When DC Studios co-chiefs James Gunn and Peter Safran announced their slate of films and TV series, the dynamic duo revealed an interconnected cinematic universe: the new DCU. While upcoming projects like Superman, Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow, Clayface, The Brave and the Bold, Peacemaker, and Lanterns all exist and are set within the same shared universe as Creature Commandos, there’s something else: DC Elseworlds.
“The DCU’s a multiverse, but we’re going to be focusing on one universe from that multiverse,” Safran explained when unveiling Chapter 1: Gods and Monsters in 2023. “And if something isn’t DCU, we’re going to make that very clear.”
That includes films like Joker: Folie à Deux (which did not involve DC Studios) and HBO’s The Penguin, a spinoff of The Batman movie that takes place in its own continuity (along with its DC Studios-produced sequel, The Batman: Part II). The Max adult animated series Harley Quinn is under the DC Studios umbrella starting with its just-launched fifth season, but is not set in the same continuity as the animated Creature Commandos (and thus the DCU). Confused?
“All DC television & film projects are now under DC Studios. Because Harley Quinn was developed long before us we didn’t think it was fair to put the DC Studio fanfare on there,” Gunn wrote on Threads when asked why the animated DC Studios logo and fanfare — which depicts the Joe Shuster-designed Superman bursting free from chains — doesn’t precede episodes of The Penguin and Harley Quinn. “On Penguin, which we had a small hand in developing, we have a different DC Studios [animation] at the end.”
Gunn added that the studio is “currently working on the DC Studios Elseworlds opening” that will be attached to out-of-continuity projects like The Batman 2 and potential future spinoff series set in Matt Reeves’ Batman Epic Crime Saga. “Elseworlds” takes its name from the DC imprint that publishes standalone stories set outside regular DC comic book canon like Kingdom Come and Superman: Red Son.
In a recent interview, Gunn said DC Studios is “committed” to telling DC Elseworlds stories while also telling a “big, huge central story” across DCU movies and series.
“I want the freedom to tell Elseworlds stories. We want to be able to tell a story in which Superman is very different [from his DCU counterpart],” Gunn told the Happy Sad Confused podcast. “We want to play with these characters in different ways. One of the things I love about DC over Marvel comic books is that those things are much more plentiful — there’s many more Elseworlds stories, there’s many more presentations of Wonder Woman, and Batman, and Superman, especially, that you see them showing up in different ways in different Elseworlds stories.”
“I think that’s part of the fun of DC,” he continued. “Watchmen is the result of DC telling a story that’s outside of the continuity of DC Comics.”
Superman is set to open July 11 in theaters, followed by Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow on June 26, 2026, and Clayface on Sept. 11, 2026. Upcoming DC Studios projects that are in development but have yet to announce a release date include Peacemaker season 2, HBO’s Lanterns, and Creature Commandos season 2.
When DC Studios co-chiefs James Gunn and Peter Safran announced their slate of films and TV series, the dynamic duo revealed an interconnected cinematic universe: the new DCU. While upcoming projects like Superman, Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow, Clayface, The Brave and the Bold, Peacemaker, and Lanterns all exist and are set within the same shared Read More