Is The Authority project dead? Exploring the complicated status of the DCU project

The Authority always sounded too much of a niche project even for James Gunn's taste. They are a parody of the Justice League that was later incorporated into the DC Universe. There was fan excitement for the project in January 2023 when it was announced by Gunn. But two years since its announcement, it looks like the project hasn't seen much movement except for The Engineer's role in Superman.

Now, during the Peacemaker Season 2 panel at San Diego Comic-Con, James Gunn did talk about the future projects of the DCU, which kicked off in December 2024 with Creature Commandos Season 1. His reaction when asked about the movie featuring the Justice League pastiche has some fans believe that it is not happening.

But it must be noted that as of now, the movie is not officially cancelled.

The Authority project's status explained:

As mentioned before, the Peacemaker Season 2 panel was scheduled at San Diego Comic-Con on Saturday, July 26, 2025. In that panel, the Superman filmmaker and DC Studios Co-CEO James Gunn touched upon the upcoming projects of the DCU. It should be noted that while some of the projects were announced back in January 2023, three (Clayface, Wonder Woman, and Sgt. Rock) were added later.

Therefore, fans were antsy for information about projects like The Authority, which was announced to be a movie. At the Comic-Con panel last week, Gunn spoke about the future DCU projects. Here's what Gunn said:

"We got Supergirl coming out in a year, we got Lanterns coming out, probably less than a year. We're making Clayface right now and that is, oh man, the script by Mike Flanagan is so good. Straight horror. We're working on The Brave and the Bold, Wonder Woman, The Batman 2 with Matt Reeves...Sgt. Rock."

When a fan asked him about the status of The Authority, Gunn laughed and then went on to say that the Krypto shorts and other animated shorts were coming along well. But it was his reaction to questions about the Justice League pastiche team that has fans worried that the DCU project is cancelled. But for now, it looks like Safran and Gunn might be finding it difficult to find a writer for the project.

Also, even if it was cancelled, the project is better off cancelled rather than being released to make it to the deadline. The DCU, despite Superman's strong performance, still needs to earn popular and fan support back after a decade of critically divisive projects and box-office underperformance.

Even if the DCU project did not make it to the screen, we have already met one character:

One of the three antagonists of this Summer's blockbuster, Superman, is María Gabriela de Faría's Angela Spica/The Engineer. In the comics, The Engineer was introduced as a part of The Authority. But Gunn introduces her in Superman, probably to set up the team-up movie, which may or may not happen. Gunn justified The Engineer's role in Superman, saying:

"I just really liked The Engineer's powerset and I liked taking elements of The Authority's story—she's a member of The Authority in the comics—and giving those elements to Lex Luthor, to really combine the Wildstorm and DC characters in the DCU. And I thought her powerset was good to fight Superman."

When asked whether the movie is happening, Gunn responded:

"We could for sure, it could happen. It's not something that's going especially quickly right now but it could happen, for sure."

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