In 1998, Warren Ellis and Bryan Hitch introduced the Authority, a new supehero team with one goal: to build a better world. And with members like Apollo, the Doctor, and Jenny Sparks, the Authority had the ability to do it. Moreover, because they existed in the WildStorm Universe and not the DC Universe, no one could really stop them.
Well, almost no one. After initially announcing The Authority as one of the projects in development for Chapter One of his and Peter Safran’s new DCU, James Gunn has confirmed on Threads that the project is no longer in development… for the moment. Though clarifying that he was never planning to be the one who writes and develops The Authority, Gunn went on to say that the “script wasn’t quite there but more importantly, it didn’t work in terms of the larger DCU both in terms of the story and practical concerns.” He ended by saying that the possibility of an Authority movie remains, but “not soon.”
Given his interest in the relationship between superheroes and government agencies and in the more unsavory side of the capes and tights life, Gunn’s plans for an Authority movie make sense. What doesn’t make sense is putting the Authority into the mainline DCU, even if it has happened already in the comics.
When The Authority #1 debuted in 1998, WildStorm was Jim Lee‘s studio, part of the independent publisher Image Comics. However, just months after the issue hit comic stands, Lee sold WildStorm to DC Comics, which initially allowed it to be a separate subsidiary. By 2010, however, DC had shuttered WildStorm and, with the New 52 reboot in 2011, WildStorm characters were fully integrated into the DC Universe.
