DCU Film The Authority Delayed, Gunn Cites The Boys' Influence

It appears that the DCU movie The Authority is facing challenges, as confirmed by DC Studios co-chief James Gunn, who has placed it on the "back burner." Announced as part of the ambitious Chapter 1: Gods and Monsters reboot by Gunn and Peter Safran two years ago, The Authority was intended to bring the notorious WildStorm Universe superhero team to the big screen. Gunn initially described it as a "big movie," but recent developments suggest otherwise.

During a DC Studios presentation attended by IGN, Gunn revealed that The Authority has been the most challenging project among those announced for Chapter 1: Gods and Monsters. He cited the success of Amazon's The Boys as a contributing factor, noting the complexities of aligning The Authority with the current superhero landscape and the team's influence on subsequent works.

Gunn elaborated, "Honestly, Authority's been the one that's been the hardest, both because of the shifting overall story and because of getting it right in a world with The Boys and a world with all the things that The Authority influenced that came out after it. And also having a lot of characters that we've fallen in love with that we've already filmed and have that we want to continue their stories and see them meet each other. So I will admittedly say it's a little bit more on the back burner right now."

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One character from The Authority, The Engineer / Angela Spica, will appear in the DCU's kickstarter film Superman. Known for her extraordinary abilities such as self-duplication, technopathy, genius-level intellect, and radio-induced telepathy, The Engineer is a pivotal member of the team. For more details, check out IGN's article, "Who Are the Authority: The WildStorm DCU Characters Explained."

The Authority isn't the only project from Chapter 1: Gods and Monsters facing difficulties. Gunn mentioned that Waller, a spinoff from his HBO Max series Peacemaker, has encountered "a couple of setbacks." However, the HBO Max series Booster Gold is progressing well, and Paradise Lost remains a significant focus, with Gunn stating, "It seems to be going pretty well." Peter Safran confirmed that the pilot for Paradise Lost is currently being written.

Regarding Swamp Thing, Safran indicated that DC Studios is prepared to wait for acclaimed director James Mangold, who is currently involved in other projects including A Complete Unknown and the upcoming Star Wars movie Dawn of the Jedi. Safran expressed, "Our writer-director went off to make another little movie, A Complete Unknown, and we hope that he'll come back to Swamp Thing when he's ready, because again, that was one of those ones that we love him as a filmmaker, so we're happy to wait for him."

Gunn added that Swamp Thing is not integral to the broader narrative they are crafting, saying, "Right. Yeah, it was always outside of that. I mean, it was because James came to us with it, frankly."