The toy line for the upcoming Superman movie has now been revealed, and it features collectibles for fans of all ages. This includes younger collectors, with these more kiddie toys featuring many of the characters seen in the new James Gunn movie. Through one of the product listings, a potential name for a certain DC Universe group has seemingly been confirmed, and it says a lot.
Apparently, the initial DCU superhero team will be almost pejoratively called the Justice Gang. This presents the opportunity for Superman to later reform the group into what will become known as the Justice League. It’s a logical development path for the team and keeps from repeating a major mistake from the previous shared universe, but it also means that another DC Comics team might only exist in a universe of their own.
Superman's Superhero Team Isn't the Justice League- Yet
The Newest Superman Movie Will Have a Sort of Prototype Team
As revealed in new toys based on the movie, the metahuman team in 2025’s Superman reboot movie is called the Justice Gang. The ranks of this team include Mr. Terrific, the Guy Gardner Green Lantern, Isabel Merced’s version of Hawkgirl and possibly Metamorpho, and the group is seemingly government-sanctioned and bankrolled by the unscrupulous Maxwell Lord. It’s unknown if this is actually the name that’s officially given to the team or if it’s more of an unfortunate moniker, but the latter concept makes the most sense.
Apparently, Superman stands alone among the other metahumans at this point in the DCU, with the Man of Steel representing a higher standard of heroism compared to his seeming compatriots.
In the case of the brusque Guy Gardner/Green Lantern, he’s supposed to have all his expected bravado and brash attitude from the comics, showing that not all the DC Universe’s heroes have what it takes to really be seen as good guys. Ironically, the «gang» moniker is also reflected in other material tied to the movie.
A previously-revealed book for very young children has been given the title Superman’s Good Guy Gang, and it features the Last Son of Krypton alongside the other heroes from the movie. In this case, the word gang is used in more of the neutral form given to a group of people, eschewing the negative connotations that most might associate with it. On the other hand, the movie might go in the opposite direction, with the metahumans seen as being as much of a menace as criminal gangs.
This matches how James Gunn’s Superman is almost a reversed version of the comic book Kingdom Come, with a younger Superman having to show a better form of heroism to cynical, nonchalant superheroes. If the Justice Gang is meant to take the narrative place of the violent generation of metahumans seen in Mark Waid and Alex Ross’ Kingdom Come, the gang term is more than appropriate, though it could evolve into something better.
How the "Justice Gang" Might Become DC's Most Iconic Team
The Seeds of the DCU's Justice League are Already Being Planted
It’s clear that, from the name of the Justice Gang, the proper DC Universe Justice League might still be a long way from being formed. There is a chance that the Justice League is the official name of the group that’s since lost all meaning and use, but it’s somewhat unlikely. Regardless of the truth behind the Justice Gang name, the Justice League, as DC fans recognize it, won’t be formed until down the line.
Thus, Superman will only be the first step in seeing this team formed on the big screen.
This is the correct path to take, especially given the failures of the DC Extended Universe. That shared universe ended in 2023 with the release of Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom, though the cracks more than began to form around seven years before the release of that movie. Many fans’ biggest issue with the DCEU was that it tried to rush to the formation of the Justice League in a desperate attempt to replicate the overall success of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but it only ended up prematurely signing its death warrant. If James Gunn and DC Studios want to do the opposite, it makes sense to slowly start building the team concept now while organically trotting out potential members. The current crop of heroes may or may not even make the eventual cut.
Of the current heroes in the «Justice Gang,» Mister Terrific may be the only one to join the DCU Justice League. Superman might recognize how he truly does want to fight for «fair play» in all its forms, with his level of genius and variety of acumen being particularly useful. Guy Gardner might be seen as too much of a boisterous, blustering loose cannon, and the same thing might even be the case for Hawkgirl, though likely to a much lesser extent. This would match both of their comic book characterizations, with Kendra Saunders being easily the hottest-headed and most temperamental version of Hawkgirl.
The jury is out for the monstrous Metamorpho, who’s typically not portrayed as being especially off-putting or unheroic. He is, however, a much more niche hero with tangential ties at best to the Justice League. More than likely, he’ll instead join Mister Terrific and the yet-to-be-confirmed DCU Plastic Man in the shared universe’s version of the Terrifics team. That means that another Green Lantern, along with Wonder Woman, Batman, The Flash, Martian Manhunter and a rebooted version of Aquaman might still be the primary Justice League members. That’s great for fans who want to see the «Classic 7» version of the group on the big screen. Of course, these naming implications also suggest that another team is not in the new DC Universe — or at least not this version.
The Justice Society Might Exist In Another Way In the DC Universe
The New DC Universe Might Already Have Its Own Multiverse
One concept that’s been a lot in superhero fiction (TV shows, movies, video games and comics) in the past decade is that of the multiverse. The DC Extended Universe didn’t utilize the multiverse until the very end with the 2023 movie The Flash, and the concept as a whole has also become criticized due to how it’s handled in the MCU. On the other hand, James Gunn’s own fandom for comic books and esoteric concepts means that the multiverse is almost certain to manifest in some capacity in the new DCU. In fact, that might be necessary for one team in particular.
If the Justice Gang’s name truly means that the Justice League doesn’t exist yet, it’s highly possible that the Justice Society of America doesn’t exist in the new DC Universe.
Debuting in the Golden Age of Comics and originally fighting during World War II, the JSA was DC’s first superhero team and the Golden Age equivalent to the later Justice League. Representing the very concept of superhero legacy, the team, sadly, is something of a continuity snafu if used in a certain way.
Originally, the Justice Society and the Justice League were portrayed as existing on two different Earths, explaining how there could be divergent takes on Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, Green Lantern, Green Arrow, The Flash, The Atom and Hawkman. This changed after the comic book Crisis on Infinite Earths, which merged the many worlds of the DC Multiverse into one. As a result, the Justice Society had to have its history consolidated into the «mainstream Earth», which caused more than a few backstory nightmares for heroes such as Hawkman and even Wonder Woman.
Many adaptations have somewhat ignored this or tried to make it work, with the DCEU Justice Society (only seen in the 2022 movie Black Adam) not referencing any connection to the past or World War II. The same thing can happen in the new DCU, but it’s unlikely given Gunn’s dedication to bringing classic versions of old-school heroes to life on the big screen. Still, if the Justice League name isn’t solidified, it’s hard to imagine that the Justice Society once existed in the same world. One easy solution is to go back to basics with the JSA and put them on a separate Earth.
The Justice Society’s Golden Age heroes work better in a world where they have their own continuity and don’t have to play second fiddle to the debut of Superman decades later. Likewise, it doesn’t make sense to diminish Superman’s importance with a team of «old-timers» who are mainly more important for their historical relevance than their actual popularity with even hardcore comic book fans. Giving them a separate world could be done through the multiverse, with another universe being established as existing in the DC Universe.
From there, this «Earth-Two» could be visited in TV shows and movies, perhaps with at least one of these mediums having a dedicated DCU Justice Society project. It would essentially be similar to what Marvel is doing with the upcoming movie The Fantastic Four: First Steps, albeit in a much less rushed or «forced» capacity. This would also make the Justice Society’s Earth its own separate «property» of sorts, bolstering the heroes’ ranks in the overall multiverse for a crossover that might adapt Crisis.
The possibilities are endless when it comes to the different worlds that can be visited and the different heroes that can be seen in the multiverse. The irony, however, is that it will all be derived from as strange a name for a team as the «Justice Gang».
Superman flies into theaters on July 11, 2025.
