David Jenkins just confirmed the Booster Gold pilot script is finished and handed in to DC Studios, and that one piece of good news quietly drags the franchise’s longest-running casting rumor back into the conversation.
The Our Flag Means Death creator, attached to write the pilot and show-run if the series moves forward, shared the update on Bluesky:
“Just handed the Booster Gold pilot in. I love it. One of my favorite pilot scripts,” posted David Jenkins.
The Pilot Is Done
This is the most concrete movement on Booster Gold in a long stretch.
The project has been quiet enough that fans openly wondered whether it had been scrapped, especially after Jenkins deleted social posts earlier and the rumor mill briefly had it canceled outright.
James Gunn knocked that down in April, confirming the show was still in development, and now Jenkins has the receipts: a completed pilot script he says is one of his favorites he’s ever written.
It still hasn’t been greenlit to series, and that decision runs through HBO Max boss Casey Bloys, who has made clear he judges DC projects script by script, on whether the writing is good, not on whether it fits Gunn’s larger plan.
By that standard, Jenkins talking up the pilot as one of his favorites isn’t just enthusiasm; it’s aimed squarely at the one gate that matters, which is Bloys’s read on the page.
A finished script is the step before HBO orders the show, retools it, or passes, but “the script is in” is a very different status than “is this thing even alive.”
Which Brings Us Back To Kumail Nanjiani
Here’s where it gets interesting. For more than two years, one name has refused to die in connection with Booster Gold: Kumail Nanjiani. The rumor has resurfaced repeatedly that the Eternals actor is the frontrunner — or even a lock — to play Michael Jon Carter.
Worth being precise about the tier here, because this is rumor, not confirmation. DC has never announced Nanjiani in the role, and the leadership has actively cooled the talk every time it’s come up.
Gunn dodged the question back in December — “we’re not quite there yet in terms of Booster Gold” — and he and Peter Safran have previously waved off the Nanjiani chatter rather than feed it.
So the accurate read isn’t “locked and waiting.” It’s “a persistent rumor DC keeps declining to confirm.”
But a persistent rumor needs an opening to come back around, and Jenkins just gave it one.
The Script Was The Missing Piece
You don’t formally attach a lead to a series that doesn’t have a script. That’s the practical reason the Nanjiani question went dormant — there was nothing for an actor to commit to. With a pilot now turned in, the casting decision becomes the next domino. If HBO Max likes what it reads and moves toward a series order, the very next headline out of this project is who’s playing Booster.
That makes Nanjiani’s name relevant again whether or not it ends up being him. He’s the only candidate who’s been attached to this part in the public conversation, and now there’s finally a part to be attached to.
Another TV Win While The Film Slate Waits
Step back and Booster Gold fits a pattern worth flagging.
Look at what Gunn and Safran have actually been confirming lately: the Gorilla Grodd series (which Gunn has since confirmed is the Jimmy Olsen show), the (lack of) updates on Justice League, and Batman and The Brave and the Bold. Now Booster Gold’s pilot lands on top of that.
It’s all television. Gunn and Safran still haven’t announced a single feature film to follow Man of Tomorrow, which tracks with Paramount buying WBD and the studio’s contracts expiring in 2027.
The near-term DCU momentum is on the streaming side; the movie slate is sitting frozen against that 2027 wall. We go over the possible DC reset here under Paramount-WBD.
Booster Gold was first announced as part of the “Gods and Monsters” slate in the DCU’s initial wave of announcements. It has not yet been greenlit to series.
