Warner Bros. Bosses Say James Gunn "Understood The Assignment" With SUPERMAN; Talk Involvement With DC Studios

Warner Bros. Bosses Say James Gunn "Understood The Assignment" With SUPERMAN; Talk Involvement With DC Studios

Warner Bros. Pictures co-chiefs Pam Abdy and Mike De Luca have praised James Gunn's Superman, claiming that the filmmaker "understood the assignment" when it came to rebooting DC's Man of Tomorrow...

By JoshWilding - May 06, 2025 05:05 AM EST
Filed Under: Superman
Source: The Wrap

There's a lot of excitement and intrigue surrounding James Gunn's Superman, the movie that will launch DC Studios' DCU. Fans remain eager for a new trailer (despite recently getting a 5-minute sneak peek and featurette), and it's rumoured to drop later this month. 

DC Studios is separate from Warner Bros. in the same way that Marvel Studios largely stands apart from Disney.  However, studio heads Pam Abdy and Mike De Luca still have their finger on the pulse, and told SmartLess hosts Jason Bateman, Will Arnett, and Sean Hayes that they've seen an early cut of the reboot. 

"I used to chase James as a producer when he did 'Slither' and started with his low-budget movies," Mike De Luca explained. "He’s really unique and I think DC is in great hands with the two of them."

"We’ve seen an early cut of 'Superman,' and I don’t want to bury the lead, there’s a lot of marketing about to roll out ahead of its release, but he really understood the assignment," the executive continued. "His heart’s in the right place, his aim is true, and we’re really excited about their new version of DC."

His fellow co-Warner Bros. Pictures Chairman, Pam Abdy, added, "Yeah, James is great."

De Luca went on to explain that DC Studios does indeed bypass them, reporting directly to Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav. He and Abdy have been criticised for their handling of the DC brand, specifically Joker: Folie à Deux, an overpriced box office flop. 

"We actually have to stipulate: DC reports directly to David Zaslav, we don’t oversee it, but we were big supporters of Peter and James taking the job," he confirmed. "Our advice when we were asked was it doesn’t need another career executive, it needs a storyteller in charge."

"We were really impressed with Pixar — they brought Pete Docter, who’s a filmmaker in from the field, to be chief content officer and preside over their slate of movies," De Luca concluded. 

How much stock should we put into this praise? Hands-off with Superman or not, they also report to Zaslav, so they're bound to say the right things on behalf of Warner Bros. Even so, it's hard to imagine them being this positive about the movie unless they truly believe it's something special.

You can hear more from De Luca and Abdy in the player below. 

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.  

The movie stars David Corenswet in the dual role of Superman/Clark Kent, Rachel Brosnahan as Lois Lane and Nicholas Hoult as Lex Luthor.

Also appearing are Edi Gathegi, Anthony Carrigan, Nathan Fillion, Isabela Merced, Skyler Gisondo, Sara Sampaio, María Gabriela de Faría, Wendell Pierce, Alan Tudyk, Pruitt Taylor Vince, Neva Howell, and Milly Alcock.

Superman arrives in theaters on July 11, 2025.

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vectorsigma
vectorsigma - 5/6/2025, 5:14 AM
"it doesn’t need another career executive, it needs a storyteller in charge"

Marvel, take note. Your desperation ends with this advice
vectorsigma
vectorsigma - 5/6/2025, 5:16 AM
#InGunnWeTrust

#DesperateMarvel
Blergh
Blergh - 5/6/2025, 5:42 AM
@vectorsigma - while I agree with the sentiment that it needs a storyteller and not a career executive but don’t get you turning this into us vs. them.

Marvel hired Gunn in the first place, gave him creative control to tell the story of Rocket and then got him back after he got cancelled from righties for making of Trump. Disney fired him because of the political pressure but Gunn happily came back to finish his story.

Feige isn’t a career executive either, the guy breathes these stories. Not saying he’s not spread to thin these days but I would say WB took Marvels blueprint here.

Besides, it’s not like you can’t clearly tell that other filmmakers like Ryan Coogler, Destin Daniel Cretton and now Jake Schreier got to do what they wanted. There might be mandates for certain plot beats and character appearances but these movies are through and through by these directors
vectorsigma
vectorsigma - 5/6/2025, 6:07 AM
@Blergh - it is not an "us vs them", more on "bring back your quality, marvel"

Imo, WB only took the shared universe blueprint, Gunn's process right now is an upgrade based on his lessons from Marvel. He makes sure a good script is there first before greenlighting a project.

Him and the other filmakers you mentioned werent able to make the movie they fully wanted. Feige has been an intrusion on these filmakers that most of them will not want to go back. As early as Phase 1 with Edgar Wright there have been issues.

He struck gold with the concept id agree, but never did he let the filmakers ceeate what they wanted.

Feige should step back a bit and be a Peter Safran and get a full creative on the storytelling part like Gunn is.
TheJok3r
TheJok3r - 5/6/2025, 5:18 AM
I really hope this does well at the box office. DC and the genre as a whole need a win.
bkmeijer1
bkmeijer1 - 5/6/2025, 5:21 AM
Honestly, it's not really reassuring that studio execs say a filmmaker understands the assignment, considering it often feels like they want the opposite of something creative.
MrRossBot
MrRossBot - 5/6/2025, 6:58 AM
@bkmeijer1 - I’ll say this in response to your assessment: these two aren’t the typical executives. They’re film nerds and lovers of the medium. They get it. They’ve somehow, in their respective careers, found a solid balance between corporate and creative. You should listen to the episode! Very good!
bkmeijer1
bkmeijer1 - 5/6/2025, 7:31 AM
@MrRossBot - alright, thanks for the clarification. I might give it a listen. Bateman and Arnett are already pretty funny too
Blergh
Blergh - 5/6/2025, 5:38 AM
I’m a big fan of DeLuca for his involvement in New Line post-Freddy. The man greenlit the LotR trilogy and deserves more credit than many other WB execs, New Line was the production arm back then. He also championed slasher flicks throughout the 90s till Jason X.

So when he says he chased him since Slither I absolutely believe him that he saw something in Gunn that many others hadn’t.

I also believe that Gunn gets Superman a lot more than many other directors before him did. Snyder and Singer treated Superman as the god of a man, who carried himself like a god in the mantle of a human. Pretending to be human but still obviously “a god in disguise”. Cavill and Routh played Kal-El pretending to be Clark Kent, not the other way around.

The way he was portrayed on Smallville, the new Supeman animation with Jack Quaid and in the Chris Reeves version is THE way (for me at least).
He’s just Clark, a good guy with bigger powers and due to his nativitee he helps others without questioning why. He’s just a good guy, not a Greek god hiding among us. Being awkward, derpy and funny while PRETENDING to be cool as Superman is how it should be.

Gunn writes outsiders really well and this is exactly what I think he’ll do here. Clark is the derpy country himbo with a good heart.

Even the Captain America movies are bad templates for Superman because Steve Rogers was always better than every other human, even before the serum. Supes isn’t necessarily “better”, he just loves our ideals fully
Highflyer
Highflyer - 5/6/2025, 6:07 AM
@Blergh - Curious, how did Snyder's and Routh's come across as a "god in disguise"? Also, I never got tht impression that Reeve was PRETENDING to be cool as Superman. I mainly remember Superman 1978 portraying Superman as who he really is.

You mention Clark just being a good guy, but Snyder's Clark is never told to save people prior to doing so. Especially since he'd been doing it since he was a child despite his father's warnings.
vectorsigma
vectorsigma - 5/6/2025, 6:16 AM
@Blergh - i like this analysis on how Superman was handled by different creatives and the trailer perfectly shows how Gunn portrays him as you prefer him to be. From the dorky way he walks as Clark, to saying thank you to robots who just mentioned they dont have emotions.
MrRossBot
MrRossBot - 5/6/2025, 7:00 AM
@Blergh - Yeah, these guys seem like they get it. It was so refreshing hearing studio execs speak like just normal everyday fans. You can they love cinema and respect the medium. Not to mention their filmography which is quite impressive.
MrRossBot
MrRossBot - 5/6/2025, 7:01 AM
@MrRossBot - *You can tell they love…
JurassicClunge
JurassicClunge - 5/6/2025, 6:01 AM
WB need to stop prasing directors before the movies are released 😮‍💨

People still laugh at the standing ovation comments 🤣😅

vectorsigma
vectorsigma - 5/6/2025, 6:18 AM
@JurassicClunge - tbf, he has been praising him since Slither
SuperCat
SuperCat - 5/6/2025, 6:25 AM
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TheVisionary25
TheVisionary25 - 5/6/2025, 6:45 AM
It’s hard to trust an exec’s opinion on something that is related to their company , no matter how they involved they are or not but their comments about Gunn’s heart being in the right place & his aim being true about the film do resonate since you can feel that from the film itself imo or atleast the footage we have seen so far.

Also cool to see them cite Peter Doctor and Pixar as an example of a creative becoming an exec and running a studio as inspiration for James to do the same.
TrentCrimm
TrentCrimm - 5/6/2025, 6:56 AM
Quotes like this are great and all but what else are they going to say really?

True or not, these guys have a company line to tow, they're not about to publicly bash one of their companies most important releases of the year.
MrRossBot
MrRossBot - 5/6/2025, 7:08 AM
Not bashing or passing judgement on anyone’s opinion here but if you’re basing said opinion on a tiny part of an hour long interview I implore you to listen to the entire episode. These two speak from a place as a fan of film first and executives second. Take a gander at the projects they’ve had a hand in. Quite a few bangers. From what I gathered they really want film and cinema to thrive not just for the sake of the almighty. You gotta respect that.
SteviesRightFoo
SteviesRightFoo - 5/6/2025, 7:28 AM
Il make that judgement myself. Anything I've seen or heard on the film so far has garnered a middling response from me when, in my view, this film needs to be an 8/10 minimum. I am somewhat biased though as I really do dislike Gunn and his work apart from the first GoTG
Kozmik
Kozmik - 5/6/2025, 7:31 AM
Jeez, have we already forgotten and the nonsense said about how great 'The Flash' was supposed to be?

These people will say whatever it is they think needs to be said to please the higher-ups.

In fact, that they felt the need to say anything at all should be a hint that no only is Superman not as wonderful as they like us to think, but that James Gunn's tenure at DC Films might be resting on a razor's edge.

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