Did a Trademark Filing Just Reveal the DCU's First Crossover Movie?
A new trademark filing may have just revealed the first crossover movie in James Gunn and Peter Safran’s DCU, teeing up the next phase after Creature Commandos launched in December 2024, Superman hit theaters in July 2025, and Peacemaker Season 2 wrapped on HBO Max.
DC might have tipped its hand on the first big DCU crossover. Or it might just be filing paperwork. Either way, the breadcrumb is interesting.
What happened
Knight Edge Media spotted a new DC Studios trademark for 'Salvation Run'. That does not confirm a movie, but it does put a pin in a title that lines up with where the DCU just went.
Why this lines up with Peacemaker
Peacemaker Season 2 wrapped on HBO Max earlier this month with a very specific tease: John Cena's Christopher Smith gets snatched and dumped on a different planet called Salvation. Frank Grillo's Rick Flag Sr. is behind it, and his plan is to turn Salvation into a prison for metahumans. That premise is extremely close to the comic story named... 'Salvation Run'.
The comic this all points to
'Salvation Run' is a seven-issue DC Comics miniseries from writers Bill Willingham and Lilah Sturges, with art by Sean Chen, Walden Wong, Joe Bennett, and Belardino Brabo. In the books, DC's heavy-hitter villains get exiled to a hostile world, Cygnus 4019, and have to figure out how to survive. Not subtle, and very adaptable.
But hold up: what else could it be?
Even if James Gunn and Peter Safran clearly intend to keep tugging on that 'Salvation' thread, a trademark alone does not equal a greenlight. DC could simply be locking down the name. The arc could unfold across other projects without ever becoming a full-on crossover movie — think something that carries into 'Man of Tomorrow' or other DCU entries. Knight Edge Media also floated that the filing might actually connect to the Bane/Deathstroke movie already in development.
- December 2024: The DCU officially kicks off with the animated 'Creature Commandos'.
- July 2025: James Gunn's 'Superman' hits theaters.
- October 2025: 'Peacemaker' Season 2 concludes on HBO Max with that Salvation stinger.
- Coming in 2026: 'Lanterns' on HBO, Craig Gillespie's 'Supergirl', and James Watkins' 'Clayface' — expect the overall DCU plan to come into sharper focus here.
As of now, DC Studios and Warner Bros. have not announced a 'Salvation Run' crossover movie. This filing was first noted by Knight Edge Media and originally reported by Brandon Schreur at SuperHeroHype. If this is the direction, though, marooning a bunch of DC rogues on a nightmare planet is a pretty fun way to smash the toys together.