Ava DuVernay’s DC Extended Universe film, New Gods, was canceled in 2021 before its development concluded, but there are numerous details about the scrapped movie. Following the release of Zack Snyder’s Justice League, Warner Bros. canceled several DCEU films during development, including DuVernay’s canceled New Gods movie, but notable character and story details were revealed during its development and after its cancelation. WB issued a statement that was vague in regards to New Gods and other films being canceled, and a recent interview with DuVernay indicates that there may be a specific reason why her epic superhero film is no longer in development.
Based on the works of legendary comic creator Jack Kirby, New Gods was set to explore the lore of his “Fourth World,” and would have featured the cinematic debut of numerous characters from the planets Apokolips and New Genesis. Kirby’s work has, thus far, had a strong presence in the DCEU, with Darkseid serving as the greater-scope villain of Snyder’s released (and planned) Justice League movies.
DuVernay would have placed these epic characters and planets front and center, but her film was unfortunately scrapped, and it now sits alongside Snyder’s planned Justice League sequels as yet another canceled DCEU passion project.
Characters
In addition to featuring the return of Darkseid and Granny Goodness, who debuted in Snyder’s Justice League, New Gods would have brought other key Fourth World characters to the DCEU. Mister Miracle and Big Barda, two New Gods who were raised on Apokolips but resisted Granny Goodness’ indoctrination, were set to be the film’s protagonists. The film was also set to introduce The Female Furies, a team of brainwashed superpowered beings, as antagonists. New Gods would have also introduced Highfather, the benevolent brother of Darkseid, and All-Widow, the Queen of New Genesis’ bugs (insect-like New Gods), likely as allies to Miracle and Barda.
Story
DuVernay worked closely with DC Comics writer Tom King on New Gods, and the film was sure to have been a loving adaptation of Kirby’s epic work. While few concrete story details are known about New Gods, some hints can be extrapolated. The film was sure to explore the origins of the New Gods themselves, explaining the dichotomy of New Genesis and Apokolips and their respective leaders’ sibling rivalry of epic proportions. This would have seamlessly tied into the respective origins of Mister Miracle and Big Barda. The two were brought to Apokolips against their will and refused to succumb to Granny Goodness’ attempts at brainwashing them. Miracle and Barda fell in love in the process and escaped Apokolips together in the comics, and this would likely have accounted for part of the plot in New Gods.
Why It Was Cancelled
New Gods was canceled in 2021, but there wasn’t a clear explanation as to why. A recent interview with DuVernay, however, strongly implies that continuity was the main reason for this. There were conflicting reports regarding the film’s relation to the DCEU, with some sources saying that it would depict the same version of Darkseid seen in Justice League and others saying that it’d be part of a unique DC movie continuity. DuVernay recently indicated that conflicts with another depiction of the titular characters were responsible for the film’s cancelation, and Justice League is the only other movie to include characters from New Gods.
New Gods was still in development when it was canceled, so it could have easily been tweaked to adhere to Snyder’s lore, but perhaps it was canceled because Snyder’s future Justice League plans were too. WB may be moving away from most Snyder-related DCEU content, but they also indicated that New Gods may be revived someday. If this is the case, DuVernay and King could return to their DC passion project and finish New Gods.
