The version of DC Studios’ Booster Gold series rumored to star Kumail Nanjiani is no longer moving forward at HBO Max.
Variety reports that writer David Jenkins announced the news on Threads while responding to Mahershala Ali’s comments about abandoning Marvel Studios’ long-troubled Blade reboot.
“My ‘Booster Gold’ won’t be moving forward,” Jenkins wrote. “Can’t improve on Mahershala’s lovely statement so I’ll just apply it here as well.”
Jenkins had been hired to write the pilot and would have served as showrunner if the project received a series order. As recently as June 15, he announced that he had submitted what he considered “one of my favorite pilot scripts.”
Booster Gold May Not Be Completely Dead
Despite Jenkins’ announcement, TheWrap reports that DC Studios still intends to develop Booster Gold with another creative team. The character has not necessarily been abandoned, but the proposed series has effectively returned to the beginning of the development process.
A screenshot from a Booster Gold Comic Book – YouTube, Variant Comics
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The outlet also reports that no actor was ever officially cast.
Nanjiani had been rumored for more than two years to play Michael Carter, a disgraced athlete from the future who steals advanced technology and travels into the past to become a celebrity superhero. James Gunn and Peter Safran initially described the series as a story about “imposter syndrome as a superhero.”
DC Studios never confirmed Nanjiani’s involvement. Nevertheless, the casting rumors continued to attract attention. In 2024, after Hollywood scoopers claimed that the Eternals actor had secretly been cast, Gunn suggested that the reports were unfounded. However, speculation resumed late last year after Nanjiani was seen with Gunn at the Peacemaker Season 2 premiere.
Many fans objected to the rumored casting, arguing that Nanjiani was a poor fit for the role.
The actor had previously faced backlash over comments he made as Eternals struggled at the box office. Although the film was not a catastrophic failure, many analysts believe it ultimately lost money for the studio. Both critics and audiences also reacted harshly to the film’s quality.
Kumail Nanjiani Said Eternals Backlash Left Him Traumatized
“Looks like we’re upsetting the right people,” he wrote on X in response to claims that the Marvel film pushed a progressive agenda.
Nanjiani later revealed that the hostile response to Eternals affected him so severely that he entered counseling. He said that he obsessively read reviews while promoting the movie and continued discussing the experience with his therapist.
The cast of Eternals – Marvel Studios
“My wife says that I do have trauma from it,” Nanjiani explained.
A new creative team could still choose Kumail Nanjiani for Booster Gold. However, with no script, greenlight, production schedule, or confirmed star, his reported attachment currently appears to be little more than an unfulfilled rumor.
The DCU Struggles to Build Momentum
The setback arrives as DC Studios faces questions about the viability of its interconnected universe beyond Superman.
Creature Commandos, the animated series intended to serve as the official launch of the DCU, never appeared on Nielsen’s streaming charts. It was later made available for free on YouTube for a limited time.
Similarly, Peacemaker Season 2—the sexually explicit and violent follow-up to Superman—struggled to attract a broad streaming audience. Its finale week marked the show’s first appearance on Nielsen’s streaming charts, where it narrowly reached tenth place among original series. Samba TV also reported that the finale drew approximately 39% fewer households than the season premiere.
James Gunn and John Cena introduce the Red Band Trailer for Peacemaker Season 2 – YouTube, DC
The next DCU series, Lanterns, premieres on HBO Max later this month. Early reactions to the show’s marketing have been heavily critical of its dark and somber tone, which appears at odds with the colorful cosmic adventures commonly associated with the comics.
DC’s theatrical momentum has proven equally inconsistent. Although Superman earned approximately $619 million worldwide, official testimony before the U.S. Senate indicated that the film underperformed at the box office. This summer’s Supergirl followed with only about $126 million against a reported $170 million production budget.
Warner Bros. May Be Reassessing the DCU
Booster Gold is not the first project announced as part of the DCU’s “Gods and Monsters” chapter to stall. Gunn previously confirmed that The Authority was no longer in active development after DC Studios failed to produce a satisfactory script.
Taken together, these developments suggest that Warner Bros. may be reassessing the creative direction of the DCU. With Lanterns completed and set for release and Man of Tomorrow already in production, the latest setback for Booster Gold could be the first sign of broader changes for the troubled cinematic universe.
Still, nearly four years after the series was announced, the time-traveling hero remains stuck in the past.
Do you think Kumail Nanjiani will play Booster Gold? Do you think Booster Gold will appear in the DCU? Sound off and let us know!
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