Superman: Legacy is currently scheduled to begin shooting in January, but it sounds like James Gunn still has some work to do on the script.
In a Threads post, the filmmaker revealed that the screenplay for his Man of Steel reboot is now “99.9%” done, before adding, “I’m always changing small things but it’s been essentially done since well before the strike.”
Legacy will be the first movie of the revamped (though not entirely rebooted) DCU, and will be followed by several other high-profile projects that were announced as part of the Chapter 1 slate, "Gods and Monsters," including a new Batman movie based on The Brave and the Bold.
Gunn has previously indicated that it will be quite a while before he has a chance to turn his attention to this new take on The Dark Knight, but that hasn't stopped the rumors from doing the rounds online.
Supernatural and The Boys star Jensen Ackles has been a popular fan-pick to play Batman/Bruce Wayne for some time, so it was probably inevitable that he'd eventually be "rumored" to have landed the role. The same source also claimed that Javon Walton had been cast as Robin/Damian Wayne, Wolfgang Novogratz as Nightwing/Dick Grayson and Clancy Brown as Alfred Pennyworth.
The GOTG Vol. 3 director debunked these rumors outright, noting that The Brave and The Bold doesn't even have a completed script yet.
This doesn't mean that Ackles couldn't emerge as a legit contender for the part down the line. Here's what the actor had to say about potentially donning the cape and cowl in live-action (he's already voiced the hero in animation) during a recent interview.
"Look, right now nobody's talking about anything. There's a strike going on in the entertainment industry, and until that gets solved, nobody is having conversations about anything. Would I entertain the idea of playing my favorite superhero of all time? Nah, I'm good (laughs)...sounds like a lot of work. I would love it. Sign me up."
The Flash director Andy Muschietti has signed on to helm the DCU reboot, and the project is rumored to have enlisted John Logan (Gladiator, The Aviator, Hugo, Skyfall) to pen the script.
Along with a new take on the Caped Crusader, The Brave and the Bold will introduce a very different Robin in the form of Damian Wayne, a "murderous tween raised by assassins who also happens to be the son Batman never knew he had."