The Authority release date speculation, plot, cast, more

With James Gunn announcing the project as part of Chapter 1 of DC Studio's rebooted cinematic universe, here's what we know about The Authority release date.

What is The Authority release date? Amid the slate of projects announced by James Gunn and Peter Safran at DC Studios, one of the most intriguing is The Authority movie.

In simple terms, The Authority is the DCU‘s answer to The Thunderbolts. They’re a group of morally-grey heroes not tied to a specific moral code or organisation. Published under DC’s Wildstorm imprint, The Authority is known for having a grittier tone not unlike the Suicide Squad and recent Batman movies.

Although the superhero movie is in early stages of development, Gunn described it in his Twitter announcement as a “passion project” of his, so we’re expecting big things. So, we’ve rounded up everything we know about The Authority release date, plot, cast, and more.

The Authority release date speculation

Like a lot of DC Studios’ upcoming projects, The Authority release date is currently unknown, but we estimate it will arrive in late 2025.

We know that the Superman Legacy release date is July 11, 2025, and that it is to be first DC movie in Gunn and Peter Safran’s slate.

With that in mind, we can’t feasibly imagine The Authority being any earlier than autumn/winter 2025 — but that’s being optimistic. Truth be told, 2026 or even 2027 might be a more realistic estimation.

The Authority release date: The Authority DC comics

The Authority cast speculation

It’s way too early for The Authority cast announcements at this stage, but we have a decent idea of the characters they’ll be casting.

The Authority line-up has changed a number of times over the years, but there are a number of core characters including Jenny Sparks, Jack Hawksmoor, Apollo/The Sun King, Midnighter, Swift/The Winged Huntress, and The Engineer/The Maker. Other members of The Authority might appear, but we’ll be surprised if these OGs don’t make an appearance in the movie.

The Authority release date: The Authority DC comics

The Authority plot speculation

James Gunn gave a brief synopsis for The Authority plot in his announcement video.

“The Authority are a group of superheroes who think the world is broken and they want to fix it by any means necessary,” Gunn explained. “I think it’s a very different look at superheroes.”

From this, we can gauge that the line between heroes and movie villains might be a little blurred in this action movie, and that we might see our protagonists engage in morally dubious acts that the likes of Batman and Superman wouldn’t dream of.

He also noted that The Authority “will interact with all of our primary DCU characters,” so we can accept some team-ups, rivalries, and more likely than not, some butting heads over The Authority’s less-than-clean-cut approach to crime fighting.

That’s all we know for now, but for more on rag-tag antiheros, check out our guides to the Thunderbolts release date and The Boys season 4 release date. You can also peruse our full explainer on Gunn and Safran’s slate, which is subtitled ‘Chapter 1 Gods and Monsters, or look into all the best DC villains.