DC Studios co-chair and co-CEO James Gunn has revealed that Elseworlds projects are in the works.After a fan on Twitter asked Gunn if he would be open to producing any Elseworlds DC projects that were separate from the DC Universe, the DC Studios boss replied, "That is actively happening." However, Gunn did not elaborate any further, leaving fans to only speculate about what characters and storylines could receive the Elseworlds treatment. Gunn's response also lines up with his previous comment on how not every DC project will be connected to the DCU, which is similar to how Elseworlds stories are not part of the main DC Comics universe but exist in their own self-contained world.
Elseworlds was a DC Comics imprint launched in 1989 that published stories taking place outside the DC Universe canon. All Elseworlds publications were set in alternate realities and typically deviated from the established continuity at the time. Brian Augustyn and Mike Mignola's 1989 miniseries Gotham by Gaslight is considered the first Elseworlds tale, an honor that was retroactively given to the limited series after DC trademarked the Elseworlds name later that same year. Gotham by Gaslight featured notable changes to the Batman mythos and saw the Caped Crusader hunting Jack the Ripper through a Victorian-Era version of Gotham City.
Could Joker: Folie à Deux Be the First Elseworlds Film?
Although Gunn and Peter Safran are hard at work crafting a singular vision for the DCU that will encompass film, television, animation and gaming, there are still a handful of previously announced projects that will not be part of this new shared universe. One of them is Joker: Folie à Deux, the highly anticipated sequel to Todd Phillips' 2019 Oscar-winning film Joker. When the first film was released to near-universal acclaim, many fans called on Warner Bros. and DC to use Joker as a launching pad for a line of Elseworlds films. While that never came to fruition, Gunn has seemingly suggested that Joker: Folie à Deux -- and to a lesser extent Matt Reeves' The Batman Universe -- could be the first of many DC films to not be tied down or restricted to an ever-expanding and changing shared universe.
So far, most Elseworlds adaptations have been released as part of the DC Universe Animated Original Movies, with Gotham by Gaslight and Superman: Red Son just two popular stories to receive the treatment. A DCUAOM adaptation of the 2000s Elseworlds tale Batman: The Doom That Came to Gotham is currently set for release in 2023. Similar to the comic, the animated film will be set in the 1920s and follow Bruce Wayne as he accidentally unleashes an ancient evil. David Giuntoli will lead the film's voice cast as Bruce Wayne/Batman, with Tati Gabrielle, Christopher Gorham, John DiMaggio, Patrick Fabian, Brian George and Jason Marsden also starring.
Source: Twitter