Hollywood was stunned on Monday afternoon when it was revealed that James Gunn and Peter Safran were out as the heads of DC Studios at the newly formed Skydance, after previously seeming safe from the reshuffle. The duo was replaced by former Marvel producer Jeremy Latcham, who oversaw the early days of the MCU’s formation from Iron Man to Spider-Man: Homecoming.

While the fate of Gunn as co-head of DC Studios is set, it is not clear what will happen to the DCU he created, which was meant to build a universe to last at least a decade as DC attempts to compete with the MCU, after the closure of the DCEU. But here, reporting is all over the place, and Gunn’s own statement is hard to parse.

Gunn says he is not “immediately done with DC or superheroes” as his Man of Tomorrow film is coming out next summer despite this change. He says he’s “incredibly relieved and excited to get back to pure filmmaking,” but whether that filmmaking will remain DC projects is not stated, outside of one more he says he’s working on (which may or may not come to fruition).

If Gunn’s planned roadmap is scrapped, that may speak to specific projects rather than to existing DCU characters. Now, it appears there will be a new direction taken from Latcham, where a viral clip of an interview is spreading, in which he talks about wanting to make films his grandma would see (who told him her pastor preached about Iron Man after it was released). This new vision is likely to depart from Gunn’s tenure, during which four of his six projects have been R/MA-rated.

So, what happens to these characters now? Here’s my take:

Superman, Lex Luthor And Lois

It is incredibly difficult to imagine that the DCU as a whole is being erased with another full reboot coming. Despite being personal Gunn projects, I have to believe that David Corenswet, Nicholas Hoult and Rachel Brosnahan will not be recast in those prominent roles. However, after Man of Tomorrow , we don’t know when they will be seen again. One advantage of Gunn’s focus on mostly niche characters outside of Superman is that many other, larger DC heroes have not yet been established, which is likely to be a big focus going forward as Skydance looks to ramp up the universe more quickly.

Hawkgirl, Mr. Terrific, Guy Gardner, ETC.

I am less confident about Gunn’s focus on smaller characters that have already been featured, that they would continue to be heavily involved in the DCU from here (certainly a proposed Mr. Terrific show won’t happen now).

A show with roughly 200 f-bombs per episode does seem unlikely to get a second season now, as it was even questionable before this. That would mean we have almost certainly seen the last of the beloved Hal Jordan, played by Kyle Chandler in what many have deemed the best-cast role in the DCU. Now there would be no new season and no hope of fulfilling a teased resurrection. John Stewart, on the other hand, will appear in Man of Tomorrow as Green Lantern, and I believe they would keep him on as a JLA member in future projects, even if he can’t swear anymore.

The horror hit is unlikely to bring back its villain elsewhere. More importantly, the potential idea that more R-rated DCU horror films like this will happen seems like a closed door.

The animated series is supposed to return for season 2 in late 2027, and it’s in active production right now. It seems too late to scrap it, but as an animated project, it may be given lesser weight. Air it, move on.

No way. That’s done. This is a show that had an orgy with full-frontal nudity, and it was Gunn’s baby. Season 2 is all we get, and I doubt we’ll see John Cena again in the role.

Adria Arjona’s (Possible) Wonder Woman

Fans believe it is a foregone conclusion that Adria Arjona’s mystery role in Man of Tomorrow will be introducing her as the new Wonder Woman. I think DC could split the difference here and keep Arjona, but take Wonder Woman in a different direction. That film is being written by Ana Nogueira, whom James Gunn has lauded, though she was responsible for writing the mega-bomb Supergirl . My guess is a big shift in whatever direction she and Gunn were going, even if Arjona stays (and she should).

The Brave and the Bold was the original plan, featuring an older Batman plus a Robin, but it’s unclear whether the plan to introduce another Batman besides Robert Pattinson’s will remain the same from here. I actually wonder if merging with Matt Reeves’ universe could be back on the table.

It’s just so up in the air. Fundamentally, I think the DCU stays, as it would be insane to do another reboot this quickly, but whatever Gunn’s ultimate vision was will evaporate, even if many of his actors stay.

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