{"id":707221,"date":"2026-01-19T21:45:12","date_gmt":"2026-01-19T21:45:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/707221\/"},"modified":"2026-01-19T21:45:12","modified_gmt":"2026-01-19T21:45:12","slug":"james-gunn-officially-responds-to-dcu-rumors-batman-wonder-woman-casting-clayface-trailer-more","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/707221\/","title":{"rendered":"James Gunn Officially Responds to DCU Rumors: Batman, Wonder Woman Casting, Clayface Trailer & More"},"content":{"rendered":"

James Gunn has been active on social media again, giving DC Universe<\/a> fans a rundown on the latest rumors that have been circulating about the franchise\u2019s future. 2026 is another pivotal year for DC Studios, as it will be the franchise\u2019s first attempt to launch second-tier characters as major franchise starters. Supergirl<\/a> will try to continue the momentum that Superman (2025) started; meanwhile, Lanterns<\/a> will be taking an HBO prestige series approach to the lore of the Green Lantern Corps. Things will get even wilder with writer Mike Flanagan\u2019s Clayface horror movie, which no one saw coming. <\/p>\n

However, it\u2019s the future of the DCU, and the projects that haven\u2019t been confirmed, that are stirring up a lot of discussion online. Every week seems to bring a new rumor about what is happening with major characters like Batman, Wonder Woman, and Darkseid, as well as who could be playing them. Gunn addressed all that and more<\/a>, quickly and succinctly, while stacking some fan engagement points at the same time. <\/p>\n

DCU Batman & Wonder Woman Have NOT Been Cast<\/p>\n

\"WonderWarner Bros. Pictures<\/p>\n

One fan asked Gunn, \u201cIs it true that actors auditioned for the role of Batman at the end of 2025? I saw this rumour in my feed.\u201d Gunn took a buzzsaw to all the rumors regarding Batman and Wonder Woman\u2019s DCU<\/a> debuts, stating<\/a>, \u201cNo. All these rumors of Batman and Wonder Woman auditions are false.\u201d <\/p>\n

He later denied an assertion that he\u2019s downplaying the characters\u2019 relevance and importance to the DCU, saying<\/a>, \u201cI\u2019m not at all. I think both Batman and WW are incredibly important.\u201d<\/p>\n

More Updates From the DCU Batverse<\/p>\n

\"\"Warner Bros<\/p>\n

While there may not have been auditions for a Batman actor, the first DCU Batman film did get an update. Gunn answered one fan\u2019s question by revealing that there is currently no \u201cactionable script ready\u201d for The Brave and the Bold. <\/p>\n

Gunn was also quick to make it clear that right now, the Batman space belongs solely to Matt Reeves and The Batman: Part II. \u201cFrankly, we\u2019re well into Batman 2,\u201d Gunn wrote<\/a>, \u201cand I wouldn\u2019t want to cloud the Batsphere until after that.\u201d He did agree with one fan\u2019s notion that having The Batman 2 coming in 2027 kept the character relevant, while the DCU has time and space to further establish itself and get ready for The Brave and the Bold. \u201cI\u2019m also not going to have two Batman movies come out in the same year.\u201d <\/p>\n

Similarly, Gunn denied that the upcoming Dynamic Duo animated series about Dick Grayson and Jason Todd is part of the DCU canon. Meanwhile, when it comes to James Watkins\u2019 Clayface movie, we are still far from even seeing a trailer. \u201cI haven\u2019t even seen the film yet,\u201d Gunn wrote, \u201cbecause James is still in the first cut.\u201d He continued to answer follow-up questions, clarifying that the director gets time to tweak the first cut before producers (like Gunn and Peter Safran) weigh in. That all said, Clayface is \u201cTotally\u201d on track to make its September 2026 release date, according to Gunn.<\/p>\n

Man of Tomorrow Is Still Casting (Sort of\u2026)<\/p>\n

The Superman sequel Man of Tomorrow announced that Lars Eidinger is playing the villain Brainiac in the DCU<\/a>. According to James Gunn, that\u2019s pretty much the only major casting we\u2019re going to see in the sequel, as a lot of the lead and supporting cast roles will be returning characters from Superman. That said, Gunn revealed that \u201cSmaller roles are being casted now.\u201d Considering how Superman was able to introduce many other DC heroes, those \u201csmaller roles\u201d in Man of Tomorrow could still be significant additions to the franchise. <\/p>\n

Gunn had a response to the rumors that Wonder Woman is being cast in Man of Tomorrow, saying, \u201cWe are currently casting a female character in MoT. My only guess is scoopers are taking a stab at guessing that\u2019s WW.\u201d He also said \u201cYep,\u201d when asked if he would \u201cthrow water\u201d on theories that Man of Tomorrow is bringing in Batman and\/or Wonder Woman.<\/p>\n

Finally, Sam McCurdy (Game of Thrones, Sh\u014dgun) was confirmed<\/a> to be the cinematographer on the film. <\/p>\n

Grant Gustin is NOT the DCU Flash<\/p>\n

\"the-flash-grant-gustin-barry-allen.jpg\"The CW<\/p>\n

The Flash Arrowverse star Grant Gustin got photographed in public sporting some blonde hair \u2013 so immediately, DCU fans jumped to the conclusion that Gunn cast Gustin as his Barry Allen. When one fan asked if there was fire to go with that smoke, Gunn said, \u201cHow in the world would I know why Grant dyed his hair?\u201d <\/p>\n

Not for nothing, Grant Gustin addressed the issue himself, posting<\/a>, \u201cAs anyone that asks me knows, I will always welcome the opportunity to play The Flash again. Having said that, my hair is long and blonde for a project that has nothing to do with The Flash or any other super hero lol. Love this energy though.\u201d <\/p>\n

The DCU will continue with the release of Supergirl on June 26th, with Lanterns premiering on HBO in \u201cmid-2026.\u201d Let us know which DCU projects you want to see the most, over on the ComicBook Forum<\/a>! <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"James Gunn has been active on social media again, giving DC Universe fans a rundown on the latest…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":707222,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[3935],"tags":[46972,53961,77,19919,186949,3943,968,11469,212275,16,15],"class_list":["post-707221","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-movies","tag-dc-studios","tag-dc-universe","tag-entertainment","tag-james-gunn","tag-lanterns","tag-movies","tag-regular-news","tag-supergirl-woman-of-tomorrow","tag-superman-man-of-tomorrow","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115923958310588915","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/707221","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=707221"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/707221\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/707222"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=707221"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=707221"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=707221"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}