While Superman: The Movie remains the definitive take on the character in the eyes of many fans, modern Superman movies have been something of a mixed bag.
Superman Returns tried and (mostly) failed to recapture the magic of Richard Donner's early movies in 2006 and was treated as a direct sequel to them. Zack Snyder upped the ante with 2013's Man of Steel, though his action-packed approach was somewhat diminished by controversial creative decisions.
As for Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice and Justice League, those were also incredibly divisive.
Next up is James Gunn's Superman, a movie which promises to embrace the comics and take the hero back to his roots. In conversation with Josh Horowitz, the filmmaker and DC Studios boss shed new light on what fans can expect from his take on the iconic hero.
"I don't think we've ever seen the big science fiction Silver Age Superman aspects that we have in our movie," Gunn teased. "We've never seen...you'll see when the movie comes out, but we've never seen this specific part of Superman's life."
"I don't think we've ever seen the Lex that [Nicolas Hoult] is. Nic is imposing," he continued. "You go, 'Oh, f***, poor Superman.' That's the thing we never see, not in film. Sometimes in the comics you go, 'Oh, Superman is f***ed because Lex is so smart and so good at what he's doing' but in the movies, you're going, 'Lex is about to get f***ed.'"
"We've got a big old Superman and a pretty tall Lex too. You see now where Lex is, he's not the person you want to have against you," the Superman writer and director concluded.
Despite the presence of a character who appears to be Ultraman on Superman's set, Gunn has repeatedly said that Lex Luthor is the movie's big bad. Will he don his comic book counterpart's green and purple Power Suit for a one-on-one battle? It's possible, though we have just seen something similar in The CW's Superman & Lois.
You can watch the full interview with Gunn in the player below.
Superman tells the story of Superman's journey to reconcile his Kryptonian heritage with his human upbringing as Clark Kent of Smallville, Kansas. He is the embodiment of truth, justice and the American way, guided by human kindness in a world that sees kindness as old-fashioned.
David Corenswet is playing the Man of Steel, while Rachel Brosnahan has been tapped to star as Lois Lane.
The cast includes Isabela Merced as Hawkgirl, Edi Gathegi as Mister Terrific, Nathan Fillion as Guy Gardner, Anthony Carrigan as Metamorpho, and Gabriela de Faría as The Engineer.
Supporting characters include Sara Sampaio as Eve Teschmacher, Wendell Pierce as Perry White, Skyler Gisondo as Jimmy Olsen, Pruitt Taylor Vince as Pa Kent, Neva Howell as Ma Kent, Beck Bennett as Steve Lombard, Mikaela Hoover as Cat Grant, Christopher MacDonald as Ron Troupe, Nicholas Hoult as Lex Luthor, and Milly Alcock as Supergirl.
Superman is currently set to be released in theaters on July 11, 2025.