James Gunn Reveals Promising Update on One of the First-Announced DCU Movies Everyone Thought Was Already Cancelled

We all thought this DC Universe project had already been cancelled, but James Gunn’s new comments suggest there is a bright future for one strange antihero team. Acclaimed filmmaker James Gunn and producer extraordinaire Peter Safran took over the new DC Studios at the end of 2022, and immediately set to work planning a reboot of the live-action DC franchise. Gunn announced ten movies and TV shows for the DCU in January 2023, including one that we haven’t heard much about in the almost three years since, but the tide may be turning.

“There’s someone who is a really good creator who talked to me the other day,” Gunn revealed to Deadline this September when asked for an update on The Authority, suggesting development is moving forward. When questioned whether The Authority – originally announced as a DCU movie – would instead be a series, Gunn replied, “Who knows? I’m probably not going to do certain movies with characters who [audiences] don’t know; it’s harder to get people in the theater for that kind of thing.” While this isn’t a definite update, it spells good news for the Authority in the DCU’s future.

How Will The Authority Fit Into The DCU?

The Authority was one of the more obscure and interesting additions to James Gunn’s 2023 announcement regarding the DCU’s Chapter 1: Gods and Monsters. First published under the WildStorm imprint, the Authority made their DC Comics’ debut in The Authority #1 in 1999, and was introduced as a superhero team mainly comprising characters from the former Stormwatch team, which had lacked popularity. The original line-up, brought together by Stormwatch’s Jenny Sparks, included Apollo, Lucas Trent’s Midnighter, Jeroen Thornedike’s Doctor, Jack Hawksmoor, Shen Li-Min’s Swift, and Angela Spica’s Engineer – who made her DCU debut in Superman.

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María Gabriela de Faría portrayed Angela Spica in Superman as the nanotechnology-empowered right hand of Lex Luthor (Nicholas Hoult). Her appearance in Superman laid the foundations for the Authority to debut in the DCU, as she is a prominent member of the team in DC Comics, and the Authority regularly come to blows with the likes of Superman, given their operations as antiheroes who will go to extreme lengths to get the job done. David Corenswet and Nicholas Hoult will be returning as Superman and Lex Luthor in Man of Tomorrow, which could develop the Engineer’s role further, too.

Gunn’s new comments seem to suggest that The Authority could become a HBO Max series instead of a movie, given the fact that the titular team are lesser-known and not as popular as the likes of Superman, Supergirl, Swamp Thing, and Batman. This could benefit the team, however, as the TV format would give these antiheroes time to be properly developed – akin to the Creature Commandos – and could set them up for a theatrical appearance in the DCU’s future. Upcoming DCU projects are already scheduled for 2026 and 2027, so it’s unclear when we’ll see the Authority make their debut.

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