Batman's next movie is part of an animated trilogy that DC Studios is using to adapt one of the most famous storylines in the character's history. Batman: Knightfall Part 1: Knightfall kicks off a multi-part adaptation of the iconic 1990s comic arc that introduced Bane and saw the villain push the Caped Crusader to his absolute breaking point. The first chapter will premiere at France's Annecy International Animation Film Festival in June, and as part of that lineup, the festival has now revealed an interesting detail about the movie.

DC Studios, via the official Annecy Festival listing has confirmed a short runtime of 1 hour, 18 minutes, and 31 seconds for the upcoming animated Batman: Knightfall Part 1: Knightfall movie. This clocks in at just over 78 minutes, which is well below most recent DC animated features and makes Knightfall Part 1 one of the leanest entries the studio has put out in years.

For context, the last major DC animated event, Justice League: Crisis on Infinite Earths, Part One, ran 93 minutes when it dropped in January 2024, with its sequels arriving in a similar range. Watchmen Chapter I came in at 83 minutes later that year, while 2025's anime spin-off Batman Ninja vs. Yakuza League ran 89 minutes. Even the smaller Aztec Batman: Clash of Empires, which dropped in 2025, came out at around 89 minutes. By this measure, Knightfall Part 1 is the shortest of the bunch.

DC Studios co-CEO James Gunn is adding yet another adorable baby superhero character to his resume. Throughout his time with both Marvel and DC over the last decade and change, Gunn has brought countless meaningful heroes and villains to the big screen. Alongside those core players, he is also responsible for some of the cutest little characters in the superhero genre.

DC Studios released a look at the baby/puppy version of Krypto the Super-Dog from the DCU's next movie, Supergirl, which hits theaters on June 26, 2026. The movie's official X account shared a photo of Krypto as a puppy as part of promotional material for the Puppy Bowl, which aired during Super Bowl weekend. The image shows the white-furred puppy wearing a collar sized for a regular dog, with the DCU's new Superman logo.

The MCU's take on Carmine Falcone will play a major role in the upcoming 2026 Punisher reboot on Disney+. Jon Bernthal's The Punisher: One Last Kill will be a landmark moment for the character, marking his first solo project since Netflix's The Punisher Season 2 in 2019. In addition to bringing back a few of his supporting characters, the special will bring in some new faces to shake up Frank Castle's world.

Marvel Television's The Punisher: One Last Kill will feature Isabella Carmella Magdalena "Ma" Gnucci from Marvel Comics in its cast. While it is yet to be confirmed by Marvel themselves, the trailer gave a glimpse at the villain, revealing that she will be portrayed by Judith Light. This is the first time the Punisher has fought a female villain in a live-action project. Ahead of her debut, comparisons are already being made between Ma Gnucci and one of DC's most notable Batman villains, Carmine Falcone (recently brought to life in The Batman and The Penguin).

James Gunn's Superman 2 (Man of Tomorrow) will utilize a DC location that played a big role in The CW's Arrowverse. While the new DCU and the Arrowverse surely have their differences, they are both heavily influenced by various moments from the world of DC Comics. Moving forward, it is no surprise that a few key plot points will be seen in both on-screen franchises before long.

Instagram user @superhouseofel shared the first look at the set for Van Kull Penitentiary in 2027's Man of Tomorrow, directed and written by DC Studios co-CEO James Gunn. This prison has only made a few appearances in DC Comics after it was first used in Power Company: Bork #1 in March 2002. It serves as a Metahuman prison just outside of Metropolis in the comics

While this locale does not play a major role in DC Comics, it was used in an episode of Melissa Benoist's Supergirl TV show, which was set within The CW's Arrowverse. The prison appears twice in this series (Season 1 and Season 6), with its bigger appearance coming in the Season 6 episode.

Since James Gunn and Peter Safran took over the newly created DC Studios in November 2022, the renewal side of the ledger has moved at a trickle, with the co-CEOs being seemingly reluctant to renew DC fans' favourite series for a second season. Only a handful of their own ordered titles have reached the screen so far, and fewer still have earned a follow-up.

While Creature Commandos was the first to land a second season in the Gunn era, another DC title has just been cleared to join its ranks. DC Studios and Warner Bros. Animation have confirmed that Krypto Saves the Day!, the kid-friendly series of animated shorts starring Superman's caped dog, is coming back for a second season. The announcement came from DC Studios via Entertainment Weekly, with producers revealing that the new season is already in active production as the first season wraps. 

The fourth and final Season 1 short debuted on the DC Kids YouTube channel and HBO Max on April 18, featuring a cameo from Milly Alcock's Kara Zor-El ahead of her summer theatrical debut, which will feature many Kryptonians. Sam Register, president of Warner Bros. Animation, Cartoon Network Studios, and Hanna-Barbera Studios Europe, said the studio loved the fan response and wanted to keep building with DC.

A new release update on The Batman Part II has surfaced, and it offers a more positive outlook on the Warner Bros sequel after a recent stretch of doubt. Robert Pattinson is set to return as Bruce Wayne in the follow-up to Matt Reeves' 2022 hit, with Andy Serkis, Jeffrey Wright, and Colin Farrell also reprising their roles, joined by new additions Sebastian Stan as Harvey Dent and Scarlett Johansson. The sequel is scheduled for 2027, but its absence from a recent Warner Bros presentation had fans bracing for another delay.

However, IMAX has now included The Batman Part II on its official 2027 release slate, indicating that the premium format partner still expects the Matt Reeves film to hit theaters next year. The slate was shared as part of IMAX's latest investor presentation, which lists the upcoming movies the company plans to release on its screens through 2027. The inclusion arrives as a meaningful vote of confidence in the sequel after Warner Bros left it out of a high-profile look at the studio's 2027 lineup. 

Creature Commandos might be bringing back a familiar DCEU villain based on a major hint from the episode title of Season 2's premiere in 2027. Creature Commandos Season 1 featured a strong roster of villains for Task Force M to contend with, such as the Amazonian sorceress, Circe, Clayface, and the overarching big bad, Princess Ilana Rostovic from Pokolistan. Season 2 is expected to introduce new villains alongside a fresh lineup of the titular team led by The Bride, and it seems that their new mission will be eerily similar to one of Task Force X's previous adventures. 

Creature Commandos showrunner Dean Lorey officially revealed the episode title of Season 2, Episode 1 as "Starry Night," presumably hinting at the return of Starro the Conqueror, a DCEU villain that previously appeared in The Suicide Squad. 

James Gunn is rethinking the DCU, in particular, how two DCEU films fit into the overall picture. The DCEU was still alive and well when Warner Bros. opted to create DC Studio and appointed Gunn and Peter Safran as co-CEO's. Rather than continue the universe that began with Zack Snyder's Man of Steel in 2013, the pair decided to wipe the slate clean and start a new DC cinematic universe, leaving the canonicity of many DCEU films in doubt.

The DCU is now two TV shows and one film deep, and it's become clear that not all DCEU projects are considered canon in this new universe. Before he was studio head, Gunn himself helmed a pair of DCEU projects, The Suicide Squad and Peacemaker Season 1, which he opted to somewhat keep canon heading into this new DC era. However, the gray area between the DCEU ending and the DCU beginning has raised many questions about canonicity, particularly for the projects released during that period, and it's something Gunn seems eager to address.

Responding to a fan on Threads about what exactly is canon from the Snyderverse era, Gunn revealed he has plans to address this now that the DCU is further into its development. Gunn said he had "been thinking about this a lot in regards to The Suicide Squad and Blue Beetle," adding that he hopes to do a "special couple [of] podcasts" to address this.

DC Studios co-CEO James Gunn is leading the charge in promoting Lanterns by pushing the titular heroes' comic book roots to the forefront. DC's upcoming HBO Max series is set to dive deep into a thrilling mystery as Hal Jordan and John Stewart head to Earth to investigate a murder, embracing its True Detective-like approach. Despite the show's strong momentum, Lanterns' first teaser trailer drew major criticism from fans, mainly because it leaned more on its grounded aesthetic than on the hero's signature green color and energy constructs. 

DC Studios co-CEO James Gunn shared a brand-new image from Lanterns ahead of its confirmed August 16 release on HBO Max, showcasing the first look at the titular hero's power battery alongside the character's motto, "Beware my power, Green Lantern's light."

DC Studios surprised fans by announcing a new HBO Max release coming in June before Lanterns. DC Studios has so far only produced three TV shows - The Penguin, Creature Commandos, and Peacemaker Season 2 - but there seems to be plenty in the pipeline. Up next was once believed to be Lanterns, an eight-episode DCU series starring Aaron Pierre's John Stewart and Kyle Chandler's Hal Jordan, although another long-awaited DCU project will finally arrive first.

Almost two years after last season ended in July 2024, Entertainment Weekly confirmed that My Adventures with Superman Season 3 will premiere first on Adult Swim on Saturday, June 13 at midnight ET/PT, and stream on HBO Max the following day. The announcement came with a poster that officially unveils Cyborg Superman and teases its loose adaptation of The Reign of Superman.

The latest update on DC Studios' Game of Thrones replacement show indicates that the DCU HBO series is finally making progress toward its release. George R. R. Martin's Westerosi saga is one of the crown jewels in Warner Bros.' slate, having already delivered eight seasons of the flagship series with two spin-offs, House of the Dragon and A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, ongoing. These releases have been sprinkled in HBO and HBO Max's release calendar alongside the latest from DC Studios, but they may soon become one in an upcoming show.

DC Studios co-CEO James Gunn took to Threads to answer fans' biggest questions about the DCU slate, including the status of Paradise Lost, a Wonder Woman prequel series in the works for HBO Max that was compared to Game of Thrones upon its original announcement in 2023 for a very good reason.

While Gunn delivered a slew of updates on five upcoming DCU projects, he declared that Paradise Lost is in "extreme development," placing it on a higher pedestal than the likes of Booster Gold, which he merely said is "in development."

An official new look at DC Studios' Lanterns highlighted its leading heroes in a new setting. Following last year's Peacemaker Season 2 and just months after Supergirl glides into theaters in June, DC Studios' next live-action TV show will arrive in August with Lanterns. The first trailer for the grounded, Earth-based take on the DCU's Green Lanterns debuted in March to mixed reactions, since which it has been erased from every official DC and HBO channel (more on that later).

As part of its Summer 2026 TV Preview, ScreenRant unveiled an exclusive new look at DC Studios' Lanterns. The outlet declared that its latest image sees Aaron Pierre's John Stewart and Kyle Chandler's Hal Jordan "having a few drinks in a rural small-town bar while in the middle of their murder investigation" in Sheridan County, Nebraska, which isn't thrilling the locals.

DC Studios revealed early designs for Superman's parents that looked better and featured different actors. Parentage was a major theme in Superman, contrasting Clark Kent's adopted Earth family against Kal-El's Kryptonian blood. As such, David Corenswet's Superman had four parents in his 2025 DCU debut: Ma (Neva Howell) and Pa (Pruitt Taylor Vince) Kent, and Jor-El (Bradley Cooper) and Lara Lor-Van (Angela Sarafyan). Director James Gunn unveiled a shocking, controversial twist about Superman's Kryptonian parents, confirming that they sent him to Earth not to save people but to rule and continue his alien bloodline.

Concept artist Victor Martinez took to Instagram to reveal several alternate designs for Kal-El's Kryptonian parents (Jor-El and Lara Lor-Van) that arguably look much better than what was featured in James Gunn's Superman.

A handful of classic DC characters used in Christian Bale's The Dark Knight will be revisited under new actors in Matt Reeves' The Batman - Part 2. The Batman 2 is slowly inching closer to its production start date, and it will follow up on Reeves' original Gotham-set movie five years later. While its cast is still slowly coming into focus, the movie will, unsurprisingly, draw on DC history to continue the story in this alternate-reality comic universe.

Five characters from 2027's The Batman 2 were previously brought to life in 2008's The Dark Knight. Still regarded as one of the greatest superhero movies ever made, the Christian Bale-starring The Dark Knight marked a new step in comic-book-movie storytelling in 2008, featuring some of the most highly regarded performances in history. Although the plots of this movie and the latest Batman film, which hits theaters on October 1, 2027, will be vastly different, they naturally share a few similarities in their rosters.

Every The Dark Knight Character in The Batman 2

The confirmed title of James Gunn's upcoming Superman sequel will break a longstanding DC rule by incorporating one of the nicknames of the titular Kryptonian hero. DC Studios made a huge statement with its first big-screen entry, Superman, giving both longtime and new fans a powerful introduction to the rebooted cinematic universe. Following its financial and critical success, Gunn is making a big swing by dropping the Superman name altogether with the release of Man of Tomorrow on July 9, 2027. 

The Man of Tomorrow title will break a 14-year DC rule because it does not include the character's or team's household name or moniker, marking the first time this has happened with a theatrically wide-released DC movie since 2013's Man of Steel starring Henry Cavill. 

DC Studios co-CEO James Gunn provided a slew of updates on the DCU slate. Shortly after being appointed DC Studios co-CEO, James Gunn unveiled the first ten projects in Chapter 1: Gods and Monsters in January 2023, of which two have been released, two more are on the immediate horizon, and the remaining six have faced varying degrees of developmental struggles. 

There's no denying that this has caused frustration for those excited to see Paradise Lost, Swamp Thing, The Authority, Booster Gold, The Brave and the Bold, and Waller, especially as projects like Clayface have simultaneously been added to the slate and moved along much faster. Regardless, there hasn't been much news beyond their scripts being in various stages of development in recent years.

DC Studios Offers Updates For 4 Major Projects (And 1 Is Bad News)

DC Studios will bring a tonal shift to the DCU in its upcoming 2026 projects. Fans have already enjoyed three projects from James Gunn's DCU in Creature Commandos, Superman, and Peacemaker Season 2. The DCU's early releases have spanned three different mediums (animation, movies, and live-action TV), but they were all written and at least partially directed by Gunn himself, meaning that his usual blend of comedy, emotion, and action was felt across the board.

Even this June's Supergirl, on which Gunn was only an executive producer, as it was written by Ana Nogueira and directed by Craig Gillespie, seems to have maintained the DC Studios co-CEO's distinct feel based on the trailer. In fact, even Gunn compared Supergirl to Guardians of the Galaxy, his flagship MCU franchise, signalling its tonal similarity to his other DCU projects too.

One could argue that 2026 marks the true beginning of the DCU as it becomes more than just James Gunn's vision for the blue brand. While Supergirl will soft-launch those efforts as it maintains the superhero veteran's usual tone under a completely different creative team, that will truly get underway with Lanterns.

Multiple upcoming movies and TV shows will feature Superman in the DCU. The Man of Steel ushered in a new era for the DC Universe behind David Corenswet's portrayal of Clark Kent in 2025's Superman, directed by DC Studios co-CEO James Gunn. While DC Studios' slate of projects is still undergoing major changes, the last son of Krypton's presence is set in stone.

Superman was confirmed to appear in four new DC movies and TV shows set for release over the next few years. Of course, other major DC heroes like the Green Lantern, Batman, and Wonder Woman have entries in development (some further along on the production timeline than others), but Clark Kent/Superman remains the face of the franchise. Ahead are the releases that are expected to bring Superman back for a role in the story:

4 DC Projects Confirmed To Feature Superman

Even though it never saw the light of day, there was plenty known about Ben Affleck's Batman movie, including a handful of DC heroes and villains that would have appeared in it. Before James Gunn, David Corenswet, and the DCU, there was the DCEU. This now-defunct super-powered universe featured Ben Affleck as an older, grizzled Batman, well past his superhero-ing honeymoon. 

When everything was said and done in the DCEU, Affleck ended up in five films, with roles as minor as single-scene cameos in Suicide Squad to full-on starring roles like Justice League. However, one thing the character never got was his own solo on-screen adventure. That does not mean one was not planned, though. 

Affleck was initially brought on to the role with the promise of him writing and directing a DCEU Batman movie. That plan was ultimately abandoned, but key tidbits from the scrapped film have not stopped from making their way to fans. 

James Gunn's DCU is still in its early days, and it looks promising with the spotlight falling on another important character, Supergirl, on June 26. The Kryptonian debuted in last year’s Superman in a fashion fans did not expect. The heroine appeared drunk, and it was clear her arc in the DCU will be different. Supergirl's solo movie will delve into detail how distinct she is from her cousin, but the way it's told will be unique as well. Craig Gillespie, director of Supergirl, will use flashbacks to tell Kara Zor-El's story, a storytelling device notably absent from Superman. 

Trailers for Supergirl show sequences set on Krypton, depicting the planet's destruction and Kara's survival in Argo City. Kara's parents, Zor-El and Alura, played by David Krumholtz and Emily Beecham, are canonically dead by the time the main story begins. Those scenes we see of them in the trailer can only exist as memories. The film will use them to lay the emotional groundwork for who Kara is and why she sees the world so differently from her cousin Clark.