The new DC Universe begins proper with Creature Commandos, a new animated TV show airing on the Max platform. Launching a new cinematic universe with this kind of production reflects the multimedia and multi-medium ambitions of James Gunn’s future DC Comics adaptations. It also reflects how modern pop culture properties function. Everything from the Marvel Cinematic Universe to Star Wars mingles between the small and big screen now. Even Game of Thrones is brewing up a theatrical film spinoff despite starting life as an HBO show.
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The DC Universe’s predecessor, the DC Extended Universe, briefly dabbled in such multimedia exploits with Peacemaker, an HBO Max program shooting off of The Suicide Squad. However, Creature Commandos and its gaggle of oddball DC heroes are incredibly reminiscent of original, grander plans hatched for DC Extended Universe TV shows. Once, there were expansive ambitions to launch a slew of monstrous DC Extended Universe heroes on the small screen.
The Justice League Dark TV Show Universe Experiment
In early 2021, word emerged that, among the major DC projects brewing for the then-fresh streaming service HBO Max, was a Justice League Dark program. Like its comics incarnation, Justice League Dark would unite various fantastical and monstrous DC heroes and anti-heroes to fight greater paranormal forces. J.J. Abrams and his Bad Robot Productions were set to shepherd these shows as part of a larger deal Abrams signed with WarnerMedia in 2019. The first of these projects once set to see the light of day was a new take on John Constantine.
Constantine had already made his way to the small screen thanks to an NBC program in the mid-2010s and various subsequent appearances in the Arrowverse. This would’ve been a fresh new approach to the character that would’ve also seen an actor of color taking on the role. That summer, a show centered on Madame Xanadu entitled Madame X was also being developed to further flesh out the Justice League Dark corner of the DC Extended Universe.
Why were the Justice League Dark characters chosen to headline a slew of DC Extended Universe TV shows? Presumably, it was viewed as easier to execute than trying to wrangle Henry Cavill or Gal Gadot into the budgetary confines of TV productions. Plus, the DC Extended Universe on the film side was in a state of flux in the early 2020s, with various new visions (like The Suicide Squad and Black Adam) challenging what this franchise would look like. Focusing on a bevy of standalone figures in their own nook of the DC Extended Universe gave the creative teams of these shows a lot more leeway.
[RELATED: The Weird Origin Story of the Original Creature Commandos]
The Death of the DC Extended Universe TV Shows
In early 2022, AT&T sold the WarnerMedia assets to Discovery, creating WarnerDiscovery in the process. This meant a new corporate entity owned DC Comics and all adaptations of these characters. By the end of the year, projects like Constantine and Madame X had fizzled out. The DC Extended Universe as a whole had its days numbered and these specific Max TV Shows were not going to get out alive. The success of Peacemaker, the lone DC Extended Universe TV show that actually made it to the airwaves, just gave WarnerDiscovery brass even more confidence in James Gunn’s vision for these characters.
The newly formed DC Studios would announce the DC Universe in early 2023, finally bringing an end to the DC Extended Universe. Even if that hadn’t happened, there’s a good chance the DC Extended Universe’s ambitious TV plans would’ve never been fully realized. Various 2023 small-screen bombs like Secret Invasion curbed the gusto studio executives previously had for endless streaming offshoots of big-screen movies. With or without the DC Extended Universe’s collapse, these properties may have never been destined to be fully realized.
All these years later, though, the DC Universe is now kicking off with an ensemble TV show consisting of horror-themed DC Comics anti-heroes all uniting to fight greater foes.
