James Gunn‘s DCU is slowly beginning to take shape. Almost five months after the announcement of the first projects that will be part of the first phase of the new stage of the franchise, Gods & Monsters, the first series and films of the new canon are already in development.
While some projects such as the spinoff of The Batman, The Penguin or the Amanda Waller series are still underway, new stories will come under Gunn and Peter Safran’s leadership, and some are already well advanced in their production. One of the clearest cases is Superman: Legacy, which has already finished its first draft of the script and has started its casting process.
But the production that has taken the most steps forward is Creature Commandos, an animated series that will introduce a peculiar group of heroes to the new DCU. And, despite not being developed for live-action format, it will connect directly with the other projects and its protagonists will have the opportunity to play their characters’ flesh-and-bone versions if they appear in another film or television show.
However, this has raised concerns from some fans. On Twitter, Gunn responded to a follower who thought they would use AI for the voice actors in the animated projects:
“If the DCU is going to use the same actors who play characters in live action also do voice acting for the cartoons, then I will not be shocked at all if the voice roles are AI generated from a licensed sound bank of the actor’s voice.”
“No way.”
The Battle Against AI
The use of Artificial Intelligence in film and in daily life has become something very common. However, in the long term, some see it as a threat. Recently, when the writers’ strike began in Hollywood, the rumors about different studios considering finalizing scripts using AI became very strong during the first few weeks.
Joe Russo, one of the directors of Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame, was among the first ones to raise his voice about it showing his concern about how Artificial Intelligence could affect the industry:
“I think everyone should be scared of AI. I don’t know if you’ve heard any of the Drake ‘songs’ that have been dropping on social media, but it’s here. It’s not going anywhere. When the creatives are engaged and the creatives are spearheading the use of technology — look at James Cameron’s entire career — that technology ends up in service of artists rather than vice versa. If corporations drive the adoption of that technology, it might be a different story.”
Tom Hanks also spoke about the subject, revealing that he believes that in the future when he is no longer around, he could continue acting thanks to technology:
“Anybody can now recreate themselves at any age they are by way of AI or deepfake technology. I could be hit by a bus tomorrow and that’s it, but performances can go on and on and on and on. Outside the understanding of AI and deep fake, there’ll be nothing to tell you that it’s not me and me alone. And it’s going to have some degree of lifelike quality. That’s certainly an artistic challenge but it’s also a legal one.”
