DC Studios’ 2026 live-action slate will deliver several action scenes that comic book fans have circled on their calendars for years. Under co-CEOs James Gunn and Peter Safran, the new DCU will use 2026 to expand across film and television, with three projects on the schedule that take the franchise into space adventure, true-crime mystery, and full-blown body horror.
Supergirl arrives in theaters on June 26, with Lanterns premiering on HBO and HBO Max on August 16, and Clayface closing the year on October 23. Each release carries at least one major moment that has been teased in marketing or comes straight from cast and crew, and together they make 2026 the most ambitious year DC Studios has scheduled since rebooting the DCU.
The Most Anticipated Action Scenes Coming to the DCU in 2026
John Stewart Suiting Up as a Green Lantern
HBO’s Lanterns will give the DCU its first proper look at John Stewart wearing the Green Lantern uniform. Aaron Pierre plays Stewart as a former U.S. Marine turned Lantern Corps recruit, taking his cues from Kyle Chandler’s veteran Hal Jordan. The series’ first trailers already show Hal teaching John about the power ring, with one shot revealing the ring forming an energy shield against what appears to be an orbital laser.
The full reveal of Stewart in his Green Lantern suit will be a moment many DC fans have waited on for years. Before James Gunn and Peter Safran took over DC Studios, a Green Lanterns project was in development, but it was reworked into the current buddy-cop format. Watching Stewart take flight in his Green Lantern uniform should be one of the show’s most talked-about scenes. Fans have waited for Stewart to be given the spotlight he deserves, and it looks like their wishes are about to be fulfilled.
Sinestro Vs Hal Jordan and John Stewart
Lanterns will also bring Sinestro into the DCU for the first time, with Danish actor Ulrich Thomsen playing the role. The character traditionally begins as a respected member of the Green Lantern Corps before turning rogue and founding the fear-powered Yellow Lantern Corps. Showrunner Chris Mundy confirmed that Sinestro plays into the central mystery of the show.
DC Comics artist Ethan Van Sciver previously reported that Sinestro appears in every episode, making it likely that a big confrontation will happen at some point in the eight-episode run. The most recent trailer also includes a brief shot of Hal speaking to someone in a prison cell, with many fans believing it to be Sinestro himself. Whichever way the story plays out, the moment Sinestro fully steps out against both Hal Jordan and John Stewart will be a major payoff for longtime Green Lantern readers.
Supergirl Facing Krem of the Yellow Hills
Supergirl will give DC fans the first live-action version of Krem of the Yellow Hills, the remorseless space pirate from Tom King’s comic Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow. Matthias Schoenaerts plays Krem as a bloodthirsty killer who murders the father of Eve Ridley’s Ruthye Marye Knoll, and later poisons Krypto with a dart that leaves the dog only three days to live.
The film’s most recent trailer teases a face-to-face between Milly Alcock’s Kara Zor-El and Krem on a barren alien world, with the villain telling her that her "eyes are beautiful when you cry." Schoenaerts plays a Krem who looks very different from his comic book counterpart, sporting facial piercings and tribal-style armor over scarred skin. Their confrontation should serve as the dramatic high point of Kara’s revenge journey across the galaxy.
Lobo Showing Off His Comic Book Abilities
Jason Momoa finally gets his shot at Lobo in Supergirl, after years of publicly chasing the role of his favorite comic book character. The film’s full trailer offers the first proper look at Momoa in his black-and-white face paint, riding his motorcycle, and pulling out his trademark chain hook during a fight sequence.
In the comics, Lobo’s powers include immense strength, a healing factor that borders on immortality, and a willingness to weaponize anything within reach. The trailer suggests audiences will see those traits put to work when he reluctantly teams up with Kara against the space pirates hunting her and Ruthye. Fans have waited for a live-action adaptation of Lobo for years, and a powerful showing in Supergirl will skyrocket his popularity and increase the potential for him to become a recurring character in the DCU.
Clayface’s Body Horror Transformations
Clayface will close out the DC Studios 2026 slate with a film that leans fully into body horror, and the transformation scenes are shaping up to be its biggest talking points. Tom Rhys Harries plays Matt Hagen, a rising actor who turns to an experimental medical treatment after his face is disfigured in a knife attack, with Naomi Ackie playing the scientist who provides the procedure.
The first trailer shows Hagen’s body warping and shifting in ways that recall the practical horror of John Carpenter’s The Thing or David Cronenberg’s The Fly. One sequence pictures him without a mouth or eyes, while another shows him wiping his entire face away in a bathtub. Director James Watkins, working from a screenplay by Mike Flanagan and Hossein Amini, has clearly gone for raw transformation horror over CGI-heavy takes on the character. Those scenes should make Clayface one of the most unsettling DC releases yet. Its tone also makes it arguably the most important DC Studios film of the year.
Geraldo Amartey is a writer at The Direct. He joined the team in 2025, bringing with him four years of experience covering entertainment news, pop culture, and fan-favorite franchises for sites like YEN, Briefly and Tuko.
