After getting his DC spotlight in 2021 with "The Suicide Squad", director and producer James Gunn is officially set to hard reboot the DC Cinematic Universe with partner in crime Peter Safran.
While a hard reboot was rumored for a while, it was all but confirmed on Monday when it was announced that Henry Cavill would no longer play the Man of Steel. While comic book and DC fans alike were upset over the news, Gunn assured that all is for the best as he plans to take Superman in a younger direction with his next solo outing. While Gunn has been quite cryptic on social media, he has left hints as to who and what will be the face of ths new live action DC Universe.
As was just mentioned, Superman is a top priority for Gunn and Safran in this reboot with a new solo project presumed to be the first film in DC's new "Golden Age". Along with this Gunn mentioned that this version of Superman would not be an origin and begin with him as a junior reporter at the Daily Planet. With Cavill out its safe to assume that Amy Adams will be following leading the casting of the biggest power couple in DC unknown at the time.
Along with Superman, its confirmed that a new version of Batman will be roaming around in this new universe with James Gunn calling him "a big part". Seeing as we've seen Batman's origin plenty of times, its safe to assume he will follow in the footsteps of this world Superman and already be active in Gotham. James Gunn and "The Batman" director Matt Reeves confirmed that his solo Batman film would remain in its own world and with Ben Affleck not returning its safe to say a new actor will don the cowl. Besides "Justice League" and "Batman vs Superman" we've never seen Batman interact with the further DC Universe in live action leaving so many possibilities and stories that can be told.
Cavill and Affleck aren't the only stars exiting their roles. With the cancellation of Wonder Woman 3 and the rumors of his casting as Lobo, it's safe to say that Gal Gadot and Jason Momoa will be opening their roles to other actors. Although their roles in this reboot are unknown, as we've recently seen their origin stories if they do show up it would lily be previously established like Clark and Bruce. Another main staple for DC is obviously The Flash. With both the series and show releasing next year, after that the role will be vacant for any actor to fill.
With all the talk surrounding this new Justice League team, Gunn has assured that along with DC's major hitters there will also be a focus on lesser known characters. If by lesser known he means characters like Green Arrow and Booster Gold or he's offering to more absurd characters like Etrigan and Batmite is unfortunately unknown. All we know right now is that Gunn and Safran were hired to structure the next 10 years of DC films, shows, games, and comics.
Speaking of shows and games, it has been confirmed that alsong side cinematic releases, this new DCU would contain HBO Max series and tie in games to really create the idea of an expanded universe. Besides this announced Superman film, all aspects of this DC reboot are under heavily lock and key at WB so who knows what characters and storylines they have up their sleeves.
James Gunn has said that their first "phase" would be revealed early into the new year. With that only being a mere 3 weeks away its safe to assume hints and teases will start to be dropped. While the loss of Cavill is hard, there is a bright future in store for the DC Universe and those beyond.