'The Authority' Movie Will Bring WildStorm Characters to the New DCU

James Gunn is set to work with another unknown set of misfits.

As part of their plan to tell a unified story with DCU characters, DC Studios' new co-heads James Gunn and Peter Safran have announced that they're currently working on a feature film about The Authority. The Authority was originally part of the WildStorm comic universe, a brand that was acquired by DC Comics in 1999.

The WildStorm universe was created by comic book legend Jim Lee in 1992 to introduce new superhero stories outside of the DC and Marvel canon. After DC Comics purchased Lee's universe, they continued to print WildStorm issues independently of the main DC universe. However, following the New 52 initiative in 2011, several WildStorm characters were incorporated into the DC canon. Likewise, Gunn and Safran will use WildStorm characters as part of their main DCU, while The Authority exists in the same world as the Justice League. Gunn says:

“So this is one of my real passion projects. I've been working really hard on it with the writers, we're starting to put together the entire story. [...] This is a big movie. [...] I don't know how many of you are familiar with the authority WildStorm characters. WildStorm was a comics imprint that was bought by DC that I really love, we’re moving a lot of these WildStorm characters into the DCU.”

In addition to working with The Authority film's screenwriter, Gunn also contributed to the project's outline. When discussing his creative involvement with Slate, Gunn shared:

"I only have seven days in the week, all of which are used in the service of DC storytelling. I'm working all the time. I can only do what I can do. So we're going to have to make a decision at some point. Whether or not, you know, is it better for me to, you know, I can write more. I already wrote all of that. I've written a lot of that. I've worked a lot on the outline for The Authority myself. So what best serves DC? What best serves the fans? Is it me really focusing on Superman and making sure we have a great opening? Or is it me kind of giving a little bit to that, a little bit to this? It's not an easy answer, and I'm figuring it out as I go along. It's the number one unknown thing about this, I don't have all the answers. I'm just trying to learn as best as I can, how we can keep the quality because that's what matters."

What Is WildStorm’s The Authority?

What sets The Authority apart from other superhero teams is that they aren't good guys. All members of the Authority wish to Make the world a better place. However, as Safran explains, "they believe that the end justifies the means, and that they are the ones who determine the right end." This means that Authority members are ready to use their power to seize control of the government and use extreme prejudice to dispose of their enemies. Still, they're not exactly villains, as they genuinely care about public safety. No wonder the project interested Gunn, a sucker for gray morality storylines like Suicide Squad and Peacemaker. In Gunn's words:

“The Authority is very different kind of superhero story. They're basically good intentions, but they think that the world is completely broken. And the only way to fix it is to take things into their own hands, whether that means killing people, destroying heads of state, changing governments, you know, whatever they want to do to make the world better, and we'll see how that journey goes for them. But as I said earlier, there's morally gray characters, which these are.”

It's not hard to imagine The Authority clashing with other DC heroes in the future, possibly with Superman and the Justice League. Unfortunately, The Authority movie still doesn't have a release date. Keep checking back for more DC news.