James Gunn’s DC Universe is shrinking again. Waller and Paradise Lost, two of the ten projects Gunn unveiled back in 2023 as the foundation of his Chapter One slate, are both dead at HBO. Sources tell Fandom Pulse that executives at Warner Bros. and Paramount are watching the pattern closely, and they don’t like what they’re seeing.
The cancellations come from The Ankler’s Lesley Goldberg, who reported that neither show is scheduled, funded, or greenlit, and by every practical measure, neither is coming. Entertainment Weekly followed up to note that no formal cancellation paperwork exists, that both projects have simply been deprioritized at HBO to the point where the distinction barely matters to anyone waiting to watch them.
Waller was supposed to pick up after Peacemaker Season 2, with Viola Davis returning as Amanda Waller. Paradise Lost was pitched as a political drama set on Themyscira, laying groundwork for a future Wonder Woman. Gunn announced both in January 2023 and defended them as recently as this year, telling fans on Threads that reports of Paradise Lost’s death were “definitely not” true. That denial has not aged well.
The timing makes the losses harder to spin. Supergirl, one of only three DCU projects to actually reach theaters, finished its run at roughly $126 million worldwide against a reported $170 million budget, one of the year’s clearest box office disappointments. A month later, Spider-Man: Brand New Day opened and beat Supergirl’s entire theatrical run in a single day. By the end of its opening weekend, Sony’s film had out-earned Superman and Supergirl combined by more than Supergirl made in total.
That contrast is exactly what sources describe executives at Warner Bros. and Paramount now weighing as they evaluate the DCU’s long-term slate, according to Fandom Pulse’s source. Gunn’s remaining Chapter One list has thinned considerably. The Authority movie is shelved. Booster Gold is searching for a new writer after its previous version fell apart. The Brave and the Bold and Swamp Thing remain stuck in development. DC and HBO have also passed on separate pitches for Catwoman and Poison Ivy shows, and The Penguin Season 2 sits in limbo over at Matt Reeves’ side of the DC universe.
Gunn is leaning hard on Lanterns to change the conversation. The HBO series debuts Sunday night, four days after the Waller and Paradise Lost reports broke, with Kyle Chandler and Aaron Pierre as Hal Jordan and John Stewart in a mystery pitched as tying into the Salvation and Checkmate threads from Peacemaker Season 2. The show has not been renewed for a second season, and two writers have already exited.
None of this happens in a vacuum. The Warner Bros. Discovery and Paramount merger remains frozen ahead of a March 2027 trial, and reports indicate Paramount already holds veto power over DC’s long-term plans under the current merger agreement. HBO’s own drama chief has said DC shows now get greenlit script by script rather than off a master plan Gunn drew up years ago. A universe once pitched as a ten-project foundation is down to a handful of survivors, one theatrical flop, and a premiere this weekend that Gunn badly needs to work.
Does Lanterns give Gunn room to rebuild the slate, or does a struggling premiere this weekend confirm the pattern executives are already reportedly worried about?
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