James Gunn has confirmed plans for The Authority have been shelved.

The 59-year-old filmmaker first announced the movie about a superhero squad who used unorthodox methods to save the planet when he jointly took the helm at DC Studios with Peter Safran in January 2023, but he has now admitted fans are unlikely to see the project in the near future because the idea "didn't work" within the wider comic book universe.

He wrote on Threads: "I never had an intention of writing or directing The Authority.

"The script wasn't quite there but more importantly it didn't work in terms of the larger DCU both in terms of the story and practical concerns. Maybe some day. Not soon."

The update may not have entirely come as a shock to fans because James admitted last year The Authority had been "messed with" while other DC projects forged ahead.

He said during a press day for the DCU in February 2025: "It is a very big movie, if you're going to do it properly. Some of the story elements perhaps that are in Superman and some of the other films we fast-tracked, step a little on The Authority … [It's] the one that got messed with through all of the other things that were happening. The script had a harder time coming along.

And two years ago, James admitted The Authority still hadn't been green lit because he wasn't happy with the script.

When asked if casting has taken place yet, he replied on Threads: "We won't green light a film until we have a finished script we're happy with and, in general, we won't cast a film until the script is finished.

"This is why some projects are moving faster than anticipated and others more slowly. It's always gonna be quality first no matter what."

The Guardians of the Galaxy filmmaker previously explained The Authority would "not just be a story of heroes and villains".

María Gabriela de Faría was cast as Authority co-founder Angela Spica, aka The Engineer, in Gunn's 2025 Superman flick.

Previously teasing the "passion project", the filmmaker said of The Authority: "This is a big movie and I don't know how many of you know are familiar with The Authority.

"The Authority is a very different kind of superhero story. They are basically good intention, but they think that the world is completely broken and the only way to fix it is to take things into their own hands, whether that means killing people, destroying heads of state, changing governments, whatever they want to do to make the world better. And we'll see how that journey goes for them. But as I said earlier, there's morally grey characters of which these are."