Superman is the first DC Studios feature, and with Guardians of the Galaxy and The Suicide Squad director James Gunn at the helm, we expect it to be unlike any other movie featuring the Man of Steel.
Still, the first poster made it clear that the filmmaker is wearing his inspirations on his sleeve as it had quite a bit in common with visuals used to promote Richard Donner's Superman: The Movie.
Talking to ComicBook.com on the set of Superman, Gunn said. "I think that all previous DC media influenced me. I think that obviously, the original Donner movie influenced me, but there’s also a lot of things that - this isn’t like I’m just making a Donner-type movie. It’s very different from that."
After acknowledging the "excellent stuff" Zack Snyder did with 2013's Man of Steel, Gunn said the DC Animated Universe was another source of inspiration. However, it was the comics he kept coming back to when it came to creating what sounds like a fantastical DCU.
"There’s a lot of stuff from the comic books above and beyond anything else, All-Star Superman, that influenced me more than anything," Gunn explained, adding that he wanted "to take that sort of Silver Age feel, that sort of science fiction approach to it with gadgets."
"Lex is really a sort of sorcerer in a way," he added. "He’s a scientist, but he’s so good at science and I think of him as like a sorcerer."
The fact DC Studios isn't concerning itself with realism bodes well for Superman and future movies and TV shows. After all, there's really no need for a movie about the Man of Tomorrow to be grounded or gritty and the fact Gunn is embracing the comics is no bad thing.
As for how Superman's score pays homage to the past, he teased, "There are nods to Williams, and then also John Murphy’s created this incredibly beautiful score. But the one thing is, it is a score - it’s not a soundtrack. So, it’s not about the songs."
"There’s a few songs in it, and of course I chose those songs beforehand, but it isn’t like any of my previous movies, really … The score is what drives it. It’s a much, much more of a score film," Gunn concluded.
Superman, DC Studios' first feature film to hit the big screen, is set to soar into theaters worldwide this summer from Warner Bros. Pictures. In his signature style, James Gunn takes on the original superhero in the newly imagined DC universe with a singular blend of epic action, humor and heart, delivering a Superman who’s driven by compassion and an inherent belief in the goodness of humankind.
Superman arrives in theaters on July 11, 2025.