After Lanterns' Success, The DCU's Next 2026 Release Is Its Biggest Risk Yet

Published Aug 28, 2026, 10:30 AM EDT

Karlis has been obsessing over television and movie news since he first learned how to read. He has worked in tech, as a musician, and in journalism with a well-rounded knowledge base of pop-culture throughout the eras. He claims that he has memorized the entire Internet Movie Database, and to date no one has been able to refute this.
Holding a Bachelor's Degree in Religion and Culture from Wilfrid Laurier University, Karlis loves to examine the intersections of popular science-fiction and culture. His latest novel MASS. is available now on Amazon and examines a world where obesity has become a federal crime.

Lanterns is already among the best entries in James Gunn and Peter Safran's DC Universe, but the next installment in the franchise is among the biggest risks ever seen in superhero storytelling. Telling a series of interconnected stories, the DCU has already shown a willingness to engage with complex narratives, as seen in the compelling mysteries of Lanterns.

While Lanterns is full of DCU easter Eggs, it primarily works on its own. The series tells a great, character-focused story about Green Lanterns John Stewart and Hal Jordan, jumping between different time periods to craft a compelling and compulsively rewatchable story. The show's tone, blending serious drama with imaginative science fiction, feels like the perfect balance for DC.

Reviews for Lanterns have been great, but it actually fits into a much larger constellation of tones that make up the backdrop of the DC Universe. While decidedly different from the hopeful, colorful designs of 2025's Superman, these divergent tones actually make the prospect of Superman and John Stewart meeting in Man of Tomorrow even more exciting.

Still, there is a limit to how well such different properties can balance against one another. Despite very different stories, characters from Superman, Supergirl, Creature Commandos, and Lanterns alike all still feel like they could inhabit the same world. That same texture looks to be much more difficult with another DCU character who will debut later this year.

The DCU Is Taking A Gamble On A Lesser-Known Character In 2026

Clayface, releasing on October 23rd, is arguably the biggest gamble that the DCU has yet made. Following the hard launch of the interconnected universe with Superman, featuring one of DC's biggest heroes, the franchise has gone to some unexpected places.

Supergirl was unfortunately a box office disappointment, but the film seemed poised for success. It adapted a popular comic book with a fantastic star, but did not connect with audiences. Other projects like Lanterns have seemed to be following a more expected tack, adapting some of DC's most popular characters.

Peacemaker was an odd choice, certainly, but it was a continuation of The Suicide Squad, Gunn's previous installment of the now-defunct DCEU.

The same was true of the animated series Creature Commandos at the beginning of its development. And while those projects had risks of their own, as streaming series, they did not carry the same box office expectations in order to succeed.

Audiences still eagerly await updates on the DCU's Batman movie, but it seems that side of the universe will be introduced instead in an unexpected place, with the impending release of Clayface.

Clayface Looks Like The Weirdest DCU Release Yet

Clayface looks genuinely horrifying, and perhaps in the best of ways. The film has been compared to David Cronenberg's The Fly with its focus on body horror, and tells the story of Matt Hagen, an actor on the rise who loses his face and resorts to complex surgery in an attempt to get it back.

Of course, these plastic procedures go incredibly wrong, and will eventually set up Hagen as the titular villain, with some colorful parallels to Marvel's Doctor Doom. The film's story was developed by celebrated horror creator Mike Flanagan, and has been directed by Speak No Evil's James Watkins.

All of this makes the film feel vastly different from offerings like Superman and Supergirl. Carrying an R-rating, and going to some incredibly dark places, the new film looks to serve as an exciting entry point to the DC Universe for audiences who may not have yet been interested in the franchise.

Clayface Looks Great - And Is What The DCU Needs

Clayface has had strong trailers and has shown DC's willingness to do things that are outside the box. Taking creative risks is necessary to keep a franchise feeling engaging and vital, especially with several releases a year, but the concept of making an R-rated body horror film is certainly an unusual idea.

Still, the concept of superhero fatigue has been an ongoing question in discussions of recent offerings in the genre. And while Spider-Man: Brand New Day's enormous box office success seems to show that audiences are still interested in superhero films, things may not be so clearly cut.

2025's box office was underwhelming for many different superhero projects, including Thunderbolts* and The Fantastic Four: First Steps, despite strong reviews. Audiences demand engaging and unique films, and it is clear that DC is at least trying to give them exactly that.

DC was criticized for Supergirl, which leaned a little too hard into the hallmarks of what audiences have come to expect from James Gunn movies, with colorful creatures, sardonic humor, and a plethora of needle drops. However, Clayface looks to be the perfect response to this, as a uniquely serious vision of the DCU, and this could be the best thing for the franchise.

Why Clayface Can Work For The DCU

Warner Bros. Animation

Perhaps most excitingly, Clayface is one of Batman's most popular villains, but has not yet received a live-action, big-screen adaptation. While the character has appeared in shows like Gotham, he has become especially beloved for his animated iterations in shows including Harley Quinn and some of the best episodes of Batman: The Animated Series.

DC has a plethora of great villains, and following the success of the first Joker movie, these stories are occasionally able to stand on their own. Most importantly, however, Clayface has a much lower break-even point than other DCU movies, carrying a budget of only around $40 million, and has a great release date in late October.

Horror has been hugely successful this year, with films like Obsession finding great box office success. Telling a dark, character-focused story with incredible gore and great tension could be enough for the film to find success, but its tenuous links to Batman can only help.

Audiences continue to await Batman's entry into the DCU, and while that is not likely to happen in Clayface, the film will still show much of Gotham City. With a highway sign in Superman, and a character from Lanterns hailing from Gotham, the city looks to be an important part of the universe moving forward.

Two movies into the DCU, and the franchise has one decent hit and one big disappointment. Clayface might be the perfect way to get audiences invested in this world in 2026, especially following Lanterns. Clayface is certainly a gamble, but it looks to be one that could pay off handsomely.

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  Aaron Pierre

  John Stewart

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  Kyle Chandler

  Hal Jordan