James Gunn Confirms ‘Mister Miracle’ Casting After Peter Safran’s Accidental Leak

DC Studios has a long history of dropping casting news in unexpected ways, and its latest announcement may be the most casual yet. James Gunn has now confirmed that the leads of the upcoming adult animated series ‘Mister Miracle‘ have been cast, after his DC Studios partner Peter Safran appeared to let the news slip.

Gunn responded to a fan post about the leak on social media, saying he wasn’t sure it could get more official than that, and he joked that “loose lips” Safran had struck again. The playful reply effectively confirmed what Safran revealed in a wide-ranging interview.

According to Safran, Josh Hutcherson will voice Scott Free, the title character, and Mackenzie Davis will voice Big Barda. It’s a notable pairing for a series that has been in the works for more than a year.

Safran shared the information in an interview with IGN, conducted around the world premiere of ‘Clayface’. He was discussing DC Studios’ slate after the Skydance takeover of Warner Bros., and he dropped the names almost in passing while praising Tom King’s work on the series.

Safran said King learned a lot while co-creating and executive producing ‘Lanterns’, and that he adapted his ‘Mister Miracle’ comic entirely on his own, writing all eight episodes. Safran called the scripts dynamite and then said who would voice the leads. The reveal came with no formal announcement and no trailer.

The series is based on King and artist Mitch Gerads’ acclaimed 12-issue comic book run, published from 2017 to 2019, which won an Eisner Award. Scott Free is a worldwide celebrity known as the greatest escape artist who ever lived, and he’s married to the Apokoliptian warrior Big Barda. Something has gone horribly wrong with the life they built together on Earth.

War is raging between their home worlds of Apokolips and New Genesis, and Scott’s cruel adoptive father, Darkseid, seems to have finally captured the Anti-Life Equation, the ultimate weapon for dominating the universe. The official synopsis asks whether Scott can pull off the ultimate trick and escape death itself.

King serves as showrunner and executive producer. The project was announced at the Annecy animation festival in June 2025 and was already in production at Warner Bros. Animation, making it the second adult animated series from Warner Bros. Animation and DC Studios after ‘Creature Commandos’.

Hutcherson is best known for ‘The Hunger Games’ and ‘Five Nights at Freddy’s’. Davis starred in ‘Halt and Catch Fire’, ‘Station Eleven’, ‘Terminator: Dark Fate’ and ‘Blade Runner 2049’. Both are new to the DCU, and they are the first leads confirmed for the show.

Nathan Fillion revealed in August that he voices Guy Gardner in the series, a character he plays in live action in ‘Superman’ and ‘Lanterns’. That detail underscores how closely the animation and live-action sides of the DCU are linked. Gunn has previously said that anyone cast in a major animated project in this continuity will also play their live-action counterpart, as Frank Grillo has done as Rick Flag Sr.

For now, neither Scott Free nor Big Barda has been announced for any upcoming DCU film. That leaves open the possibility that Hutcherson and Davis may eventually appear in live action.

Safran told Collider that ‘Mister Miracle’ is targeting a 2028 release, though no premiere date has been announced. He also confirmed that the series is part of the DCU, answering a question that had lingered since the announcement, and said it could continue for multiple seasons. Because the story centers on Scott, Barda and their child, he said there are many places it can go.

Where it will stream hasn’t been formally confirmed, though several outlets report that it is coming to HBO Max. The delay is typical for animation, which takes far longer to produce than live action.

The reveal arrives at a busy time for the studio. Safran has said DC’s plans haven’t changed since the Skydance takeover, though he left the next live-action project undecided and ‘Lanterns’ Season 2 unconfirmed. He also said that an ‘Absolute Batman’ project is in early stages with Scott Snyder working on scripts.

The ‘Mister Miracle’ casting adds to a growing animated lineup that began with ‘Creature Commandos’, whose second season is in production for HBO Max. It also continues King’s growing influence at DC, with his comics also serving as the basis for the ‘Supergirl’ movie.

Whether or not it was intentional, the casual way the news came out fits the studio’s style, and it has generated plenty of buzz for a series that is still more than a year away.

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