DC Studios is shifting away from its planned Booster Gold TV series. For years now, DC has been attempting to bring the Justice League hero to live-action. While the studio appeared to be making headway with a TV adaptation of Booster Gold, led by Our Flag Means Death showrunner David Jenkins, this project has now officially been shelved.
It's been almost three years since Booster Gold was announced as part of DC Studios' initial slate in Chapter 1: Gods and Monsters. Since then, the studio attached Jenkins to write the pilot, with DC Studios head James Gunn reassuring fans earlier this year that the series was still "in development," despite a lack of news.
Now, Jenkins has confirmed on his Threads account that his version of Booster Gold "won't be moving forward." The writer shared the news by piggybacking off the recent confirmation that Marvel Studios' Blade movie had been canceled, saying he'd "apply [the statement] here as well."
"My 'Booster Gold' won’t be moving forward. Can’t improve on Mahershala’s lovely statement so I’ll just apply it here as well."
Earlier in the day, an interview with Blade star Mahershala Ali circulated, in which the actor said, "For whatever reason, that project is not for me. If they wanted to do it, we would've done it."
Booster Gold follows the titular hero, Michael Jon "Booster" Carter, a glory-seeking hero from the future who stages high-profile stunts to demonstrate his heroics, which he pulls off thanks to his knowledge of the future and its technology. When DC Studios announced Booster Gold, Gunn and his studio co-chair, Peter Safran, gave only sparse details about the series, confirming that the main character would "use basic technology from the future to pretend to be a superhero in the present day."
Jenkins did not elaborate on why DC Studios opted not to pick up his Booster Gold project, though his reference to Ali's Blade statement suggests it might've been a similar situation.
Several attempts have been made at getting a Booster Gold project off the ground. Back in 2011, Arrowverse writers Greg Berlanti and Andrew Kreisberg were hired to write a Booster Gold series that never eventuated. The character was also once considered for inclusion in DC's Legends of Tomorrow lineup.
DC Studios' announcement of Booster Gold in Chapter 1: God of Monsters made it seem that momentum was finally behind a Booster Gold live-action adaptation, but now the series has hit another hurdle.
Does Booster Gold Still Have a Future in the DCU?
This latest news about the Booster Gold series is a disappointing one for fans who have waited a long time to see the DC Comics hero lead his own project, but it doesn't mean it's the end of the road.
It should be noted that Jenkins' statement says only that his version of Booster Gold won't be moving forward, not that the project has been canceled in its entirety by DC Studios. It's possible the studio may still work on the Booster Gold series with new writers, although this news is certainly a step backward for the project's progression.
DC Studios hasn't been afraid to shelve projects that aren't working. Earlier in the year, Gunn confirmed The Authority movie was on ice due to script challenges. Several other projects on DC's slate, like Waller and Sgt. Rock have also failed to make it out of the development phase.
Since the new DCU's initiation, Gunn has made it clear that his oversight of the scripting process at DC Studios will be a lot stricter than Marvel Studios'. "Until we have a screenplay that I'm totally happy with, that movie is not going to get made, no matter what it is," Gunn confirmed on his Threads account in 2024. In this case, it appears Booster Gold may not have to the standard that Gunn is looking for, but that doesn't preclude a different version from moving forward in the future.
