow.
Creature Commandos Season 2
Gunn has said Creature Commandos Season 2 “won’t be long after”Man of Tomorrow, putting the animated series’ return in 2027.
Dean Lorey returns as showrunner and takes over writing duties from Gunn alongside a full writers’ room, and the new season will run 10 episodes, three more than Season 1. Specifically because of Frank Grillo’s Rick Flag Sr., there’s a chance this new season is connected to the greater Salvation story arc set up in Peacemaker Season 2.
The Batman Part 2
Due to sad circumstances, Matt Reeves’ sequel, which lives outside the DCU and began filming in the U.K. this spring, was temporarily paused on Monday, October 5 while Reeves “focuses on a family matter.”
It’s unclear whether that will affect the film’s February 18, 2028, release date, which already slid back from October 2027.
Mister Miracle
Tom King, who co-created the Mister Miracle comic run with Mitch Gerads, is the showrunner on this adult animated DCU series.
It’s supposed to follow Scott Free and his wife, Big Barda, as they’re called back to their homeworlds, New Genesis and Apokolips, amid a war between the two, with the tyrant Darkseid among the cosmic New Gods expected to appear.
Blue Beetle
The animated Blue Beetle series, which picks up the story of the 2023 movie with Jaime Reyes (Xolo Maridueña) back in action, has had a rocky road. A July report claimed the show was in jeopardy after HBO Max pivoted away from children’s programming.
Gunn later shut those down, insisting the show is “still very much in development.” Before any of this, Maridueña will be back in live action as Jaime in Man of Tomorrow.
Dynamic Duo
Swaybox Studios and director Arthur Mintz are reimagining Dick Grayson (Mason Thames) and Jason Todd (Logan Kim) as “young street rats” growing up together in Gotham in the theatrical animated film Dynamic Duo.
Dick eventually becomes Robin alongside Batman (Chris Pine), while Jason joins the Red Hood Gang. Now dated for September 22, 2028, after a delay, the film isn’t DCU canon, as Kim shot down that idea with an emphatic “No” in a since-deleted Instagram comment.
Other DC Studios Projects In Development
Lanterns Season 2
A second season of Lanterns is in development at DC Studios, but HBO hasn’t technically renewed it yet.
Showrunner Chris Mundy said he’s “about six weeks into laying out a season,” and Halt and Catch Fire co-creator Christopher Cantwell has reportedly signed on to write and executive produce.
The Brave and the Bold
Who knows if The Brave and the Bold will stick as the title, but the DCU’s Batman is clearly coming. Hal Jordan (Kyle Chandler) took a jab at “that Bat guy over in Gotham” in Lanterns Episode 6, and Clayface is about to debut the DCU’s live-action Gotham.
Andy Muschietti is supposedly still attached to direct the film, which is expected to pair Bruce with his son, Damian Wayne, though Gunn confirmed back in January that the screenplay “isn’t finished.” The active writer on the project is also still a mystery.
Teen Titans
Supergirl writer Ana Nogueira is attached to pen the DCU’s Teen Titans movie, but the project still seems to be on the back burner while she focuses on Wonder Woman‘s solo outing.
Nogueira’s DC Studios standing as a trusted writer may also be in flux after Supergirl was a critical and commercial failure this past summer.
Mr. Terrific
Mister Terrific (Edi Gathegi) is getting his own Superman spinoff, with a series centered on the tech genius in the works and Allan Heinberg writing the pilot.
Heinberg knows his way around DC, having co-written 2017’s Wonder Woman and developed Netflix’s The Sandman. Gathegi is also expected to be in Man of Tomorrow.
Bane & Deathstroke
DC Studios is cooking up a (random) team-up of two major Batman adversaries, Deathstroke and Bane, for Gunn’s DCU.
The villainous crossover is apparently the DCU’s next high-priority movie, yet fans still have no inkling of its story, cast, director, or even a title, as it remains shrouded in mystery.
Wonder Woman Movie
Ana Nogueira is supposed to be writing the DCU’s Wonder Woman reboot, which DC Studios only started working on last year.
No one has been cast as Diana Prince yet, and theories that Adria Arjona has been cast as the Amazonian in Man of Tomorrow took a hit when set photos showed her in a red wig, suggesting she’s playing the alien queen Maxima instead.
My Adventures with Green Lantern
Outside of DCU canon, My Adventures with Green Lantern is a new animated series centered on Jessica Cruz (Auli’i Cravalho), set in the same universe as My Adventures with Superman, which could arrive in late 2027 or early 2028.
DC Super Powers
Aimed at younger viewers, the non-canon DC Super Powers is set at the Alliance School for Heroes, where new students like Flash, Plastic Man, Aquagirl, and Green Lantern learn to master their abilities under Martian Manhunter. A release date is still to be announced.
Starfire
Starfire (Hynden Walch) is getting a non-canon animated origin series, with Walch returning to the role she voiced in 2003’s Teen Titans.
Led by My Adventures with Superman writer Josie Campbell, the show follows the Tamaranean princess as she leaves her home planet to explore the galaxy.
Absolute Batman
DC’s smash-hit Absolute Batman comic is becoming a CG-animated series, with writer Scott Snyder serving as showrunner and artist Nick Dragotta producing.
Like the comic, the non-canon show reimagines Bruce Wayne as a working-class Crime Alley resident without the Wayne fortune. Announced at the Annecy animation festival this summer, it likely won’t arrive until 2028 or later.
Joker: Laugh Riot
In the adult anime series Joker: Laugh Riot, Batman is murdered, sending the Joker on a ruthless crusade through Gotham’s underworld to find the killer.
Sola Entertainment and director Yasuhiro Aoki are working on the show, which shows the Clown Prince of Crime“closer towards vigilante than villain.”
Krypto
C.H. Greenblatt is behind the upcoming kids’ series starring Superman’s dog, Krypto, who’s pitched as “a ball of destructive, lovable energy.” Peter Safran also promised the show will be “full of heart and because it’s Krypto, thoroughly chaotic.”
3rd James Gunn Film
The Gunn is firing on all cylinders.
When a fan on Threads asked if he was ready to write his next film, he replied, “Already in it,” explaining he “had to do something”while waiting on the assembly cut of Man of Tomorrow.
He hasn’t revealed what the project is, but it would be his third DCU film, presumably continuing the Superman Saga he kicked off in 2025.
