After Warner Bros. enjoyed its first big DC Extended Universe hit with Wonder Woman, various websites reported that the studio was considering adapting Elseworlds stories such as Superman: Red Son to the big screen. Director Jordan Vogt-Roberts (Kong: Skull Island) also expressed his desire to make a Red Son film.
The whole thing was pretty confusing at the time, and it still is. What’s clearer now is that the studio is actively looking at Elseworlds stories for a separate universe based on DC Comics characters. The first movie announced for that universe is an origin story for The Joker.
But back to Superman: Red Son. Vogt-Roberts also said that he was glad that Warner Bros. was exploring new options in regard to expansion and the creation of DC character-based movies set outside of the DCEU. However, he added that although the studio had embraced the idea, no one from WB has contacted him:
To me, that's interesting. To me, that's"¦I'm happy that they're apparently now entertaining that idea. I would love to get a call saying, “Hey, do you want to talk about Red Son?” But I have yet to receive that phone call (CBM).
The director also addressed the issue of the competition between Marvel and DC Comics, or between Disney and Warner Bros. He stated that such a move on the part of the latter studio would set it apart from its competitor:
I think that is the smartest, most punk rock thing that DC can do right now. To separate themselves from Marvel is just to double-down and say, “We're going to tell a bunch of crazy stories. We're going to tell stories in different universes and different times, and really play around, and just tell you great stories with these characters.” To me, I think that the expanded universe is one long story thing that will always serve its purpose, but we've got to think about what's next.