Ava DuVernay Teases DC’s ‘New Gods’ Movie Characters

Late last night, Ava DuVernay tweeted out an image that some fans are taking to be a look at the main characters from her planned New Gods movie from Warner Bros. and DC.

The image, seen in the tweet below, features Highfather, the leader of the “good” side of the New Gods. Flanking him are his family: His adoptive son Orion, his biological sons Lightray and Scott Free/Mister Miracle, and Scott’s wife Big Barda. In the foreground is Metron, one of Highfather’s closest advisers.

Centering the New Gods movie around the royal family would make sense in terms of establishing the characters’ own mythology, separate from the rest of the DC Universe. That is something that early reports have suggested DuVernay is interested in exploring with the characters.

It would allow the filmmakers to build a mythology for New Genesis and Apokolips, and to introduce audiences to the worlds without as much baggage — but it also runs the risk of bearing resemblances to Black Panther, Aquaman, and even The Inhumans, all of which have centered on their respective royal families and secret worlds.

Set after Ragnarok and the birth of a new generation of gods, The New Gods was part of Jack Kirby’s Fourth World cycle of storytelling, along with Mister Miracle and The Forever People.

The story pits the evil gods of Apokolips, led by Darkseid, against the bright and idealistic gods of New Genesis, led by Highfather.

Steppenwolf, the villain in last year’s Justice League, is one of the New Gods and the uncle of Darkseid. Nevertheless, DuVernay’s New Gods will be unrelated to the existing DC movies, and will presumably either omit Steppenwolf or use a more comics-accurate version of the character.

DuVernay has flirted with superhero movies in the past, but it never quite worked out. She famously declined to direct Black Panther, a job which then went to Creed filmmaker Ryan Coogler. Marvel has reportedly been eyeing her for some time, but it looks like Warner Bros — perhaps specifically because of the offer to make her film independent of a shared universe — has attracted her interest first.

Late last year, when asked who her favorite superhero was, DuVernay tweeted, “Big Barda. Many reasons.” It seems possible, but not necessarily true, that DuVernay was working on New Gods at that point.

New Gods does not yet have a targeted release date or cast, but stay tuned.