Animal Man Series Rumored To Be In Development for James Gunn’s DCU

JB Augustine |

Mar 10, 2023

The Animal Man sprawls — Crop of cover to Animal Man by Grant Morrison, 30th Anniv. Deluxe Edition; DC Comics

One of the quirkiest characters of DC’s Vertigo line could be headed to HBO Max or Netflix in a series that ties in with the DCU. Rumor has it that Animal Man, one of comics’ mystical avatars, has a show in development, and though this isn’t fully confirmed, there is a growing buzz. This begins with our source and his background.

YouTube live streamer and noted scooper Syl Abdul reported the rumor in an exclusive where he said “a little birdie” told him James Gunn is looking to adapt as many D-list characters as possible – Animal Man being one. “This is as obscure as you can get,” Abdul says, “and pure James Gunn.” That’s to say we are seeing an extra veering from Zack Snyder.

Abdul invited Geekosity Editor-in-Chief and fellow scooper Mikey Sutton on to expound on the character – one he is a big fan of. Abdul brought up Gunn’s “infatuation with Grant Morrison” which segued into Sutton sharing a screenshot of Animal Man issue #26’s cover. The EIC then offered a light spoiler of the story within that comic.

While Morrison didn’t create Animal Man, he brought the character into new territory with his well-known run that got quite meta. Morrison frequently broke the fourth wall just as Marvel did with She-Hulk and Deadpool and in issue #26, he inserted himself into the narrative. Anointed a god on the page, Morrison was revealed as the cause of Animal Man’s tragic life.

Sutton calls the book very quirky and it’s suggested Gunn could lean into the meta elements Deadpool-style. Due to that, he’s excited Gunn is greenlighting the series but he doesn’t want the filmmaker-turned-mogul to write it or direct it as he did with Peacemaker and The Suicide Squad. He will also be more hands-on with Superman: Legacy.

Recently, Gunn gave a serious indication he has it in mind to expand the Vertigo universe within the DCU. The two aren’t far apart, to begin with, as he noted on Twitter. “Swamp Thing was in Vertigo comics, but he was really a DC character…we’re dealing with a couple potential things with Vertigo – comics that I really adored,” he said.