DC fans are buzzing like crazy after this week’s DC Studios presentation, which revealed the first five movies and five TV series that will make up the first half of DC Universe Chapter One. At the very top of the list are the following Superman and Batman reboot movies, Superman: Legacyand The brave and the bold.

We’ve only gotten the tiniest details about both movies so far. DC Studios co-head James Gunn has said that Superman: Legacy will not be an origin story, but will explore how Clark Kent comes to modern Metropolis and begins his career as Superman there. In The Brave and the Bold, Batman (Bruce Wayne) interacts with his son Damian Wayne. Gunn has confirmed that both films were influenced by the work of comics writer Grant Morrison, particularly their work All Star Superman and Batman and son.

Those two choices are interesting – especially when you start wondering what connecting threads will tie this DCU franchise together.

How Superman: Legacy could introduce Superman’s son.

All Star Superman was a limited series that told the story of how Superman is tricked into taking a lethal dose of solar radiation by Lex Luthor, and decides to give the world multiple miracles accomplished with his power, before his time runs out. While many fans assume Gunn is looking at the themes and characterization of All-Star Superman as his inspiration, is it possible that Gunn is borrowing more from that book’s story and format than we know?

On our ComicBook Nation podcast show, the title “Superman: Legacy” was of particular interest in the discussion. It was theorized that Gunn could be a fast one, actually making the movie a record of Superman’s heroic exploits and feats over time, when the format of the movie is actually a narrator telling these stories to a major new character: Superman and Lois Lane’s son, Jonathan Kent.

The title Superman: Legacy would then be a double entendre, in that the film would both illustrate the legacy of who Superman is and what he’s about, while also inspiring Jonathan Kent’s character to pursue his heroic future in the DCU. Jonathan Kent has become a major focus of DC’s comic series in recent years, so his live-action debut in a Superman franchise featuring an expanded roster of characters would make sense.

How Brave and the Bold introduces The Son of Batman

Here’s a much simpler matter: Grant Morrison’s “Batman & Son” brought Damian Wayne to the mainstream DC Universe, where he’s overcome initial fan wrath to become an essential part of the Batman Universe. The question in case of The brave and the bold and the future DCU is how much of Grant Morrison Gunn’s work is going to draw?

After the first awkward encounter between Bruce and Damian, the latter had to face Dick Grayson (following Bruce Wayne’s apparent death) to become the new Batman and Robin team. Some DC fans wonder if that storyline couldn’t play out in the DCU – and what it might mean for the Bruce Wayne/Batman character later on.

DCU Super Sons

The ComicBook Nation The team had two views on how the partnership between Jonathan Kent and Damian Wayne might unfold later in the DCU:

1. A major event (crisis) could make the world (and the public) think that Superman and Batman are dead – if only for a while. The Super Sons rise to fill their fathers’ void, as they deal with the weight of inheritance, grief for loss, imposter syndrome, etc.
2. Nothing dark or tragic happens with Batman and/or Superman. Their sons just come into their own in upcoming DCU projects and end up getting their own team movie.

Like Marvel Studios’ slow build-up to a Young Avengers event, it only ensures DC Studios has a flagship “event” to open a youth-focused runway of its franchise. Especially when other groups like the Titans get on the pike. DC already tested the waters of this collaboration with the animated feature last year Batman and Superman: Battle of the Super Sons. It is now streaming on HBO Max.