J.J. Abrams hasn't spoken with DC amid Superman reports, but meetings coming soon

J.J. Abrams, creative shepard of the Skywalkers’ end and The Rise of Skywalker writer/director, may be on his way to the world of DC, but the Star Wars creative wants to be clear that nothing has officially begun as of yet. 

Abrams’ company, Bad Robot, recently signed a lucrative first-look deal with WarnerMedia (owner of Warner Bros., which oversees the DC film universe) which was just one factor kicking off reports that the multi-hyphenate was being eyed to help kickstart the next phase of the DCEU. Now that the rumors have been spread that Abrams is on the shortlist for Superman and Green Lantern reboots, he’s speaking up.

In a recent interview with ScreenRant, Abrams echoed the coy sentiment of his Rolling Stone interview: namely, that talks hadn’t quite yet begun...in any serious way, that is.

“I have not had one official conversation with Warners at all about this,” Abrams told SR, “but people have asked me this question and I know that we, Bad Robot, we recently signed a deal with WarnerMedia, we will begin in earnest all discussions about what’s coming next. But, I know no more than you do about what’s next, certainly in terms of DC.”

So anything that’s happened up to this point, including anything that would clue the previous reports’ sources in on the goings on, has been purely unofficial. That doesn’t mean they haven’t happened. It also doesn’t mean that these rumors won’t lead to some real involvement on Abrams’ part. Especially since, at the end of the quote, Abrams confirms that he and his company “will begin in earnest all discussions about what’s coming next.” 

That’s not him promising anything, but at the very least he’ll be in the room talking about the future of another massive genre franchise. Whether he helms anything himself — be it a Superman reboot or Geoff Johns’ Green Lantern Corps film — is a question that’s answer still lies far in the future. Not only do DC and WB have to figure out where it wants its film universe to go (when standalone Joker is its most successful film), they have to find out if Abrams is a good fit for whatever versions of these heroes are deemed most likely to succeed.

For now, Abrams is still likely focused on opening Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker on Dec. 20.