Arrowverse Producer Greg Berlanti Opens Up About the Future of DC Studios (Exclusive)
Berlanti's next directorial endeavor, Fly Me to the Moon, hits theaters on July 12th.
It's a new age for DC Comics on the big screen. At the tail end of 2022, Warner Bros. Discovery restructured its plans for its superhero sandbox moving forward, bringing in Guardians of the Galaxy and The Suicide Squad director James Gunn alongside Shazam! and Aquaman producer Peter Safran to front the newly-minted DC Studios. Gunn and Safran began by bringing an end to the DC Extended Universe, announcing that a new canon would begin when Superman hits theaters in 2025. This starting from scratch is an effort to create a more interconnected universe, not unlike what DC was able to accomplish on the small screen.
For over a decade, The CW aired multiple interconnected television programs based on DC characters in a franchise known as the Arrowverse. Beginning with Arrow in 2012, that Stephen Amell-led series spawned spinoffs like The Flash, Legends of Tomorrow, Supergirl, Batwoman, and Superman & Lois. The mastermind behind all of those aforementioned programs was producer Greg Berlanti.
Greg Berlanti Speaks on DC Studios' Future
The tights and flights era of Greg Berlanti's career is in the rear view.
Speaking to ComicBook at the Fly Me to the Moon junket, Berlanti reflected on his time working on The CW's Arrowverse, admitting that he does not see himself being able to "recreate that experience."
"I kind of feel like I served my time doing [the Arrowverse projects]. It was a real special moment in my life creatively," Berlanti said. "I don't know that I would ever be able to recreate that experience again. The people I got to do it with and the actors that I got to work with that I'm still so close with, it was a really special time."
Berlanti spent 11 years of his career producing DC-related projects for The CW. He teamed with Marc Guggenheim and Andrew Kreisberg to create, write, and produce a television series based on Green Arrow back in 2012. After a successful first season, Berlanti brought Barry Allen (The Flash) into the fold for Arrow Season 2 with hopes of spinning off the character into his own solo series.
Weeks before Allen's guest episode aired, The CW ordered a pilot for The Flash, picking up the project to a full series six months later. Momentum for the Arrowverse barreled from there, with multiple more spinoffs and crossover specials coming in the subsequent years.
"I want them to succeed in all the ways that we were able to," Berlanti said of the incoming big-screen DC Universe. "I'd do anything to help anybody, but I have to say for us, that was a real Camelot moment of everything."
While Berlanti does not currently have any official ties to DC Studios, his Arrowverse success has inadvertently paved the way for some characters in upcoming DC Universe films. The Gunn-directed Superman will see heroes like Mr. Terrific and Hawkgirl making their big-screen debuts. Both of those characters appeared in live-action on Arrowverse programs prior to making the theatrical leap.
"For 10 years, we got to use and work with all these characters," Berlanti added. "Our number one credo was we want to put these characters back on the shelf more valuable than when we took them off, so that people would be interested in all of their stories."
Berlanti returns to the director's chair with Fly Me to the Moon, a Scarlett Johansson and Channing Tatum-led picture about the moon-landing conspiracy, which hits theaters on July 12th.
