Booster Gold Creator Dan Jurgens “Thrilled,” “Excited” for Series News

Well, we’ve reached the end of “The Big Day”… the day when DC Studios co-heads James Gunn & Peter Safran unveiled the films and series making up the first wave of their 8-10 year DCU plan. And once the dust settled on the announcements, we will readily admit that we were impressed & excited by what the future has to offer (and that’s just the first round). Another person excited by the news was legendary comic book writer & artist Dan Jurgens, the creator of Booster Gold. Based on the character that was first introduced in 1986, Safran described the lead character as “a loser from the future who uses basic future technology to come back to today and pretend to be a superhero.” Seeing his creation come to life is a prospect that Jurgens is “excited” about, as he expressed on social media. “Thrilled with the news that Booster Gold is heading to HBO Max courtesy of [James Gunn] and company. Amazing to think these initial character sketches from 1984 would lead to this,” Jurgens tweeted. “Excited to see what’s next in the life of the greatest hero you never heard of!”

Here’s a look at Jurgens’ tweet from earlier today, expressing his support for seeing Booster Gold make the leap from the pages of the comic book to the small screen:

A Look Back at DC Studios’ DCU Series Announcements

We’re looking at the animated Creature Commandos, the Amanda Waller (Viola Davis)-focused Waller, the Green Lantern series Lanterns, the Wonder Woman prequel series Paradise Lost, and a Booster Gold series. But we also learned that the second season of the John Cena-starring Peacemaker is on hold and that Greg Berlanti’s “Green Lantern” series is no longer moving forward. Here’s a look at the details that were released:

“Creature Commandos”: Currently in production, the animated series was the first project greenlit by the duo. Based on the 1980’s Creature Commando comic book series that focused on Frankenstein’s monster teaming with a werewolf, a vampire, and a gorgon to fight Nazis in World War II, the series looks to take the same approach, with Weasel (from The Suicide Squad) as one of the commandos, serving with Rick Flag Sr. Note: Gunn confirmed that the voice cast will play their characters in a live-action version later on down the line (with Gunn penning the animated series)

“Waller”: With Peacemaker Season 2 on hold while Gunn works on Superman: Legacy, the Viola Davis-starring series will include the “Peacemaker team” and serve as a “continuation” of the HBO Max series. The series will be executive produced & penned by Jeremy Carver (Doom Patrol) and DCU writers’ room writer Christal Henry.

“Lanterns”: Being compared to “a huge HBO-quality event” along the lines of “True Detective,” the series will focus on Hal Jordan and John Stewart, who investigate a mystery that Safran said “plays a really big role leading us into the main story that we’re telling across our film and television. So this is a very important show for us.” This series will replace Greg Berlanti’s previous take on a “Green Lantern” series.

“Paradise Lost”: Set before the birth of Diana (Wonder Woman) and set on the island of Themyscira, Safran & Gunn see the series as a “Game of Thrones” -like take on Wonder Woman’s origins (“It’s really about the political intrigue behind a society of all women”: Safran). Comic fans may recognize the title from Phil Jimenez & George Pérez‘s Paradise Island Lost comics series. “How did that come about? What’s the origin of an island of all women? What are the beautiful truths and the ugly truths behind all of that? And what’s the scheming like between the different power players in that society?” were the rhetorical question that Gunn asked when explaining the series’ themes.

“Booster Gold”: Seen as the DCU’s deep dive into comedy, Safran describes Mike Carter/Booster Gold as “a loser from the future who uses basic future technology to come back to today and pretend to be a superhero.” From a series perspective, we’re looking at a possible 25th-century setting, where Mike is a disgraced former football star who uses a time machine on display in the Metropolis Space Museum to gain fame and fortune… and maybe the desire to be a real superhero (if the sponsorship is right?). “Basically, “Booster Gold” is imposter syndrome as a superhero,” Gunn added.