Hype for Superman is rapidly building, though Warner Bros.' underwhelming CinemaCon panel hasn't contributed much to it.
Those in attendance have complained that the presentation as a whole was boring, lamenting the fact they were only shown the 5-minute preview set to play in front of A Minecraft Movie this weekend.
Entertainment Weekly spoke with James Gunn in Las Vegas and asked the filmmaker whether he based Superman on a specific comic book storyline.
"I would say it's an original story, but the tone and the look of the film, in many ways, is inspired by Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely's All-Star Superman," he shared. "I read that comic book, and it really has this feeling of the big, old-school, science-fiction Silver Age comics. We have robots and monster babies and giant kaiju and all of that stuff."
"But that is also grounded around these incredibly real relationships with a couple that has started dating a few months ago, and now they're really learning the ins and outs of each other," Gunn added, expanding on comments he made for a recent David Corenswet profile. "What's good about them? What's not so good about them? And what are their ideals like?"
"We have Lois Lane, who's a pragmatist, and Superman is an idealist, and how does that work together? My wife and I are like that, actually," he said, referring to Peacemaker star Jennifer Holland.
So, while we can't look to a specific comic book for clues, Gunn did at least share some insights into what the DCU's version of Lex Luthor wants to achieve when he takes on the Man of Steel. Describing that as Superman's "central conflict," he said the villain wants to "defeat and destroy Superman."
"Here's this guy who's this [incredible] genius scientist who's worked his whole life to become one of the richest, most powerful men in the world, and he does it all to be lauded," he explained. "I mean, he wants to be the greatest, and suddenly this jerk comes in wearing a cape with a lantern jaw and a cocky grin, and he just takes all of the oxygen out of the room, out of the room of Earth, and it creates a burning hatred in the guy."
As for how Lex acquired his fortune, Gunn teased, "I think Lex has invented one of the best forms of battery in the entire world that almost everything runs on. And we don't ever talk about this in the movie, but I think that's where he's made the majority of his money."
Gunn went on to say his goal was to "[bring] a complexity to the relationship between Superman and Lois, and also between Lois and Lex," and broke down what he's looking to achieve with the first DC Studios movie.
"What I tried to bring to it is something beautiful that is about the goodness of human beings, about kindness in people, because that's what Superman represents to me."
"He almost represents something old-fashioned, and yet I think that's exactly what we need right now: kindness, goodness, the innate moral values that we grew up with, that somehow the internet has drowned out and deemed weak."
The writer and director is saying all the right things and appears to have a great understanding of what makes these characters tick.
Superman is an incredibly important movie for DC Studios. While Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow, Clayface, and Sgt. Rock are all on the way, if this reboot fails, it could derail Gunn's ambitious plans for the wider DCU.
Major plot details for the movie leaked online earlier this week. The CinemaCon presentation appeared to confirm its legitimacy, and you can learn more by clicking here.
Superman arrives in theaters on July 11, 2025.