A special kind of heartbreak is reserved for the “best movies never made.” We preoccupy ourselves with Jodorowsky’s Dune and Del Toro’s At the Mountains of Madness, speculating on how they might have altered the cinematic terrain. In 2026, with Emerald Fennell on the press trail for her raw adaptation of Wuthering Heights, a new identity was officially added to that tragic pantheon: Zatanna. 

For years, speculation has swirled about what the Oscar-winning writer/director of Promising Young Woman and Saltburn might do with DC’s best stage magician. Now, with Fennell’s recent frank interviews, we at last have a peek behind the curtain. 

“It wasn’t a superhero flick, it was a fairly deranged saga about a nervous breakdown.”
–She says

Rewriting the Superhero Origin Story

Fennell depicted Zatanna around the time of a very strong personal and professional transition. Immediately following her Academy Award win, she was catapulted into the high-gloss Hollywood movie star — a world she didn’t quite recognize.

Beyond the Cape

Feigen became the tool she used to filter her alienation through the script. Instead of a typical origin story in which a hero discovers how to use their powers to save the world, Fennell’s Zatanna is a woman coming undone. 

I had this very simple question: “How do I make a superhero movie that I’m comfortable watching with my kids and that personally speaks to me?” I was a woman having a breakdown.
— Emerald Fennell

This wasn’t just “gritty” like we’ve grown accustomed to from DC, it was psychological terror. For a character like Zatanna, who practices Logomancy (speaking backwards to affect reality), a broken mind is a frightening weapon. When the magician loses her grasp on reason, reality itself starts to distort. 

The “Demented” Aesthetic of Fennell’s Vision

If you’ve seen Saltburn, you’re aware Fennell doesn’t do “palatable.” Her take on Zatanna would almost certainly have swapped clean CGI energy blasts for something more tactile and grotesque. 

This incarnation of the character was described as a “hard woman” — untidy, scary, and thoroughly human. It was a dismissal of the “cool girl” trope, instead dwelling on the bodily and cognitive toll of doing magic. 

Why Zatanna Was Never Made

• Bad Robot Bottleneck: The movie was part of J.J. Abrams’ sprawling “Justice League Dark” universe. Despite a $500 million deal, films of John Constantine and Madame X stayed stuck in development purgatory for years, without so much as one frame being filmed.

• The WBD Merger: When WarnerMedia became Warner Bros. Discovery, the directive changed from “growth at any cost” to “debt reduction.” CEO David Zaslav began a “purge” of risky projects—most famously shelving the nearly finished Batgirl for a tax write-down.

• The Gunn/Safran Reboot: In late 2022, James Gunn and Peter Safran assumed control of DC Studios with a charge to create a unified, optimistic “Gods and Monsters” arc. That”deranged” standalone movie about a woman breaking—down simply didn’t fit the new blueprint. 

The Legacy of the Unmade

The removal of Fennell’s Zatanna exemplifies an escalating anxiety in contemporary film: the struggle between auteur ambition and franchise security. While Zatanna probably will debut in the new DCU (if not before in James Mangold’s Swamp Thing), she will unquestionably be a more “stable” version of the character.

Auteur Vision vs Franchise Safety in Modern Blockbuster Cinema

Fennell’s “lost” script is still an intriguing “what if” — a souvenir from a moment when the superhero genre nearly gripped something decidedly raw, unsettling, and revolutionary. It appears that in today’s blockbuster economy there’s a lot of room for monsters, but precious little for meltdowns. 

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Conclusion

The still unproduced Emerald Fennell’s Zatanna is not merely a scrapped project, it’s an alarm that modern blockbuster cinema is too scared to ring. With all the sophistication as well as volatility of the mind, it tested safe franchise logic that was unthinking. What we lost was not a superhero movie, it’s a risk. And in today’s studio system, that may be a rarer magic than any other. 

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Absolute Universe DC Comics made big news for Absolute Universe at the February 2026 ComicsPRO meeting. The company demonstrated that it is finished playing it safe. Instead, DC announced plans to overhaul how it produces comics across three distinct categories of books. These changes will be for both new readers and veteran Absolute Universe DC fans.

The conference was held February 19-22 in Glendale, California. This is the news that comic book stores get when they find out what the publishers hold for the next year. DC took the opportunity to prove it has a plan solidified for growth after sweeping changes in late 2024 and 2025. 

The Three Main Plans

DC has three ways to publish comics in 2026:

• The Absolute Universe – Familiar heroes but new takes, no complex backstory
• DC Next Level – Top talent reimagines obscure characters
• DC Vertigo – Adult tales.

Different strategies appeal to different readers. Taken together, they demonstrate that DC is intent on expanding its fans and fitting the hobbies of existing fans better. 

The Absolute Universe DC: Where Heroes Are Underdogs and Billionaires Are Prey

The Absolute Universe started as an experiment. The concept was straight forward: Take well-known DC heroes, and take away all of their advantages. Batman doesn’t have money. Superman was not raised in Kansas. Wonder Woman has no royal family.

This world has previously sold more than eight million copies. Readers love watching heroes rise from zero in a world where villains already rule.

The villains in ‘this world’ had their own “Justice League.” This team includes:

• Ra’s al Ghul
• Veronica Cale
• Hector Hammond
• Elenore Thawne
• A new version of the Joker

These baddies are on the lookout for newfound super folks through means of something called the “Mirror World.” They also take a few new recruits along. In this world, Lex Luthor is just a happy farmer. Hawkman betrayed his fellow heroes to the government in the 1950s.  

3 Biggest DC Comics Bombshells at ComicsPRO 

Absolute Green Arrow

Absolute Green Arrow debuts on May 20, “experimental” is a major understatement. Pornsak Pichetshote winner of The Sandman Universe: Nightmare Country Eisner-pairs off with Rafael Albuquerque to deliver what DC is literally calling I Know What You Did Last Summer for billionaires. But somebody slasher isn’t the baddie here. Or is he?

Here’s the delicious twist: Oliver Queen is already dead. Murdered. The green-arrow wielding “Absolute Hunter” who eliminates corrupt billionaires could be a successor, an apparition, or who knows what. Dinah Lance is now reworked as an “executive protection specialist” as opposed to a costumed crime-fighter that must track a cadre of archers, all linked to the late Queen, through her list of suspects. No trick arrows. No fortune. Just urban horror and class warfare clothed in hunter’s green. 

Absolute Catwoman

Then it’s Absolute Catwoman on June 10th, and DC are just playing a whole different game. Batman and Superman are the underdogs in this world and Selina Kyle came out on top. She’s the “Absolute Apex Predator,” the greatest thief of all time and who has access to technology that makes Batman’s gadgets look like kid’s toys.Scott Snyder co-writes with Che Grayson and Selina is the establishment figure while Bruce Wayne is the guy living on the fringes. The reversal in power is so delicious it ought to be illegal. 

The First BIG Crossover Event 

Absolute Universe DC also revealed the first big event in the Absolute Universe. It is scheduled for release in late 2026. The story will be a crossover with Absolute Wonder Woman, Absolute Superman and Absolute Batman. 

The event is designed to be accessible without needing to buy other books. Fans have speculated the heroes may also create their own team to battle the villain “Justice League.” Some speculate they call themselves the Legion of Doom. This is the book most likely to be the big seller of the holiday season. 

DC Next Level: The B-List Becomes the A-Game

Condensing what the Absolute Edition was offering up to readers new to the material, “DC Next Level” = pure obsessiveness excellence. This is the victory lap for Scott Snyder and Joshua Williamson — a creator-firstline where talent gets to pick its characters, not the other way around. 

The idea is pretty straightforward: Let amazing creators pick the characters they love, even if those characters are relatively obscure. Snyder described these books as “big swings” and “passion projects.” 

The March rollout gave us a taste of this with Lobo by Skottie Young (cosmic violence meets psychological evaluation), Batwoman by Greg Rucka’s triumphant return to Kate Kane, and Deathstroke: The Terminator by Tony Fleecs. But the summer announcements? That’s where things get genuinely disruptive.

Barbara Gordon: Breakout

Barbara Gordon: Breakout may well be the most politically resonant superhero comic set for 2026. Mariko Tamaki (just fresh off her Eisner win) is sending Barbara to Supermax. Not as a visitor. As an inmate.

Commissioner Vandal Savage (let that title roll off the tongue) has constructed a prison for Gotham’s vigilantes and babs is trapped inside, without her tech and surrounded by criminals she helped capture. Orange Is the New Black meets The Shawshank Redemption as Oracle tries to make it through on brainpower. The survival thriller structure is so perfect for Barbara’s skill set that you wonder why no one did it sooner. 

The Deadman

Then there is The Deadman, which wins my subjective prize for “comic I am most likely to reread on the spot.” W. Maxwell Prince and Martín Morazzo, the creators of the existential terror masterpiece Ice Cream Man are now bringing their unique vision to Boston Brand in a six-issue miniseries about “ghostly derangement.” The DC K.O. event broke down walls between the living and the dead (comic book events have the best collateral damage), and now souls are stuck in spirals of spiritual turbulence. Deadman must inhabit humans and metahumans alike in a race to repair the afterlife before the fabric of reality tears apart. If you know Ice Cream Man you are aware that Prince writes horror that whispers in your ear long after the last page. 

Essentially DC saying: “Sure, we can do Vertigo-quality horror in the mainline universe.” 

A revamp of the Teen Titans 

Kyle Higgins and Daniele Di Nicuolo, the creator and illustrator team that revolutionized the Power Rangers comics are taking the franchise to a place it’s never been. Jason Todd runs the show meaning Red Hood is heading the Teen Titans. 

Not Dick Grayson giving wholesome guidance or Damian Wayne putting on a team-player front. This is Jason Todd lethal, traumatized, controversial investigating a plot surrounding disappeared superpowered teens and rounding up a team of “plugged-in, hyper-capable young heroes” to blow open systemic lies.

The lineup features Cheshire Cat, Flatline and Fairplay – as well as two mysterious new characters including what looks like a Gen-Z construction worker with powers related to building. 

This isn’t your nostalgia-bait Titans This is Absolute Universe DC realizing the coolest stories come from breaking the toys, then giving them to creators willing to play from a different place. 

The Return of Vertigo

Hiding in the big blockbuster announcements was possibly DC’s most culturally significant move and bringing back the Vertigo imprint in full. Not as a nostalgia line, but as a destination for mature readers with real creative freedom.

What is salient here is that Vertigo was not simply a label—it was a mindset. Sandman, Preacher, Transmetropolitan, Y: The Last Man — these were comics that showed the medium could be literature for grownups without the spandex. 2026 DC’s slate suggests they’re taking a page from that lesson. 

While no specific Vertigo titles were mentioned in the ComicsPRO presentation, the dedication to ”mature-reader demographics” and the hiring of talent such as Prince and Morazzo definitely signals intent. The Deadman mini-series is really Vertigo horror dressed up in DC costume. Look for announcements at San Diego Comic-Con that will get the literary comics crowd talking. 

How These Three Publishing Strategies Take DC to the Next Level

For years the publisher seemed caught between pursuing after Marvel’s cinematic synergy and placating a direct market that was terrified of change. The 2026 slate is a different animal—three distinct publishing strategies working in tandem, each with clear creative mandates and focuses.

Absolute Universe are the onboarding ramps: continuity-free, high concept, visually arresting entry points for readers who have lapsed from the mainline or for newcomers. DC Next Level is the love project nursery, where familiar creators can get weird with underutilized characters. Vertigo (or whatever the mature line transforms into) is your prestige level, your evidence that comics can hold its own with HBO dramas and literary fiction. 

A refined understanding that the direct market is not dying—it is just starving for more worthwhile products to collect. Those tiered prices for Absolute Catwoman aren’t greedy, they’re smart. They understand that comic book collecting is now experiential retail, where the tactile experience matters as much as the story on the inside.

All of this took its cues from the DC K.O. story arc. This concludes the five-issue mini-series of March 2026. A new “King Omega” will be established for this cosmic battle tournament to face Darkseid. 

The aftermath of that event is a shattered world of Absolute Universe DC Next Level. Spiritual realms are in disarray. Hero teams are fragmented. This allows writers to tell all kinds of new stories without negating what came before. 

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Conclusion

Absolute Universe DC Comics started 2026 with its intentions clear. The company has stopped waiting for Hollywood movies to make its characters popular. DC is producing comics worth paying attention to on their own terms.

From horror-tinged Green Arrow stories to prison survival tales with Barbara Gordon, from Jason Todd leading the Titans to Deadman fixing the afterlife, these books take chances. They trust readers to keep up with weird ideas.

DC’s three-tier approach is Absolute for newcomers, Next Level for fans, Vertigo for adults that suggests Absolute Universe DC knows its buyers. The company recognizes that its readers are not all the same. DC wants to do both — grow by adding to those disaffected consumers while keeping existing readers happy.

2026 may be the year when Absolute Universe DC demonstrates that audacious comics can capture massive audiences. The plans are set. The creators are hired. Now the books must deliver on these big promises. 

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