Somehow it became widely believed that a villain other than Lex Luthor would be menacing the Man of Steel in director James Gunn's Superman film.
Initially, online chatter centered on Bizarro before Ultraman became the 'surefire' antagonist.
The rumor seems to have originated from anonymous online 'scoopers' Can we Get Some Toast and My Time To Shine. Daniel Richtman also joined the bandwagon, asserting that Ultraman was a villain in the film, posting it to his paid subscribers group.
The rumors swirled for a few days but DC Studios co-chair and Superman director James Gunn has taken to Threads to debunk those claims (as he often does).
Gunn wrote, "The primary protagonist of Superman is, shockingly, Superman. The main villain of Superman is, shockingly, Lex Luthor. I don’t know where all the stuff is coming from that it’s something other than this. There are so many stories coming out every day it’s difficult to deal with and everytime I strike something down I’m giving it attention. So, I’ll say again, don’t believe anything unless you see it HERE (& why would you want to know everything before the movie comes out anyway?"
It's worth taking the time at this juncture to point out that for every rumor that pans out from these faceless, Twitter 'scoopers', the next three or four end up being wrong.
Superman, formerly titled Superman: Legacy, is currently filming on location in Atlanta, with on-location filming in Ohio on the horizon, at a site that could potentially be used for the Hall of Justice.
The James Gunn-directed (and written) film stars David Corenswet as Kal-El/Clark Kent, Rachel Brosnahan as Lois Lane, Nathan Fillion as Guy Gardner/Green Lantern, Isabela Merced as Hawkgirl, Edi Gathegi as Mister Terrific, Sean Gunn as Maxwell Lord, María Gabriela de Faría as Angela Spica/The Engineer, Terence Rosemore as Otis, Wendell Pierce as Perry White, Sara Sampaio as Eve Teschmacher, and Anthony Carrigan as Metamorpho.
Additionally, Nicholas Hoult has been confirmed by Gunn to portray Lex Luthor in the film. Milly Alcock was also recently cast as Supergirl and is also expected (but unconfirmed) to appear in Legacy, as well.
Currently set for release on July 11, 2025, Superman: Legacy Superman is the first film in Gunn's reboot of the DCEU.