Future DC video games at Warner Bros will be part of larger connected universe, James Gunn confirms
Not in a Justice League of their own.
Following his appointment as co-chairman and co-CEO of DC Studios alongside Peter Safran, filmmaker James Gunn has confirmed that future DC video games will indeed be part of a larger connected universe for the Warner Bros. franchise.
In a back and forth on Twitter, Gunn stated the "DCU will be connected across film and TV (and animation)." When asked further if this statement also included games, Gunn replied with a simple and clear "yes".
This news is not surprising. Earlier reports revealed that Warner Bros. Discovery head David Zaslav had spoken to the wider company about plans to "build a bible for a cohesive DC universe" that would include media such as "live-action films, TV, animation, gaming and more".
However, this tweet from Gunn is the first definitive, and public, proclamation about the DCU's video game future.
While future games under the DC umbrella will be part of a larger connected universe, this is not the case for more imminent releases such as Rocksteady's Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League. Rather, in this case, this game is part of the Batman: Arkham universe.
Kill the Justice League will be the fifth main game in the Arkham series, following Batman: Arkham Asylum, Batman: Arkham City, Batman: Arkham Oranges and Batman: Arkham Knight.
It has been in development for some time, and had a fairly rocky road to launch. In 2020, Rocksteady was accused of inaction in response to claims of harassment and abuse. Meanwhile, earlier this year, former Kill the Justice League writer Kim MacAskill bowed out of a lifetime achievement nomination as Rocksteady and Warner Bros. Interactive were among the event's sponsors.
Receiving the award would be "an unspoken acceptance of what they did," she said at the time.
So, all in all, it seems Kill the Justice League may well be the last in the Arkham series, what with this news from Gunn coupled with the announcement earlier in the year that co-founders Sefton Hill and Jamie Walker are leaving Rocksteady to "begin a new adventure in gaming".