It appears that the DCU movie *The Authority* is facing some challenges after DC Studios co-chief James Gunn revealed that it has been placed on the "back burner." Announced as part of Gunn and Peter Safran's ambitious Chapter 1: Gods and Monsters DC Universe reboot two years ago, *The Authority* was intended to be a significant film featuring the notorious superhero team from the WildStorm Universe. However, it seems the project has encountered significant hurdles along the way.
At a recent DC Studios presentation attended by IGN, Gunn described *The Authority* as the "hardest" project among those announced for Chapter 1: Gods and Monsters. He pointed to the success of Amazon's *The Boys* as a contributing factor to the difficulties faced by the film. "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 explained. He also highlighted the challenge of integrating beloved characters whose stories have already been filmed and need to continue and intersect with each other. "So I will admittedly say it's a little bit more on the back burner right now."
DC Universe: Every Upcoming Movie and TV Show
38 Images
One character from *The Authority*, the electronics prodigy The Engineer / Angela Spica, is set to appear in the DCU's kickstarter film *Superman*. The Engineer is arguably the most powerful member of the group, with abilities such as self-duplication, technopathy, genius-level intellect, and radio-induced telepathy. For more information on these characters, check out IGN's article, "Who Are the Authority: The WildStorm DCU Characters Explained."
*The Authority* isn't the only project within Chapter 1: Gods and Monsters facing difficulties. Gunn mentioned that *Waller*, a spinoff of his own HBO Max hit series *Peacemaker*, "has had a couple of setbacks, frankly." On a more positive note, 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 said, adding that "it seems to be going pretty well." Peter Safran confirmed that "the pilot's being written right now."
As for *Swamp Thing*, Safran stated that DC Studios is willing to wait for acclaimed director James Mangold, who is currently working on another project, *A Complete Unknown*. "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 remarked, referring to Mangold's upcoming *Star Wars* movie, *Dawn of the Jedi*. Gunn added that "*Swamp Thing* is not integral to the larger story that we're telling. Right. Yeah, it was always outside of that. I mean, it was because James came to us with it, frankly."
