James Gunn Delivers Disappointing News About Flash and Aquaman’s Future in the DCU

The last time we saw DCEU superheroes Aquaman and Flash on the big screen was pretty recently. Ezra Miller played Flash in the 2023 movie The Flash, and Jason Momoa returned as Aquaman in Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom. While Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom did okay at the box office, actually the biggest success since the first Aquaman film, The Flash didn’t do well.

Critics didn’t like it, and it failed at the box office. One big reason for that was the controversy surrounding Ezra Miller, which hurt the movie’s reception a lot.

By that time, it was already clear the DCEU was about to be rebooted into something new: the DCU. Fans have been excited to see Superman again, which recently kicked off the live-action part of James Gunn’s and Peter Safran’s fresh cinematic universe.

But if you’re hoping to see Aquaman or Flash show up in the new DCU soon, you might want to wait a while. James Gunn shared on the Happy Sad Confused podcast that neither character will appear in the next two years. He said, “I wouldn’t say the next two years for either of those characters.”

This isn’t very surprising. Both Aquaman and Flash have some “baggage” because their stories are still closely tied to the DCEU, and their solo movies only came out two years ago. It makes sense that the new DCU would want to take some time before bringing them back or reinventing them.

Momoa already has a new role in the DCU as Lobo, and he will debut next year.

Still, the future of the DCU looks promising. The new Superman movie is breaking box office records and getting great reviews. After that, the next live-action project coming up is Peacemaker Season 2, which James Gunn confirmed will directly follow the events of the Superman movie.

He described it as an R-rated continuation, which sounds pretty exciting for fans looking for something a bit different.

Looking ahead, fans can also expect a Supergirl movie starring Milly Alcock, set to arrive in 2026. Beyond that, there are plans for a new Wonder Woman movie and a Batman film called The Brave and the Bold. James Gunn mentioned that these projects aren’t officially set yet, but if the scripts turn out well, they’ll move forward into production faster than other planned projects.

So even though some of the familiar faces from the DCEU like Aquaman and Flash won’t be around for a bit, the DCU has a lot lined up that looks fresh and exciting. With Gunn and Safran in charge, it seems like they’re carefully planning each step to build a strong, new cinematic universe that fans can enjoy for years to come.

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