Mister Miracle's first look keeps Darkseid in the glare
James Gunn revealed the first image from DC Studios' animated Mister Miracle, with Josh Hutcherson and Mackenzie Davis voicing Scott Free and Big Barda. Here is what Peter Safran has said about 2028, and how eight half-hour episodes compare to Tom King's 12 issues.
The best part of the first Mister Miracle image is the thing you can barely see. On Monday, James Gunn posted the first look at DC Studios' animated Mister Miracle series and officially welcomed Josh Hutcherson as Scott Free and Mackenzie Davis as Big Barda. As Polygon describes it, the two stand face to face in a blaze of color while a silhouette approaches in the background. The Direct zoomed in and makes the obvious call: that hulking shape in the glare is Darkseid, who has not been cast yet.
Tom King is adapting the Mister Miracle comic he made with artist Mitch Gerads, for DC Studios and Warner Bros. Animation. Cinema Express notes that DC Studios co-chief Peter Safran first let the casting slip in an interview with IGN before Gunn made it official.
What Safran has actually said
Safran has been the chatty one. Talking to Collider while promoting Clayface, he said the show is "very advanced," that he has already seen animatics for the whole season, and that while no date has been announced, "we've always thought of it as '28." He also confirmed episodes of roughly 30 minutes. Bleeding Cool rounded up the same interview and Safran's hints that the show could keep going past one season. And per Polygon, Safran said King "wrote all eight episodes" himself.
That last detail matters more than the casting to me. King co-created Lanterns for DC, but he shared that one with Damon Lindelof and Chris Mundy. This one is King alone, adapting his own book. You are going to get his voice, for better or worse, with nobody sanding it down.
From the page to the screen, side by side
Here is how the show compares with the comic and with Scott Free's history on paper, built from the reports above and the character's Wikipedia entry.
| On the page | On screen | |
|---|---|---|
| Creator of Scott Free | Jack Kirby, Mister Miracle #1 (April 1971) | Same character, now in the DCU |
| Big Barda | Introduced in Mister Miracle #4 (October 1971) | Voiced by Mackenzie Davis |
| The version adapted | Tom King and Mitch Gerads, 12 issues, 2017 to 2019 | Written entirely by King |
| Length | 12 issues | 8 episodes of about 30 minutes |
| Scott Free | Escape artist, son of Highfather, raised on Apokolips | Voiced by Josh Hutcherson |
| Darkseid | Kirby's ruler of Apokolips | Apparently in the first look, not yet cast |
| Format | Comic limited series | Adult animated series from DC Studios and Warner Bros. Animation |
| Status | Finished in 2019 | Animatics done for the full season; aiming for 2028, no date |
The math is interesting. Twelve issues into eight half-hours is about an issue and a half per episode. That is tight for a story that spends so much time on small domestic moments between Scott and Barda, but half-hour episodes are a good fit for the comic's rhythm, which jumps from an interplanetary war to quiet scenes at home without warning. A one-hour prestige format would have smoothed that out. I am glad they did not.
Twelve issues in eight half-hours is a tight squeeze, and the right one for a book that cuts from war to home life.
The second time is the charm, hopefully
This is not King's first try at getting Scott Free on screen. Wikipedia notes he was attached to Ava DuVernay's New Gods film before it was cancelled in April 2021. Five years later, a smaller, stranger version is the one that actually got made. Animation also solves the obvious problem: Kirby's Apokolips is very expensive to shoot in live action and much cheaper to draw. One more bit of trivia worth knowing before 2028: Kirby based Scott and Barda's marriage on his own marriage to his wife, Roz.
Where it sits on the calendar
Polygon lists the rest of DC Studios' slate. Sorted by date, Mister Miracle is the far end of it:
- October 23, 2026: Clayface in theaters.
- Mid-2027: The People v. Gorilla Grodd, a mockumentary-style series.
- July 9, 2027: Man of Tomorrow, the Superman sequel.
- February 18, 2028: The Batman Part 2, which is not part of the DCU.
- 2028, no date: Mister Miracle.
That 2028 window lines up with the other side of the street, too. At NYCC, Marvel put its own animated and live action TV on a calendar stretching to 2028 and beyond. Adult animation is having a moment on streaming in general, from Marvel's Zombies events to Helluva Boss jumping to Prime Video.
What I still want to know
- Who voices Darkseid. If he is in the first image, the announcement cannot be far off.
- Where it streams. DC has not said, and some outlets are guessing.
- Whether Mitch Gerads is involved. Nobody has said, and I would love to know if he had a hand in the look.
- A real date. "We've always thought of it as '28" is a mood, not a premiere.
Until then, the first look does the job. It shows two people in love and something enormous walking up behind them. That is the whole book in one frame.
How we made this: researched and drafted with AI assistance. Sources are linked in the piece.
How we made this: researched and drafted with AI assistance. Sources are linked in the piece.
Original commentary based on public reporting. Not a reprint. Editorial standards.