James Gunn Confirms the World Map of DCU Will Be “Incredibly Detailed”
One of the best parts of the DC Universe is how writers develop and world-build to set the foundations for their characters and their own progression. Comic books tend to put real-life locations in the fictional world of superheroes, but DC always used fictional cities and locations to expand the possibilities and have more freedom utilizing its locations. The ‘Blue Beetle’ movie showcased how cool Palmera City can be on the big screen, and despite being inspired by the real-life locations, Jaime Reyes’ home city felt unique and “its own thing.”
Of course, the co-CEO of DC Studios and one of two people in charge of rebooting DC Extended Universe, James Gunn, took his time and answered some questions from the fans on social media. Once again, the Threads were active, and besides the usual questions of “When are we going to see Batman” or any other notable DC characters, one fan asked the director an interesting question – what about the map and locations of DC Extended Universe?
Gunn confirms they are developing a ‘detailed world map’
As we already mentioned, DC Universe has some great locations in its lore. Besides the fascinating and incredibly dark Gotham City and the sunny, wealthy, and “cleaner” Metropolis, other great places in DC Universe became cult places among the fans.
Many fictional cities like Coast City and Central City were also depicted somewhat on the big screens over the last few decades, but it felt like the filmmakers and showrunners didn’t make these places unique enough – the locations were obviously the real-life New York or Los Angeles.
Of course, James Gunn took on social media to answer some fan questions, and one popped up that the director and co-CEO of DC Studios answered.
After another question regarding DCEU Batman allegedly being cast and Gunn promptly dismissing the rumor, one user asked about “the lay of the land in the DCU.” More specifically, how will the cities be placed in the new universe – “will they be close to each other or spread out across the country like the DC comics are doing?”
The user ends the question by saying that they hope they see unique cities from DC comics on big screens. Gunn answered, saying that they “are creating an incredibly detailed world map.”
This is great news since most of the depictions of DC fictional cities on the big screen seemed a bit too familiar for the viewers. It’s either New York or Los Angeles; however, with the release of ‘Blue Beetle,’ we saw how the fictional city could work in DC Extended Universe.
Palmera City is a fairly new DC Universe city that first debuted in DC Comics in early 2023. The city is set in Texas, where Kord Industries and Jaime Reyes are set. The way it was depicted in the ‘Blue Beetle’ movie was promising since it truly felt like a fictional city where superheroes could do “their” thing and utilize the potential even further. Of course, the cities like New York and Chicago still exist in DC Universe, but it will be cool to see the fictional cities being included in the special world map.
Of course, ‘The Batman’ movie by Matt Reeves depicted Gotham City as the closest to the source material we have seen in a long time. Gunn’s assurances make us even more excited for movies like ‘Superman: Legacy’ and other future projects in the new, rebooted DC Extended Universe.
What are your thoughts? Let us know in the comments below!
