James Gunn‘s turn at the DCU has seen no shortage of headlines, from Lanterns’ bombshell death to a Superman spin-off. Lanterns has been a massive hit for HBO, while fans are antsy about the consistently delayed sequel to The Batman. DCU and HBO also passed on Catwoman and Poison Ivy shows, which would have been wonderful additions, especially for those of us still upset about Warner Bros. shelving of the completed Batgirl movie. Of course, a key part of Gunn’s job these days is dispelling rumors, which he has now done so for a long-awaited DCU project.
Another rumor for Gunn to address is the fate of a new iteration of The Brave and the Bold. The storyline was developed into an animated series that aired on Cartoon Network from 2008 to 2011. The Brave and the Bold offered a lighter take on The Dark Knight, complete with references to the iconic 1960s television series. First announced back in early 2023, DCU has plans of producing an adaptation of The Brave and the Bold by Andy Muschietti. However, rumors recently flew after Dan Marcus posted on X that Muschietti had stopped working on the long-awaited project, just as the entertainment world awaits the fate of the Warner Bros. merger decision.
Taking to Threads to address the rumor, Gunn said in no uncertain terms that “It doesn’t sound like something Andy would have said, but the project is in no way on hold.” In fact, Gunn notes that no DC projects are on hold at Warner Bros. as the movie and television assembly lines continue to hum in Burbank. A release date is unclear for The Brave and the Bold, especially with The Batman Part II coming out in early 2028. Gunn has made clear that he won’t have two Batman films released in the same year as a way to avoid internal competition.
Concerns about the Warner Bros. pending merger with Paramount Skydance are understandable in this situation. While no DCU projects have been officially paused, employees across both companies have shaky knees over what could happen. With Paramount Skydance CEO David Ellison threatening to pull both companies out of Los Angeles as part of his continued battle with twelve state attorneys general, the fate of every movie and show in each company are presumably a target for “streamlining.”
What this means is that when Ellison and other executives talk about “duplicative roles” between the companies, that means people will get fired. Nobody is safe, even HBO head Casey Bloys and the DCU leader James Gunn. Should the merger go through and one or both of these jobs find new occupants, entire slates of product can get shelved, so the new person can develop their own projects. Here’s to hoping there will be an amicable resolution to the industry turbulence so that Hollywood can get back to doing what it does best.
At least for now, we have Gunn’s assurance that the DCU adaptations are moving along nicely.
