The Batman: Part 2's secret new logo perfectly sets the stage for the Court of Owls' introduction in the 2028 blockbuster. Among the greatest additions to DC and Batman lore in modern years came from writer Scott Snyder during the New 52 with the Court of Owls. The legendary Batman run introduced the Court of Owls as a shadowy society of Gotham's wealthy elite who have manipulated the city for generations through their Talon assassins. Over 15 years after they joined the DC canon in 2011, The Batman 2 will reportedly feature the Court of Owls to continue its exploration of corruption in Matt Reeves' Gotham. 

Glaswegian TikToker Weekend Weatherman visited some of the locations that The Batman: Part 2 will utilize in the Scottish city in the coming weeks. On set, the TikToker came across a Semper Vigilans logo in the window of a production vehicle, subtly hinting that the Court of Owls is coming to Gotham. 

Warner Bros. debuted a new Green Lantern logo to mark the start of the DCU’s Lanterns era. The HBO drama pairs Kyle Chandler’s aging Hal Jordan with Aaron Pierre’s new recruit John Stewart, and it is the first DCU show made for HBO itself rather than HBO Max. Now, with its debut closing in, the promotional campaign has spread well beyond trailers and posters.

Warner Bros. Discovery unveiled the artwork on its official X account on Monday, placing the studio’s WB shield at the heart of the Green Lantern Corps symbol. The design places a weathered version of the crest inside the emblem’s circular frame and washes the whole image in green, with a lone shaft of light cutting across the black background and the logo. 

DC Studios co-CEO James Gunn has confirmed the next DCU character on track to appear in both a DC Studios movie and a TV series. Moving heroes between film and television is a founding promise of the DCU, the rebooted universe Gunn oversees with co-CEO Peter Safran, and the pair have kept it up ever since Creature Commandos premiered in December 2024. They want the same actors playing the same characters across every format, big screen or small.

The character in question is Jaime Reyes, better known as Blue Beetle. Gunn said this week that the Blue Beetle animated series remains in active development, shutting down a report from days earlier that claimed the show stalled at HBO Max. Xolo Maridueña is also set to return as Reyes in next year's Man of Tomorrow, so the update puts Blue Beetle on course to join the growing club of DC Studios characters with both a movie and a TV series to their name.

Once Paramount officially acquires Warner Bros., fans could see a very different future for the DCU than originally planned, as recent reports have indicated that Paramount could put multiple restrictions on the longtime superhero brand. In February 2026, it was announced that Warner Bros. and Paramount came to an agreement for Paramount to acquire Warner Bros. and become its parent company. As soon as the announcement was made, many fans expressed concern regarding what would happen to existing Warner properties. Although Paramount assured everyone that there was no reason to worry, it seems as though that has changed.

In a recent report from The Hollywood Reporter (THR), it was detailed that Paramount has some specific plans for existing Warner Bros. properties, specifically when it comes to deals that Warner Bros. IPs can make with third parties. These issues could affect Warner's most popular franchises and production companies, including DC Studios, which is behind James Gunn's new DCU.

According to THR, Paramount is placing restrictions on what is being considered key property under Warner Bros.' banner. These restrictions weren't specifically detailed, but it was reported that they included new deals regarding TV shows and films, as well as licensing agreements with third parties.

James Gunn and Peter Safran are going out on a limb with their latest casting decision for DC Studios, copying a move Warner Bros. pulled back in the 1980s. Zack Snyder's DCEU relied on melodrama to push its stories forward. A dance-off never would have decided the fate of the universe in Justice League. The DCU, run by a huge fan of comedy, isn't concerned about having one too many jokes in its projects.

The first show out of the gates, Creature Commandos, focused on a group of misfits who couldn't wait for their next opportunity to drop a quip. Peacemaker walked a similar path, with the 11th Street Kids focusing as much on making fun of each other as on completing their mission. However, none of the characters that appeared on those shows were well-known enough for anyone to be bothered about Gunn and Co. taking creative liberties with them.

The Jimmy Olsen show will test the waters like never before. Accompanying the young journalist on his journey to investigate DC villains will be Gorilla Grodd. American Vandal creators Tony Yacenda and Dan Perrault are bringing in their old pal Jimmy Tatro to voice the telepathic ape. Tatro is famous for his deadpan humor, which certainly isn't a trait that Grodd typically possesses.

Superman 2: Man of Tomorrow is assembling a stacked roster of Justice League-affiliated heroes, and one of them is an exciting up-and-coming DCU hero. Directed and written by James Gunn, Man of Tomorrow serves as the follow-up to 2025's Superman, shifting the focus from origin story to an unexpected alliance between Superman and Lex Luthor as they work together against Brainiac. The DCU villain's arrival on Earth is widely expected to trigger a full-scale invasion, a crisis of such magnitude that Clark and Lex cannot face alone. This situation requires a broader coalition of heroes, many of them with deep roots in Justice League lore. 

Man of Tomorrow, set for release on July 9, 2027, will bring back Xolo Maridueña's Jaime Reyes (aka Blue Beetle), marking a notable bridge between the DCEU's final days and the rebooted DCU. Superman 2 director James Gunn had long positioned Jaime Reyes as "the first DCU character," and his inclusion in a story that pairs Superman with Lex Luthor against Brainiac expands the DCU sequel's toward an emerging ensemble. 

DC is no stranger to box office flops, but Supergirl was supposed to be different. The film is only the second theatrical release from DC Studios, the rebooted operation that co-CEOs James Gunn and Peter Safran oversee at Warner Bros. The film also spun directly out of last summer’s Superman, which opened to $125 million domestically and finished with more than $615 million worldwide. House of the Dragon breakout Milly Alcock stars as Kara Zor-El in an adaptation of the acclaimed Woman of Tomorrow comic, with Cruella director Craig Gillespie behind the camera. This film had all the stars aligned to be a hit.

Instead, Supergirl became DC’s sixth major box office flop since early 2023. The movie opened to just $37.1 million domestically on June 26, then collapsed 77% in its second weekend. A month into release, its worldwide total is stuck near $124 million against a reported $170 million production budget and a marketing spend of around $120 million, leaving Warner Bros. bracing to lose at least $100 million.

The next entry in the James Gunn-spearheaded DCU will introduce fans to new villains who will surpass Nicholas Hoult's Lex Luthor as the franchise's most evil antagonist. For years, Lex Luthor has been regarded as a notorious villain in DC, whether in movies, TV shows, or comics. While James Gunn's DCU is still relatively new, it has already established Lex Luthor as the most dangerous villain in the franchise. Lex appeared in Superman, had a cameo in Peacemaker Season 2, and will show up as one of the central characters in Man of Tomorrow, the Superman sequel.

Once Lanterns is released on HBO Max on August 16, there will be a new sheriff in town who is far more ruthless and dangerous than Lex has been in any of his DCU appearances. In the official trailer for Lanterns, which is being produced and supervised by James Gunn and his DC Studios regime, it was confirmed that the series will feature villains known as Manhunters, who are the most dangerous individuals in the entire universe. Specifically, at the 1:17 mark, Paul Ben-Victor's Antaan states that Manhunters, which are ancient alien robots, are "the most dangerous beings to ever exist:"

"Manhunters are the most dangerous beings to ever exist in the galaxy. They can take the form of any species."

James Gunn's chaotic crew of DCU misfits is assembling again, and Creature Commandos Season 2 is bringing an even greater roster of heroes and villains along for the ride. The animated series is confirmed to land on HBO Max sometime in 2027, though an official premiere date has yet to be announced. Season 1, which debuted in late 2024, served as the true launching point of Gunn's new DCU. That first season leaned heavily on groundwork laid by Gunn's past work in the DCEU, The Suicide Squad, and Peacemaker Season 1. Now Season 2 is ready to expand even further beyond.

Season 1 introduced Task Force M, Amanda Waller's black-ops unit composed of imprisoned monsters she considered expendable enough for missions that no human soldier could survive. Many fans found that the show paired dark comedy with genuine emotion and stakes, with that perfect touch of Gunn's writing style.

Season 1 ended with G.I. Robot being destroyed, and Nina Mazursky being fatally stabbed during a botched assassination attempt on Princess Ilana Rostovic (the true villain), after Weasel's distraction gave her away; the Bride avenged her by killing the princess herself, defying Waller's direct orders in the process. 

DC Studios co-CEO James Gunn confirmed that another Man of Tomorrow spin-off show is still in development for the DCU. HBO Max's Creature Commandos Season 2 is already confirmed to be the first DCU show after the Superman sequel, acting as a spin-off/follow-up through the connective tissue of Frank Grillo's Rick Flag Sr. and, perhaps, Peacemaker's Salvation. The untitled Jimmy Olsen/Gorilla Grodd live-action show may also connect loosely to Man of Tomorrow, with Skyler Gisondo reprising his Daily Planet icon in both projects.

James Gunn confirmed that DC Studios' Blue Beetle animated sequel series is "still very much in development." Cobra Kai star Xolo Maridueña will reportedly reprise Jaime Reyes in next year's Man of Tomorrow, marking his first true appearance in the new DCU (his 2023 box-office flop was originally developed by the old DC regime) before he is spun off into his own streaming sequel.

The DCU boss' promising update is in response to recent fears that the Blue Beetle animated show may be canceled due to its kid-friendly status at a time when HBO Max is prioritizing adult and family programming. 

DC Studios is about to enter a new era with the arrival of Lanterns on HBO. It's been almost four years since James Gunn and Peter Safran took the reins at DC Studios and scrapped the existing DCEU in favor of a fresh start with the new DCU. In the years since, the DCU has released both films and television shows, but Lanterns will be a milestone for the cinematic universe.

When Lanterns debuts on HBO on August 16, it will become the first DC Studios TV show to exist completely separate from the old DCEU. Despite Gunn and Safran opting to wipe the slate clean in 2022, several TV shows were greenlit in the DCEU era and have since made it to the screen.

Projects like Peacemaker Season 2 and Creature Commandos were already in the works when DC Studios soft-rebooted the DCU, and as such, they were integrated to form a part of the new cinematic universe instead. Both Peacemaker Season 2 and Creature Commandos were tied to The Suicide Squad, James Gunn's project during the DCEU era, and the TV shows helped establish some of the events from that movie as canon, despite the reboot of the cinematic universe - though some retcons were required between Peacemaker Seasons 1 and 2.

The Penguin Season 2 got a new window amid the Warner Bros. shake-up that stripped Robert Pattinson’s The Batman Part II of its 2027 release date. The Colin Farrell crime drama ended its eight-episode run on HBO Max in November 2024 as one of the best-reviewed titles in the DC Studios catalog, and calls for its return never really quieted down. HBO never officially ordered a second season, though, and its prospects swung between hopeful and hopeless for the better part of two years.

The show’s entry on the Writers Guild of America website now displays a 2026 to 2027 window for Season 2, replacing the 2025 to 2026 range it had when the listing first surfaced in May. Lauren LeFranc, who created the series as a spinoff of Matt Reeves’ The Batman, remains attached as showrunner and executive producer, while Mad Men writer Semi Chellas stays on as consulting producer. HBO and DC Studios have made no announcement to accompany the change, which fans spotted in July. 

DC Studios' Lanterns is almost here, and it's bringing plenty of unanswered questions along with it. The HBO Max series, premiering on August 16, is another step forward for James Gunn's DCU, focusing on a murder mystery that puts two Green Lanterns on the case. While Nathan Fillion's Guy Gardner already made his debut in Superman, Lanterns shifts the spotlight to Hal Jordan (Kyle Chandler) and John Stewart (Aaron Pierre) as they dig into a dark Earth-based crime.

The DCU is in full swing heading into the back half of 2026, with Supergirl set to hit theaters on June 26 and Man of Tomorrow already in the middle of filming. But before Clayface closes out DC's theatrical year, Lanterns arrives as Gunn's first swing at prestige television in this new universe. 

The TV-MA series has already turned heads with its trailers, teasing the rough-around-the-edges mentor/mentee dynamic between Hal and John at the heart of the show. 

Matt Reeves' The Batman - Part II is set to deliver something the franchise has been missing for years on the big screen. The sequel was delayed from October 1, 2027, to February 18, 2028, pushing its release to nearly six years after the original hit theaters. Even with the extended wait, anticipation for Robert Pattinson's return to the cowl is high. Since 1989, the Batman franchise has assembled an impressively stacked cast, and Part II keeps that streak alive. 

A lot is happening right now with The Batman Part 2. Alongside confirming that it's been delayed again, this time to February 2028, Matt Reeves shared a new camera test of Robert Pattinson suited back up as the Dark Knight. Tucked behind him in that footage is the real headline: snow, falling heavily in the background. This doubles down on the wintry setting. In May, Reeves posted test footage of the new Batmobile tearing through a snow-covered street, captioned: "Snow Tires." 

James Gunn requested one change to Supergirl's script for a very good reason. Supergirl was a major test for the DCU, as it marked the first project not written or directed by James Gunn, though he remained involved as an executive producer in his role as DC Studios co-CEO. Unfortunately, even a cameo from David Corenswet's Superman wasn't enough to save Supergirl from its trial by fire, and the Milly Alcock-fronted spin-off was torn apart by critics and bombed at the box office, possibly losing over $100 million for Warner Bros. and DC Studios.

While explaining how James Gunn is "protective of Superman" in an interview with Brandon Davis, Supergirl scribe Ana Nogueira pointed to moments when the DCU boss questioned the Man of Steel's dialogue, with criticisms like "he wouldn't say that to [Kara]." For the most part, it seems that DC Studios and Gunn were high on the Supergirl script, and seemingly didn't foresee issues with the Superman spin-off until post-production:

"He is protective of Superman. There is like a couple things in other moments where he was like, 'He wouldn't say that to her.' And I was like, 'Okay, cool.' But, mostly we had the same idea."

A new addition to DC Studios' actor pool may be a sign that the company has big plans for Batman sooner rather than later. The Man of Steel has been demanding almost all of James Gunn and Co.'s attention in the past couple of years. After the success of 2025's Superman, the powers that be had no choice but to toss as many irons into the fire as possible. Supergirl and Man of Tomorrow got the green light without a second thought, and a Mister Terrific show is also on the way.

The other Superman spinoff, a mockumentary-style show centered around Jimmy Olsen investigating crimes, has its fair share of momentum as well. American Vandal star Jimmy Tatro recently signed on to play Gorilla Grodd, the telepathic ape who usually has his sights set on world domination. With that task finally off the to-do list, showrunners Dan Perrault and Tony Yacenda have turned their attention to the rest of their show's supporting cast.

James Gunn is getting ready to introduce a new Green Lantern Corps in full in the DCU, and it was just revealed that the group of heroes will be stealing one cornerstone of Batman's character that has never been used before for any of the Lanterns. When the year is over, the DCU will have had three major releases, with two being movies and one a TV show. The first of those projects (Supergirl) had already premiered, leaving the TV show (Lanterns) and another movie (Clayface) still to be released.

A brand new 30-second teaser (as shared by Discussing Film via X) was released for Lanterns, the next entry in the DCU that will be released on August 16. In that teaser, at the 17-second mark, a shot featured the Green Lanterns' symbol in the sky, being projected on the clouds. 

James Gunn already showed fans Clayface’s final DCU design, and he did it nearly two years before the movie arrives in theaters. Clayface is the first DC Studios feature to put a Batman villain front and center, with Tom Rhys Harries starring as Matt Hagen, a Gotham actor whose desperate bid to repair his ruined face turns him into a shapeshifting creature. Director James Watkins wants that creature kept under wraps, confirming the monster’s complete form will stay out of every trailer and poster before release. The catch is that anyone hunting for a proper look at the beast can already find one.

The finished Clayface design already appeared in Creature Commandos, the animated HBO Max series Gunn created and wrote to launch his rebooted DC Universe. DC Studios co-CEO Peter Safran recently confirmed the hulking figure from that show is the same Matt Hagen that Harries plays in the upcoming film, and that the movie’s events unfold before the series. That means the towering mass of clay seen battling the show’s antiheroes is the final form Hagen takes on the big screen. 

Batman: Caped Crusader's fate beyond Season 2 is in the hands of the streamer, according to showrunner Geoffrey Thorne. In an exclusive interview at San Diego Comic-Con (SDCC) 2026, Thorne addressed the current state of the DC animated series. The conversation took place shortly before Season 2's full 10-episode run began streaming on Amazon Prime Video. The new set of episodes comes with a welcome addition: House of the Dragon's Matthew Needham takes on the voice role of the Joker.

When The Direct spoke with Thorne (and the rest of the cast and crew) at SDCC, the conversation turned to whether this 1940s version of the Dark Knight would be soaring back into action for a third round. Noting the show's steady two-year release cadence, Season 1 in 2024, Season 2 in 2026, The Direct asked Thorne if there was any update on Season 3. Thorne's response made clear that the decision is out of his hands, "We have no control:"

"Call our bosses and say you want it. We want to do it. We don't control any of that. We have no control, but we will all come back for it if they say so."

David Corenswet’s Superman suit picked up some key changes for Superman 2, officially titled Man of Tomorrow, and new photos make the differences easy to spot. Corenswet debuted the costume in 2025’s Superman, the film that launched James Gunn and Peter Safran’s rebooted DC Universe, and he wore the same outfit again during his appearance in this summer’s Supergirl. The design got its "S" crest from the Kingdom Come comic and restored the classic red trunks, a detail that divided fans long before the movie even hit theaters.

Set photos from the Atlanta production of Man of Tomorrow, the first movie sequel in the DCU, reveal five clear changes to the suit Corenswet will wear when the film opens in theaters on July 9, 2027. Gunn, who wrote and directed both movies, confirmed on Threads that his star is wearing a brand-new costume, one with slight adjustments from the 2025 version. Each tweak is small on its own, but together they give the Man of Steel a sharper, more streamlined silhouette.

Filming began in Georgia in the spring, and Gunn shared his first photo from the set in April. Recent night shoots turned downtown Atlanta into Metropolis for a street brawl between Superman and Nicholas Hoult’s Lex Luthor, who wears a practical version of his comic-accurate Warsuit. Several images show heavy scorch marks across the suit’s midsection, suggesting Lex’s new hardware does real damage before the longtime enemies join forces against Lars Eidinger’s Brainiac.