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“Of course, of course,” Gunn said when asked if he thinks about bringing the Justice League back to the screen. “But there is no Justice League in this world … not yet.”
“I don’t take it upon myself to think ahead in that kind of way, just because one would hate to get one’s hopes up about anything in particular and then have it go in another direction,” Corenswet said. “What I like to do is stay blissfully ignorant, and then when James tells me what’s going to happen, I get to have a wonderful surprise. So if Justice League is in the back of his mind, that sounds great to me. I’ll put it at the back of my mind and we’ll see what happens.”
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Though there isn’t a Justice League movie or TV show in the works yet, several other Justice League members are coming to the DCU. On the film side, the Batman feature The Brave and the Bold is in development, and Gunn has confirmed a new Wonder Woman movie is being written. There’s also the Lanterns series coming to HBO Max, which features characters like John Stewart and Hal Jordan.
Superman will feature a superhero team during its run time. The trio of Guy Gardner, Hawkgirl, and Mister Terrific call themselves the Justice Gang, which is backed by Maxwell Lord. These characters will factor into future DCU projects; Nathan Fillion will reprise Guy Gardner on Lanterns, for instance.
Gunn made a point to say he is eschewing origin stories for Superman and Batman in the DCU, so some fans might have hoped that the franchise’s Justice League would already be fully operational by the time Superman picks up. The only theatrically released live-action Justice League film was a critically panned box office bomb that marked the beginning of the end of the DC Extended Universe, meaning there’s great interest in seeing the superhero team headline a film that does them, well, justice. In that sense, it’s disappointing the DCU doesn’t have a Justice League yet. It’ll probably take several years before one is formed and ready to protect the world from various threats.
On the other hand, it’s probably for the best the Justice League isn’t a thing yet in the DCU. For one, Superman needs to be successful in order for the franchise to have a future. Understandably so, Gunn focused more on making that film work on its own merits as opposed to laying the foundation for the future. Additionally, the DCEU arguably rushed things in an attempt to catch up with Marvel, which derailed the shared universe before it truly ever took off. Marvel found success early on by introducing the Avengers in solo films, building up to a crossover event. It seems like Gunn has something similar in mind for the DCU. He wants to ensure audiences are onboard with these new versions of classic characters first before pushing all his chips to the center of the table. Being patient could help the DCU establish a long, fruitful future for itself.
