Everything We Know About James Gunn's DCU Video Game Plans

It’s a bird! It’s a plane! It’s the precise archetypal movie successful James Gunn’s revamped DC Universe!

Now that Superman has deed theaters, James Gunn’s DC Universe is afloat underway… Or is it? While Gunn has present released a movie, a TV amusement (Peacemaker), and an animated bid (Creature Commandos) nether his stewardship, there’s inactive a missing portion of the DC Universe puzzle: video games.

Gunn told fans backmost successful 2022 that his maestro program for an interconnected DC Universe includes video games. But dissimilar connected the movies and TV broadside of things, determination person been nary authoritative announcements regarding what the archetypal DC Universe video crippled volition be.

An lack of reveals doesn’t mean we don’t person a reasonably wide representation of what to expect, though. Across aggregate interviews and property events, Gunn and co-studio caput Peter Safran person explained their plans, including the information that portion they don’t technically oversee Warner Bros.’ gaming division, there’s present a overmuch deeper collaboration betwixt WB Games and DC Studios that could dramatically change the mode aboriginal DC video games are made. With that successful mind, let’s analyse what the aboriginal of games volition look similar successful the caller DCU era.

Gunn Takes Over DC

The archetypal clip we learned that video games factored into Gunn’s DC plans was soon aft helium and shaper Peter Safran were announced arsenic co-heads of DC Studios connected October 25, 2022. While answering instrumentality questions connected X, Gunn responded to 1 idiosyncratic who asked if games would beryllium connected to the DCU alongside films and TV. To this, helium simply replied, “Yes.

It wouldn’t beryllium until a fewer months aboriginal that Gunn revealed what movies and shows were successful improvement arsenic portion of Chapter 1: Gods and Monsters, which is the DCU’s equivalent of the MCU’s Phase 1. And portion video games were conspicuously missing from the Chapter 1 roadmap, Gunn told members of the press, “Television, movies, and games each intertwine wrong the aforesaid universe. We’re going to formed actors who are going to beryllium capable to play the characters successful [animation and TV], arsenic good arsenic successful different things.” This was the archetypal wide denotation from Gunn that video games were so a portion of his plans for the DCU.

One important happening to cognize is that Gunn’s occupation arsenic caput of DC Studios doesn’t see power implicit immoderate of Warner Bros’ video crippled studios, which see developers similar Avalanche Software (Hogwarts Legacy), NetherRealm Studios (Mortal Kombat), Rocksteady Studios (Batman Arkham), and TT Games (Lego).

Under the existent Warner Bros. Discovery firm structure, Warner Bros. Games exists separately from DC Studios and is overseen by Warner Bros. Discovery's CEO of planetary streaming and gaming, JB Perrette. But aft Gunn and Safran were named DC co-heads successful 2022, Perrette appears to beryllium deferring to the caller DC bosses erstwhile it comes to matters of comic publication video games.

The Walls Break Down Between WB Games and DC Studios

In an interrogation with Variety successful 2024, Perrette revealed, “Frankly, determination hasn’t been arsenic adjacent a narration betwixt the workplace and the games concern arsenic determination should person been. And James [Gunn] is really a gamer, truthful having idiosyncratic who’s passionate astir it is ace helpful.” Perrette added that the games departments are present “actively moving with [Gunn and Safran] connected the halfway franchises wrong the DC Universe.”

Based connected this interview, it appears determination was erstwhile a partition that divided WB’s gaming part from the movie and TV studios. And according to Perrette, it was lone aft Gunn and Safran took implicit DC Studios that a newfound consciousness of collaboration was achieved.

This dividing partition was confirmed a twelvemonth aboriginal during a DC Studios Presentation held connected February 24, 2025. During the event, James Gunn and Peter Safran confirmed Perrette’s statements regarding the separation betwixt the 2 WB divisions and however that narration has changed since they took over.

“We enactment incredibly intimately with JB Perrette, who runs that division, and it’s truly the archetypal clip ever it’s been this mode astatine Warner Bros,” Safran confirmed. “It’s been great, and we’ve enjoyed it enormously. Everything had been truthful siloed, and present that’s wholly breached down, and it’s been great. Because it besides applies to user products and experiences, and everything that DC touches runs up done america now, which is awesome.”

“James [Gunn] and I beryllium with virtually the guys that tally the studios underneath JB,” Safran added. “Whether it’s NetherRealm oregon whether it’s Rocksteady, [we] beryllium with them and speech astir characters and stories that we’re funny successful and that they’re funny in.”

It’s comic that Safran mentions Rocksteady, arsenic it was reported earlier this twelvemonth that the workplace is processing a caller single-player Batman game. While it whitethorn beryllium excessively soon to tell, astatine slightest according to Gunn and Safran, determination volition apt beryllium immoderate input from their broadside of things astatine DC Studios.

“We spot designs for the projects successful their precise earliest stages,” Gunn said astatine the event. “When they’re talking astir what the communicative mightiness be, we say, ‘Well, possibly you privation to spell this mode due to the fact that we’re readying connected possibly doing thing with this quality and truthful distant and truthful on,’ and assistance woody with that.”

Gunn replies to fans connected X. Credit: X.

Does this mean Gunn volition beryllium afloat successful complaint of the adjacent Rocksteady Batman game? Not quite. Gunn confirmed that “not all” games volition beryllium connected to the DCU’s overarching communicative erstwhile different instrumentality connected X shared their interest astir losing standalone experiences similar Rocksteady’s Arkham series. So, depending connected wherever Rocksteady wants to instrumentality its adjacent single-player Batman game, there’s a accidental it could beryllium incorporated into the DCU, oregon treated arsenic a abstracted beingness similar Matt Reeves’ The Batman movies.

Furthermore, Perrette said successful the aforementioned Variety interrogation that WB’s crippled studios volition inactive beryllium making projects based connected what’s champion for the studios and gamers, saying, “We’re not going to motorboat a Superman crippled purely due to the fact that we consciousness obligated. We person to bash thing that makes consciousness for the gaming strategy and for fans and for the consumer.”

How James Gunn’s DCU Is Already Shaping Games

Even if DC’s afloat gaming plans stay a mystery, we’re already seeing Gunn’s unified imaginativeness for DC play retired successful respective games close now.

“Our characters tin determination successful and retired of animation oregon leap into a crippled oregon onto the large screen, but they volition stay accordant throughout: aforesaid character, aforesaid history, aforesaid actor,” Gunn said during the property circuit for Creature Commandos past twelvemonth — a mates months aft Peacemaker was added to Mortal Kombat 1 arsenic a DLC quality connected February 28, 2024.

Just arsenic Gunn said, NetherRealm enlisted John Cena to reprise his TV and movie relation arsenic Peacemaker successful Mortal Kombat 1. Not lone is his likeness and plan identical to the mentation of the quality that appears successful the HBO bid and The Suicide Squad movie, but adjacent his Victory Pose successful Mortal Kombat 1 is simply a nonstop notation to Peacemaker’s glam rock-themed opening credits.

Similarly, this month’s Superman-themed contented for Fortnite features skins for Superman, Mr. Terrific, and The Engineer, which are each based connected the likenesses of their movie counterparts. So, alternatively than a comic-book mentation of these characters, you’re playing arsenic David Corenswet’s Superman, Edi Gathegi’s Mr. Terrific, and Maria Gabriela de Faria’s Engineer. Like Peacemaker, it seems that immoderate quality by a DCU quality successful a video crippled volition beryllium identical to their movie and TV counterpart, conscionable arsenic Gunn promised (with the objection of those standalone projects Gunn besides promised, of course.)

“Since taking the reins, our existent northbound has been to bring DC film, TV, animation, and gaming into alignment nether a azygous banner and bring a consciousness of unity and consistency into the DCU arsenic a whole,” Gunn said up of the premiere of Creature Commandos. “This frees america to make a scope of products that are divers and compelling, and present large stand-alone amusement experiences connected each medium, portion besides being portion of a larger communicative that we’re telling wrong our unified DCU.”

It’s been a unsmooth mates of years for DC games nether Warner Bros.. Between the closing of Monolith Software and the cancellation of a Wonder Woman video game, to Rocksteady’s Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League’s lackluster release, the aboriginal of DC video games appeared to beryllium successful large flux. Warner Bros. adjacent considered selling disconnected its gaming concern entirely.

And portion WB Games’ fortunes person changed with the monolithic occurrence of games similar Hogwarts Legacy, there’s inactive nary authoritative connection yet connected the aboriginal of DC video games. But it’s wide based connected statements from Gunn, Safran, and Perrette that Warner Bros. Games and DC Studios are collaborating profoundly erstwhile it comes to immoderate upcoming video crippled starring DC’s caped heroes. Although the basal anticipation is that if a quality from DC’s movies and shows appears successful a game, it volition diagnostic the aforesaid actor, the afloat plans for DC video games, particularly from developers similar Rocksteady, stay to beryllium seen.

Be definite to cheque retired our afloat database of upcoming DC movies and TV shows, arsenic good arsenic our Superman reappraisal for our afloat DC coverage.

Matt Kim is IGN's Senior Features Editor.