One side that James Gunn and Peter Safran have been notably cautious about when crafting their new DC Universe is its lore. In 2023, for instance, Gunn revealed on Threads that DC Studios was creating “an extremely detailed world map” for the nascent franchise. Then, whereas chatting with Josh Horowitz on the Blissful Unhappy Confused podcast in 2024, Gunn mentioned his focus for the DCU was world-building.
Now, we have gotten one other little bit of lore info from the DCU. This one, nonetheless, is rather more fascinating, seeing because it offers extra context relating to the classification of super-powered characters within the franchise. DC Studios lately launched a sequence of character posters for Superman. Gunn posted the images on Threads, and captioned the put up: “Our metahumans arrive this summer time.”
A consumer responded to the put up, suggesting that the one character within the posters who was an precise metahuman was Hawkgirl, performed by Isabela Merced. Gunn then supplied this fascinating reply:
“In DC Comics, a metahuman is a human-like being with extraordinary, usually paranormal, skills. These powers can come up from quite a lot of sources, together with science, magic, alien origins, mutation, divinity, proficiency, or expertise.”
The director additionally clarified in the identical put up who within the Superman solid is a metahuman: “Due to this fact, [the character 4] might be not a metahuman, however Terrific arguably is. Krypto is meta, however I will not say he is not human as a result of he would possibly learn this.”
Now, whereas Gunn’s quote talked about DC Comics particularly, the truth that he used it as an evidence for the designation of his DCU characters seemingly means the outline additionally applies to the live-action franchise. His description makes a whole lot of sense for characters outfitted with superior tech. Mister Terrific, for instance, could also be an everyday human, however his innovations give him a substantial edge over common civilians.
Having mentioned that, Gunn’s rationalization has intriguing, and maybe, surprising, implications for non-super-powered characters. The director said that “proficiency” was ample to designate a personality as a metahuman. Assuming that “proficiency” refers to issues like athletic means, scientific information and fight experience, characters like Batman, Inexperienced Arrow, Catwoman, Robin, and even Lex Luthor would fall into that class.
Now, remember this most likely will not have an effect on something about how characters are dealt with within the DCU. On the finish of the day, it could simply imply that bodily expert people just like the Darkish Knight and Peacemaker might be thought of as being above common within the human pecking order of the DC Universe.
What do you consider James Gunn’s rationalization for who’s designated as a metahuman within the DCU? Depart your ideas within the feedback!
Superman arrives in theaters on July 11, 2025.
