Before Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav decided to scrap the DC Extended Universe and start over with DC Studios' DCU, James Gunn was being eyed to write and direct a new Superman movie.
Ultimately, the success of The Suicide Squad and Peacemaker led to the studio deciding that, alongside veteran movie producer Peter Safran, Gunn should take charge of the DCU. Now, he's helming Superman: Legacy SUPERMAN and overseeing a slate of movies and TV shows dubbed "Chapter 1: Gods and Monsters."
Only time will tell whether the Guardians of the Galaxy helmer is the right pick to overhaul this franchise and SUPERMAN will be a big test when it comes to whether fans embrace his vision.
The DCEU delivered a string of critical and commercial disappointments, but there were some hits along the way. Among the biggest was the standalone DC movie, The Batman, a new take on the Caped Crusader which existed in its own continuity.
Now, Gunn has revealed that when he was first approached about SUPERMAN - in the summer of 2022 - the idea was for his take on the Man of Tomorrow to also be an Elseworlds project separate from the DCEU.
We'd assume the story has evolved quite a bit since then and it appears the original idea was for Henry Cavill to be paired up with Dwayne Johnson's Black Adam while Gunn's Superman existed separately. That would have been a little odd, but it's not like Warner Bros. ever really planned ahead and it's possible Cavill hadn't been enlisted by The Rock when Gunn was first approached.
Either way, Gunn clearly never intended to have Cavill play his Clark Kent.
Check out the filmmaker's comments in the screenshots below.
James Gunn said when Michael De Luca hired him to write ‘SUPERMAN’ in around August 2022 it was going to be separate from the DCEU similar to ‘THE BATMAN’ & the 'Black Superman' project by JJ Abrams & Ta-Nehisi Coates which would be a separate Elseworld project rather than part of a shared universe.
byu/GodlessMonsters inDC_Cinematic
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. Other recent casting additions include Isabela Merced as Hawkgirl, Edi Gathegi as Mister Terrific, Nathan Fillion as Guy Gardner, Anthony Carrigan as Metamorpho, Gabriela de Faría as The Engineer, Sara Sampaio as Eve Teschmacher, Skyler Gisondo as Jimmy Olsen, Nicholas Hoult as Lex Luthor, and Wendell Pierce as Perry White.
SUPERMAN is currently set to be released in theaters on July 11, 2025.