Rumor: James Gunn To Adapt Classic DC Story ‘Kingdom Come’ As Crisis-Level Cinematic Event

Kingdom Come Deluxe by Alex Ross
Cover to Kingdom Come 20th Anniversary Deluxe Edition by Alex Ross

James Gunn and Peter Safran are sworn in as Co-Chairmen of the new DC Studios and are getting to work on some secret plans. There is some clue as to where they are headed but, aside from the usual scoop burning up social media, what the next phase of the DC Universe on film has in store is far from sure.

James Gunn talks about big blockbusters and soundtrack goals via BBC Radio 1, YouTube

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Two people with a degree of certainty based on their track records and the reputed reliability of their sources are YouTuber Syl Abdul and Geekosity creator Mikey Sutton. They were reporting the returns of Ben Affleck and Henry Cavill to DC movies and the mid-production rewrites of The Flash and Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom before anybody else.

Now their sources are passing along intel that is perhaps the most earth-shaking in terms of its implications for the new DCU. Abdul and Sutton hear that Gunn is planning a big denouement event the Studio will build as an underlying narrative thread in the coming years. That thread, that event to come, is nothing less than Kingdom Come.

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Gunn has been posting on his social media all month, for unknown reasons, images of various characters. They include Lobo, Mr. Terrific, and Deadman — leading fans to wildly speculate each of them will appear in live-action at some point. Lobo especially might have some traction as he is a favorite of Aquaman star Jason Momoa.

Quite recently, Gunn teased more than a character when he made a Kingdom Come cover by Alex Ross the header image of his new Hive page. This social media platform has grown as part of the push by celebrities to leave Twitter now that business magnate Elon Musk owns it, and foster alternatives to the microblogging giant. Mastodon, where Gunn also has a profile, is another example.

Did James Gunn Tease Kingdom Come-DCU

James Gunn’s Hive profile via Hive

The director-turned-budding executive downplays all the scoops and speculation vehemently but Sutton believes Gunn is actually “taking a poll” or testing the waters to gauge fan reaction and enthusiasm. Abdul, for one, feels the fervor and demands Lobo, Mr. Terrific, more of Henry Cavill in the red cape, and Kingdom Come in some form, no matter what Gunn’s tentative planning entails.

Sutton wholeheartedly believes Lobo, Mr. Terrific, and Kingdom Come are on the list of things Gunn absolutely wants to do, which is why he is conducting this broad rudimentary polling with his not-so-subtle hints. Again, he may be trying to gauge social media reaction to see if fans want any of this, whether or not related projects are in development.

James Gunn shares a picture of Lobo via Mastodon

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As a project that is either in some sort of development or at least a priority, Kingdom Come has been teased by Sutton for over a year as he reminds Abdul’s audience. However, when he first scooped the infamous Mark Waid storyline, he deduced it was “The Rock” Dwayne Johnson’s “Endgame”  — fairly comparable to a Crisis on Infinite Earths, in every sense — for Black Adam.

We can’t 100 percent confirm the rumor, but if there is hostility between James Gunn’s camp and Johnson’s camp, from a creative standpoint, Kingdom Come will probably reflect the vision of one rather than the other or both. Being the boss chosen by David Zaslav personally and with Black Adam underperforming in theaters, expect Gunn to have the required pull to win this one.

Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson as Black Adam in Black Adam (2022) via Warner Bros. Pictures, YouTube

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