Fresh off of A Wrinkle In Time, Ava DuVernay is heading back to space for another wild sci-fi adventure—and this one is also sort of a superhero movie. According to Deadline, she’s going to direct a movie for Warner Bros. based on DC Comics’ New Gods, a line of weird space deities created for comic book icon Jack Kirby’s Fourth World stories. This is set to be another huge-budget project for DuVernay, with Deadline saying that Warner Bros. is now going to “quickly” find a screenwriter who can “craft the narrative” alongside her. That implies the studio specifically went to DuVernay first, rather than deciding that it wanted a New Gods movie and then finding a director later (which seems to be Marvel’s usual approach).
In the comics, the so-called New Gods were created when the classic “old gods” from mythology were killed off, leaving an opening for fresh newcomers like Big Barda, Granny Goodness, Mister Miracle, and, of course, Darkseid—traditionally the big villain of DC’s universe. The New Gods are divided across two planets based on whether they’re a good guy or a bad guy, with the good guys living on New Genesis and the bad guys living on Apokolips (a fiery wasteland that is also the home of Justice League villain Steppenwolf). Essentially, it’s like the flashy gods of Asgard in the Thor movies, but significantly weirder.
Interestingly, Deadline says that DuVernay’s New Gods will be totally separate from the rest of DC’s movies, meaning Darkseid—who was reportedly cut out of Justice League—probably isn’t going to show up in both places. Also interestingly, DuVernay tweeted back in December that her favorite superhero is The New Gods’ Big Barda, for “many reasons,” so it looks like talking about superheroes on Twitter is a good way to get a job directing a huge superhero movie (if you’re already an accomplished director).