James Gunn gives himself the job of directing Superman: Legacy
Look! Up in the sky! It’s a bird, it’s a plane, it’s James Gunn directing Superman: Legacy
Aux News James Gunn
One of the perks of being the boss is giving yourself all the good gigs. Seeing as he’s now the co-chairman and co-CEO of DC Studios, James Gunn, who made a career bringing together off-beat, D-list superheroes to the mainstream, decided that he will direct the latest film adaptation of the most mainstream and iconic superhero of them all: Superman. Announced earlier today, James Gunn will direct Superman: Legacy, the centerpiece of Warner Bros. DC universe re-do.
Despite what some may think, this is not a sequel to his 2010 superhero movie Super. It’s another reboot of the Superman franchise, marking the third attempt at making the character a viable movie star in about 20 years. According to co-DC Studios head Peter Safaran, this will have less to do with Richard Donner’s Superman or penis ships and more to do with the differences in Kal-El’s upbringing, “balancing his Kryptonian heritage with his human upbringing.”
In a lengthy Twitter post, Gunn announced that the film would fly into theaters on July 11, 2025. To Gunn, making Superman had special significance—as did the release date. He also posted the iconic cover from Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely’s brilliant All-Star Superman series, which hopefully hints at the film’s tone.
“Yes, I’m directing Superman: Legacy to be released on July 11, 2025,” Gunn tweeted.”My brother Matt told me when he saw the release date he started to cry. I asked him why. He said, ‘Dude, it’s Dad’s birthday.’ I hadn’t realized. I lost my Dad almost three years ago. He was my best friend. He didn’t understand me as a kid, but he supported my love of comics and my love of film and I wouldn’t be making this movie now without him.”
Gunn has been floating around Superman and nearly every other superhero since the early 2010s when he managed to turn Guardians Of The Galaxy into a household name.
“I was offered Superman years ago—I initially said no because I didn’t have a way in that felt unique and fun and emotional that gave Superman the dignity he deserved,” Gunn wrote. “A bit less than a year ago I saw a way in, in many ways centering around Superman’s heritage – how both his aristocratic Kryptonian parents and his Kansas farmer parents inform who he is and the choices he makes. So I chose to finally take on writing the script. But I was hesitant to direct, despite the constant pestering by Peter Safran and others to commit.”
“Just because I write something doesn’t mean I feel it in my bones, visually and emotionally, enough to spend over two years directing it, especially not something of this magnitude. But, the long and the short of it is, I love this script, and I’m incredibly excited as we begin this journey.”
As for who’s playing Superman, that’s still anyone’s guess. Neither Henry Cavill nor Michael B. Jordan’s name came up in the tweets, so it would appear as though they either don’t know or it’s a post-credit sequence for Shazam! Fury Of The Gods that WB will backtrack two weeks later.
48 Comments
Tonight, I think I’ll have a cocktail made from the tears of Zack Snyder’s fans.
Ooh, I love a Snyd-car.
You sonofa… Too good.
It’s actually a Snyrish Review Bomb.
I wonder if the Snyder Bros know that Gunn wrote Snyder’s Dawn of the Dead remake?
Completely coincidentally, Snyder’s dawn of the dead remake is the best thing zackie ever made.
What about Peacemaker season 2 though?
“It was a really tough choice, but ultimately I went with my gut and chose myself.”
Ah, the Jeopardy gambit. A classic.
Dick Cheney did it first.
AKA the Dick Cheney.
I look forward to seeing what classic rock song Clark will stiffly dance to.
Carry On, My Wayward Son?
I would say “Waiting on the Sun”, but I don’t think Sixpence None the Richer is quite in Gunn’s wheelhouse. Maybe “Walking on Sunshine”?
“Children of the Sun” by Billy Thorpe!
Donovan’s Sunshine Superman?
“Superman’s Song” by Crash Test Dummies
Hmmmmmmmmmm
Me ain’t got nothing on me
It depends on what your definition of “classic rock” is (most folks I know tend to put the marker at 25 years, same as the qualifications for “classic” plates on a car), but “Superman (It’s Not Easy)“ by Five for Fighting will be 25 years old when this movie is released.(this existential angst is brought to you by Soul Flayers. Soul Flayers – for when you need to be reminded of your abject lack of immortality)
If he manages to work in that scene from All-Star Superman where he consoles the suicidal goth girl on the edge of a building, I will consider anything else he does with it a win. No, seriously though — I hope they cast it as well as Marvel cast Steve Rogers. (Or even just as good as the Christopher Reeve version.)
Jesus, man. I have a blowup of that page laminated and it lives on my classroom wall. That is the most beautiful illustration of what Superman means.
Will superhero fatigue ever set it, I wonder?
I feel like it kind of already did. A few years back news about upcoming superman movie would’ve garnered +200 comments here. Now? It’s only 20 something.
Plus everyone’s got a gun now so who needs big, muscle-bound guys in tights (or leather or whatever).
Uh….look around…its here in spades.
Hahhahaha! I needed that today.
Its weird theyre calling it superman: legacy when this one is a young superman who’s just starting out.
Right??
I keep hoping it’s a working title because jeez does “legacy” not make a lick of sense given the youthful approach
it would make sense if it started with a young superman and covered his whole life until he was old, or until the end, or if it followed all star superman exactly, but i dont think theyre doing that.
Not to be difficult but I’m not sure even that works, Legacy to me is what’s left behind after they’ve gone.
The elevator pitch for Superman Legacy to me, should be something like “Clark Kent/Kal El is dead following a sacrifice to save the planet, 5 years have passed of relative peace time until the threat thought gone resurfaces. It’s thought noone but the passed Superman could save the human race until one man rises up to take the mantle… and that man?You guessed it, Frank Stallone”
that makes sense (until the frank stallone joke.) But yeah i dont know how theyre gonna go that route with a brand new young superman
One thing I will add, is that it’s interesting how honest he is about needing to be convinced to direct even if it does come across a little as a humble-brag.James Gunn has made a career out of turning C-list material into interesting above-its-station film making so for him to have some reticence in picking up the big-boy material is understandable. I am genuinely curious and possibly a touch excited to see his interpretation of the character that’s for sure.
“But yeah i dont know how theyre gonna go that route with a brand new young superman”
It’s weird that you don’t know how they’re going to do it even though they haven’t revealed a single plot detail about the movie.
I think it’s supposed to indicate that Superman himself is the legacy – the legacy of Krypton and the legacy of the Kents.
Wow, how did James Gunn not think of that? YOU thought of it and you don’t know a single detail about the movie, but he couldn’t figure it out?
Based on the plot summary, I believe “Legacy” is referring to Superman being his fathers’ legacy.
Despite what some may think, this is not a sequel to his 2010 superhero movie Super.This seems so dumb and irrelevant, I have to assume it’s some kind of joke that I’m not getting.
This reminds me of the time George W. Bush decided to run for president and he asked Dick Cheney to bring him a list of possible VP candidates. After awhile Cheney returned and Bush asked him “So, do you have a list of names?” and Cheney replied “Just one. It’s me.”Must be nice to be in charge of finding someone for a position and coming back and saying it’s you.
“I will need you to be cool about the occasional face-shooting.”
I did enjoy a lot of what Gunn has made ….but cannot apply any of those experiences to what I know to be Superman? I hope to come away pleasantly surprised.
He needs to make something sincere and unironic as hell, to counteract all the Snyder. I don’t know if he’s the one for the job either. At least it’s not Abrams
my thing with this is like…if he’s supposed to be ‘the kevin feige’ of the dcu will he not be in a bad position to do either thing properly? just feels like setting yourself up for failure!
Unlike Kevin Feige, he has a partner.
Fuck ‘Super-Man.’ Jeebus. The hubris. No style a’tall.
One hopes this isn’t another origin story film for the character. But I’ll tell you what would be refreshing, in my opinion: if Lois Lane is just not infatuated with Superman and doesn’t see him as a potential love interest. Then, post-credits scene is Clark, almost visibly nervous, revealing his secret identity to Lois, who is completely nonchalant and responds, “yeah, yeah I know”- to a surprised Clark who never conceived that Lois- an investigative reporter who has had to work twice as hard in a largely sexist industry- would have seen through his disguise. This sort of upsets the usual balance and makes the dynamic between the two much more interesting. These characters are nearly a century old.