A shared cinematic universe is, to use a cliche, like a big ass boat. It's hard to turn a big ass boat - you really have to swing that sucker around, and it can take some time. The DC Movieverse is, in this case, the big ass boat, and I keep hearing whispers that it's getting reoriented in the wake of Batman v Superman being what it is (ie, bad).

I don't know how that's going to shake out when it comes to Justice League - the captain who was already mis-steering that boat is still steering that one! - but I think we will see that shift happening in some of the DC solo movies that are coming up. While The Flash lost director Seth Grahame-Smith WB is sticking with his script (for now, there will be rewrites as there always are rewrites), and that script is lighter and poppier, focusing on the friendship of The Flash and Cyborg, who hit it off in Justice League. Wonder Woman, I hear, is a very hopeful movie, flying in the face of the cynicism of Batman v Superman. And Warner Bros is developing another movie that definitely doesn't fit into the tone of the DC Movieverse as established: Booster Gold.

Zack Stentz, who has credits on movies like Thor, the new Power Rangers and Agent Cody Banks, is working on the script right now. I had heard that Greg Berlanti, the guy who runs the (tonally correct) DC TVverse is producing, and a recent appearance by Stentz on the "Fatman on Batman" podcast bears this out. Thanks to Cleats and Capes for listening to the podcast and picking out a couple of facts that back up everything I've heard: Stentz is writing Booster Gold with Berlanti producing and possibly interested in directing.

Booster Gold is a great character. He's an ex-athelete turned security guard in the future who steals a time machine (and a couple of superheroic objects, like a Legion of Superheroes flight ring) and comes back to the modern day intending to use his future knowledge and tech to become rich and famous. Callow, selfish and more than a little dopey, Booster's journey is from buffoon to true hero. In the classic 80s run of Justice League International he became best friends with Blue Beetle, and the two hatched harebrained schemes and plans and shared many a hearty "Bwa-ha-ha!" over the years.

Booster is very, very different from what we've seen in the DC Movieverse so far, and the fact that this movie is even in development gives me hope and backs up the whispers I have heard that Warner Bros - and especially Ben Affleck - are very hip to what went wrong with BvS, and that the opportunity exists to fix the larger universe.

I don't know what the status of Booster Gold is right now (it seems to be on hold), and I think it's a solo movie - ie, not the Blue and Gold buddy movie many have wanted - but the fact that it's managed to be in development at all during the Reign of Snyder is really impressive. I think there's an opening at WB where Booster Gold could suddenly see its fortunes changing, and getting closer to being a real movie.