Ava DuVernay and Tom King Start Work on New Gods This Week

JB Augustine   |  

Jul 23, 2019

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Work is set to begin this week on the New Gods movie directed by Ava DuVernay. Co-writer Tom King announced at San Diego Comic-Con he was going to start penning the script with her on Monday, the day after the convention.

DuVernay sent out a tweet Sunday teasing and confirming their meet-up, saying “See you tomorrow.” The Wrinkle in Time director also congratulated King on his latest Eisner Award. King won another Eisner Friday for his writing on Heroes in Crisis, Swamp Thing Winter Special, Batman, and most significantly Mister Miracle — who is expected to play a key role in the New Gods script.

Congrats to you, @TomKingTK! See you tomorrow. 🌗 https://t.co/q5AZx17UnJ

— Ava DuVernay (@ava) July 22, 2019

The pair and DC revealed in May they were working together on the picture for Warner Bros., part of the studio’s director-driven revamp of the DC Extended Universe. DuVernay signed on last year while King is fitting the project into his schedule that also has time devoted to his new comic, Batman/Catwoman (out in January).

Not a lot is known about the plot for New Gods but it will reportedly involve Mister Miracle and Big Barda battling Granny Goodness and the rest of the Female Furies.

Darkseid may even be introduced in the DCEU — something Zack Snyder intended to do in his Justice League arc. Steppenwolf referred to Darkseid very briefly in the 2017 film but he was never mentioned at the climax (though he was to make a cameo in a Boom Tube in Snyder’s cut) and was forgotten in subsequent DCEU installments.

Created by Jack Kirby in the 1970s, the New Gods center around the two warring planets of New Genesis and Apokolips and the uneasy peace brokered by their respective rulers, the wise and just High Father and the ruthless imperialist Darkseid, who swapped sons to establish detente.

Those sons would become Orion, who is prophesied to one day defeat Darkseid, and Mister Miracle, an escape artist made a prisoner on Apokolips. Miracle, who is also known as Scott Free, would break out and fight against his adopted father and captor. Barda initially led the Furies in pursuit of Free but soon joined his side.

New Gods is one of several DC films in development at Warner. Since the project is in that stage, no release date is set.