DCU's The Authority Film Delayed: Gunn Cites Challenges in 'Getting It Right' Amid The Boys' Success

It sounds like the DCU movie The Authority is facing some challenges after DC Studios co-chief James Gunn admitted it had been put on the "back burner."

The Authority was one of the surprising projects unveiled as part of Gunn and Peter Safran's ambitious Chapter 1: Gods and Monsters DC Universe reboot two years ago. This film was set to feature the notoriously brutal superhero team from the WildStorm Universe. Initially, Gunn described the project as a "big movie," but it seems to have encountered significant hurdles since then.

During a DC Studios presentation attended by IGN, Gunn revealed that The Authority is the "hardest" of the announced Chapter 1: Gods and Monsters projects. He pointed to Amazon’s hit adaptation of The Boys as a contributing factor to these challenges.

“Honestly, Authority's been the one that's been the hardest, both because of the shifting overall story and because of getting it right in a world with The Boys and a world with all the things that The Authority influenced that came out after it,” Gunn admitted.

He also mentioned the need to focus on characters already filmed and whose stories they want to continue, leading to The Authority being placed on the back burner for now.

DC Universe: Every Upcoming Movie and TV Show

38 ImagesOne character from The Authority, the electronics prodigy The Engineer / Angela Spica, is set to appear in the DCU kickstarter Superman. The Engineer is arguably the most powerful member of the group as she can self-duplicate, is a technopath, and possesses a genius-level intellect and radio-induced telepathy. For more information, check out IGN's article, Who Are the Authority: The WildStorm DCU Characters Explained.

The Authority isn't the only Chapter 1: Gods and Monsters project facing difficulties. Gunn also mentioned that Waller, a spinoff of his own HBO Max hit series Peacemaker, "has had a couple of setbacks, frankly." However, the HBO Max series Booster Gold "is going pretty strong," and Paradise Lost is "totally, still important and we're working heavily on it," Gunn stated. "It seems to be going pretty well." Peter Safran confirmed that "The pilot's being written right now."

As for Swamp Thing, Safran indicated that DC Studios is willing to wait for Logan and Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny director James Mangold to be ready to make it.

"Our writer-director went off to make another little movie, A Complete Unknown, and we hope that he'll come back to Swamp Thing when he's ready, because again, that was one of those ones that we love him as a filmmaker, so we're happy to wait for him," Safran said of Mangold, referring to his upcoming Star Wars movie, Dawn of the Jedi.

However, Gunn noted, "Swamp Thing is not integral to the larger story that we're telling." "Right. Yeah, it was always outside of that," Gunn added. "I mean, it was because James came to us with it, frankly."