DC Studios co-head James Gunn has opened up about comic book writer Tom King‘s role in building the new on-screen DC Universe.
It has long been known that King would be involved with DC Studios in a creative capacity. He notably wrote the DC comic book series Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow, which serves as the basis for the upcoming DCU movie of the same name written by Ana Nogueira. According to Gunn, however, King’s influence extends well beyond the Girl of Steel’s return to the silver screen.
“Tom is an integral part of the DCU, not just [Woman of Tomorrow],” Gunn wrote on Threads. “He’s one of the first people I showed the Superman script, asking for notes. He’s included in various ways in numerous other projects, including WoT.” Gunn also confirmed that he’s considering bringing some of King’s other acclaimed comics to screens.
Tom King’s DC legacy
Not to be confused with fellow DC writer Tom Taylor, King got his start interning for both DC and Marvel Comics in the late 1990s. Following a stint in the CIA, King returned to comics in the early 2010s. For DC, he has penned titles such as Grayson, Batman, and The Omega Men. He also wrote the acclaimed Marvel series The Visions, which partially inspired Marvel Studios’ 2021 Disney+ original series WandaVision.
That said, King has spent most of his writing career at DC. As such, the majority of his most acclaimed works have been for the Distinguished Competition. In 2016, he teamed with artist Mitch Gerads for The Sheriff of Babylon, a semi-autobiographical series published under DC’s now-defunct Vertigo Comics imprint. King and Gerads re-teamed for the beloved 12-part Mister Miracle series in 2017. King’s work on both Mister Miracle and Batman earned him the Eisner Award for Best Writer in 2018.
King went on to craft DC comics like Heroes in Crisis (with Clay Mann), Strange Adventures (with Gerads and Evan “Doc” Shaner), Rorschach (with Jorge Fornés), and the aforementioned Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow (with Bilquis Evely). He is currently writing the publisher’s new ongoing Wonder Woman series, teaming with artist Daniel Sampere.
James Gunn’s DCU kicks off next year
It should come as no surprise that Gunn would want King as one of the architects of the new DCU. After all, the filmmaker has made it very clear that he is a fan of the writer’s work. Earlier this year, Gunn said that King and Gerads’ Batman – One Bad Day: The Riddler #1 was one of his favorite Batman comics of all time. Gunn also recently named King and Greg Smallwood’s The Human Target as his favorite comic book of 2023.
Gunn and co-chairman Peter Safran‘s DC Universe kicks off in late 2024 with the Creature Commandos animated series on Max. Then, Gunn’s Superman: Legacy hits theaters in 2025 as the rebooted franchise’s first live-action feature.
