There's a huge amount of excitement for Superman: Legacy, and fans are understandably keen to see what writer and director James Gunn does with the Man of Tomorrow in the new DCU.
He clearly has very different plans for the character than what we saw from Zack Snyder in 2013's Man of Steel, and if recent reports are to be believed, the filmmaker is close to casting his Clark Kent. We're excited to see who lands the role, and for those of you who are fans of 1978's Superman: The Movie, Gunn now confirms it's a major inspiration.
"The thing they don't talk about much when they talk about Christopher Reeve, they talk about his pureness, his hope, his goodness," he shared in a recent interview with GQ. "They talk about, you know, the way that he plays Clark as being so different from the way he plays Superman, and how he can turn that on in an instant."
"But there's this playfulness about Superman, when he's saving a cat, he's got that wry smile. And that is one of the best parts of the movie is the playfulness of Superman. He enjoys what he's doing. He likes helping human beings and he likes saving them."
Interestingly, Gunn also praised the simple design of Reeve's Superman costume saying that it, "works really good and it's just without frills."
We can't help but wonder whether that's an indication the DCU design will simplify the suit; while the version worn by Henry Cavill was classic Superman in a lot of ways, it was also overly busy and covered in Kryptonian writing upon closer inspection.
Gunn added, "How do you make it look believable? How do you take this outrageous concept of a guy who flies around and turn him into something real? I think that, you know, what we're doing is different. It's its own thing. But I'm definitely influenced by what [director Richard] Donner did with Superman, and what Christopher Reeve did with Superman, and Margot Kidder, who's fantastic in the movie. She's really the heart of it in a lot of ways."
This is going to be music to the ears of many DC Comics fans, and it sounds like the Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 director has a fantastic handle on what makes this character so great. Based on Gunn's past work, though, we definitely don't anticipate getting a retread similar to what Bryan Singer delivered with Superman Returns.
Superman: Legacy is set to be released in theaters on July 11. 2025.