Fans have a general idea about what James Gunn has in store for most of the major DC characters. The co-president of the studio is himself writing and directing Superman. Beyond that a Batman movie is in the works, a Green Lantern show, a Supergirl movie, and others. Things are a little less clear, however, for characters with more recent films like The Flash, Wonder Woman, and Aquaman. One of those just got a tantalizing tease though… or did he?
Gunn took to social media Thursday to post a very fishy symbol along with the “Merman” emoji. Check it out.
đ§ââď¸ pic.twitter.com/TxPM87Grdv
— James Gunn (@JamesGunn) August 15, 2024
Now, your first instinct might be to scream “Aquaman” and maybe that’s accurate. But this is also the logo (inverted, but still) for a DC group called ARGUS which stands for “Advanced Research Group Uniting Super-Humans.” Introduced in the comics during the New 52 era in 2012, it’s led by Amanda Waller and is the U.S. Government’s department for superhero-related taskforcesâincluding prior groups like Waller’s management of Taskforce X, a.ka. the Suicide Squad, and other supergroups. ARGUSÂ oddly, fits quite nicely into Gunn’s overall plans. One of the shows on DC’s current slate is an Amanda Waller show, lead by Suicide Squad‘s Viola Davisâthough there hasn’t been any huge news on it in a whileâand we know she’ll appear in animated form to help establish Taskforce M in the animated series Creature Commandos. So this could be teasing that direction.
Also, this is a physical image Gunn took a photo of. It’s on a set. And, since Gunn finished filming Superman a few weeks ago and has since moved over to Peacemaker, we are almost certain this is a tease from Peacemaker season two which will be directly tied into the Gunn and Peter Safran DC Universe.
Does Aquaman play a role though? Why the emoji? We don’t know. But we do know that Jason Momoa’s Aquaman had a brief cameo in season one of Peacemaker so that poses a bit of an issue in terms of who is playing the role in this universe. Our guess, though, is that we’ll have to wait until Peacemaker season two, sometime in 2025, to find out.
Next up for DC is The Penguin, a Max show that is being overseen by Gunn and Safran but is not part of their universe. It’s part of the Batman Epic Crime Saga which is being run by Matt Reeves based on his Robert Pattinson Batman. Don’t confuse that, though, with The Brave and the Bold, a new Batman that will link up with Gunn’s universe. No date on that yet but Gunn’ universe will start later this year with the aforementioned Creature Commandos (also on Max), and then finally make the jump to the big screen with Superman in July of 2025.
Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, whatâs next for the DC Universe on film and TV, and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who.