DCU Mystery Project Gets Surprising New Details (& Why James Gunn Is Keeping It Secret)

With the likes Superman and Peacemaker Season 2 finding critical and box office success, the DC Universe is in full swing. Thanks to the forward momentum established by those projects, DC Studios co-heads James Gunn and Peter Safran can continue to develop the shared universe in exciting ways. While DC is reportedly only targeting 1-2 theatrical releases per year, there are still plenty of intriguing titles in various stages of development. That includes projects that haven’t been officially announced yet, and Gunn himself has shared some surprising details concerning one of those.

On the latest episode of the official Peacemaker podcast, Gunn fielded a fan question about the amount of work that goes into creating the superhero costumes for the show. In his response, Gunn detailed a meeting he had with the writer and director of a secret DCU project. “They were asking us about VFX and how much it costs and how many VFX characters we can have,” Gunn said. “And then they were talking about the superheroes in the show. And I was like, ‘The one thing you gotta be careful about is the superhero costumes’ because they are really difficult to make, they’re difficult to make look good, and they usually cost a lot more money than creating a CGI character.”

Why This Mystery DCU Project Is Being Kept A Secret

Whatever this mystery DCU project is, there’s obviously a creative team in place that’s been in contact with Gunn. It stands reason to believe Gunn is confident in whatever vision this writer and director have if they’re onboard to develop something. With those pieces in place, some fans may be wondering why the premise of the project remains under wraps. In all likelihood, it has something to do with the most important rule Gunn has instituted during his time at DC. Nothing will move forward until there’s a completed script in place.

With that rule in mind, it’s reasonable to assume this mystery project remains in early stages of development. Based on Gunn’s comments, it sounds like the unnamed writer and director are trying to get an idea of production costs so they can figure out the best approach for bringing the metahumans to life. As the script is developed, the creative team wants to have a better understanding of the resources available to them so they can work within those confines. The project probably isn’t ready for primetime yet, and Gunn doesn’t want to announce anything until the time is right. Especially with the DCU riding a hot streak, the last thing Gunn wants to do is generate excitement for something that then lingers in development hell.

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DC Studios has already had to put projects like The Authority on the backburner as Gunn and Co. figure out what to do, so Gunn could become more selective about the official announcements he does make. The Superman follow-up, Man of Tomorrow, wasn’t formally revealed until Gunn finished the script and locked down a window for filming to start. Gunn was clearly busy working on the Man of Tomorrow screenplay long before the film was announced, but he’s trying to be very deliberate about when projects become public. There’s always a chance something could fall through during development.

Until DC Studios reveals more of its slate, fans will speculate what this mystery project could be. Gunn’s use of the term “show” implies it’s something being made for TV (although, “show” can be a general phrase in the entertainment business to mean “movie” or “series”), and it sounds like it has multiple superheroes in the cast. Much of DC’s TV slate is being kept under wraps for now, save for Lanterns, which is set to premiere next year. There are series like Paradise Lost and Waller in the works, but they don’t really fit the bill of a “secret” show since they’ve been announced before. There are no shortage of DC characters waiting to make the leap to the DCU, so hopefully more details about this project are shared soon.

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