James Gunn's Superman Coming In 2025

[Vordan]

Yeah they won’t be the Authority in Legacy, they’re going to be Stormwatch until Brainiac destroys them.

[Vordan]

(Hope we get some sign on what the S-shield will be).

[Last Son of Krypton]

Yeah they won’t be the Authority in Legacy, they’re going to be Stormwatch until Brainiac destroys them.

Typical Gunn's non-answers. He said something of the same effect about Lex Luthor during a podcast with Rosenbaum.

When first asked a Lex Luthor is in Superman: Legacy, Gunn acknowledged audiences are expecting that, but it's something that he's "never said:"

“Yeah… Everybody thinks there’s a Lex Luthor out there. But I’ve never said there was a Lex Luthor in there.”

There are castings for both Luthor and 3 characters from the Authority, who cares he never said it.

[Vordan]

Same guys who worked on Iron Man 2 & 3, X-Men: DoFP, and the first two Avengers. VFX should be great as long as they get the time they need.

[Korath]

And the money.
DC needs to have a great Superman movies but perhaps that with a constrained budget a Lois and Clark with some stunning Superman sequences would be best.

I'd rather we only had a few great scenes of Superman doing his stuff onscreen rather than a bad CGI feast !

[Frontier]

Gunn seems to know how to work within a budget.

[Jeffrey2]

I think the Gunn era projects will be all (or most of them) interconnected and lead into each others like episodes of a series. They are trying to replicate the MCU formula, so having characters introduced before having their own films has to be expected.




I hope it'll turn out something like that, and there is a SM villain among the main antagonists. Not just doing a SM vs The Authority movie.

I get that Gunn may be using SL to set up his Authority film. He seems to be huge on The Authority and likely hopes to turn it into a GOTG style franchise. But if The Authority characters get significant screen time to the exclusion of core Superman characters it will be a huge mistake IMO. This film's first goal has to be to reintroduce/revitalize Superman and get movie-going audiences to be hyped for Superman to the point where a SL sequel is warranted. Definitely there has to be a featured Superman villain in SL. And not just Lex. A villain not done before. Brainiac is perhaps too expensive to do given budget constraints, but Metallo is a great villain not done before who would be budget friendly.

Yes, this is an interconnected universe but that needs to work all ways. To have Coronswet debut in SL then put him on the shelf for years would be a mistake. Will The Authority have other characters in it? Most obviously Superman. Will the Batman film feature characters from outside the Batverse? Will Superman be featured in the Gunnverse? Or be essentially one and done. Cavill was wasted by WB in his prime. Hopefully they don't waste Corenswet.

[DochaDocha]

Not sure if there's any inherent value in any of Gunn's responses, but I think it's pretty neat that he's willing to engage fans. I didn't care for a huge chunk of Bruce Timm's DCAU ideas, but his fan engagement was pretty outstanding. Likewise Greg Weisman.

[Ascended]

HYPE RESTORED! This has gotta mean Brainiac is in Legacy right? That’s what I’m taking it to mean!

Not....necessarily? Gunn could be looking at the Brainiac story for how to handle the Kents and/or John's death, or Clark's dynamic with Kara or his feelings about Krypton. Or just the thematics of Clark fighting his 'cold passionless alien/paths not taken' opposite. Technically didn't this arc establish the Johns version of Krypton too (even if it was just like, a final page set up for the next arc or whatever)? Brainiac doesn't 'have' to be the villain just because this story is one of several influences.

But....yeah, feeling pretty confident about getting Brainiac right now.

Like the comics he name dropped, that's good material. Nothing too surprising really, nothing too 'exotic' but it's all stuff that helps hype their 'optimistic and heart-felt' talking point. I just need Gunn to say that something like Smashes the Klan or T-Shirt Supes is a influence. Not even a direct, major influence, just Gunn saying "I like that version, I like it when Superman fights for the little guy and doesn't apologize for it, and maybe a bit of that spirit is in my movie" and I'd stop worrying entirely. That's all it would take and I'd be pure optimism.

As for Gunn and the Authority....we'll see. Can't expect the man to admit to too much if the rumors were true, but we shouldn't forget that none of this was confirmed either (right?).

[Vordan]

Not....necessarily? Gunn could be looking at the Brainiac story for how to handle the Kents and/or John's death, or Clark's dynamic with Kara or his feelings about Krypton. Or just the thematics of Clark fighting his 'cold passionless alien/paths not taken' opposite. Technically didn't this arc establish the Johns version of Krypton too (even if it was just like, a final page set up for the next arc or whatever)? Brainiac doesn't 'have' to be the villain just because this story is one of several influences.

All-Star is the one I think he’ll be looking at for the Clark/Pa interactions, that has the much stronger Pa Kent death. It’s possible he could be drawing on it for Krypton… but then both All-Star and Birthright also have plenty of Krypton stuff. I don’t think Kara will be in Legacy. Unless the intern has gone rogue and is just guessing (which very well might be the case!), the big things he’s taking from Brainiac has gotta be the titular character right? Again, that’s if this was actually approved by Gunn.

As for Gunn and the Authority....we'll see. Can't expect the man to admit to too much if the rumors were true, but we shouldn't forget that none of this was confirmed either (right?).

Nothing officially confirmed yet no, but I agree with Last Son that Gunn is likely using weasel words. Technically the Authority won’t be in Legacy… because they won’t be “The Authority” yet.

[Jeffrey2]

Agreed. I'm very much against the idea of this movie using anything that isn't from the Super-verse, and if it's going to dedicate a chunk of screen time to setting up the next movie I might just skip it entirely. When I see a Super film, I want Superman, not a big budget, lowkey pitch for whoever the next guy in line is. Especially now; this will be the first film Clark's had since BvS and I will not be accepting or supporting any guest stars stealing his screen time again.

I remain hopeful. I really do, I think Gunn has it in him to give us the Superman we need. Whether he actually does? Time will tell. But even the rumor of other characters playing a significant role here (especially if there's parallels to Action 775) is something I consider a very bad sign.

ITA. It sounds at times as if SL will be used to launch other characters more than to tell a Superman story focused on superverse characters. Gunn's comments are open to interpretation which is his intention. If The Authority characters get significant screentime that could be a non-starter. Remember Brosnahan is the co-lead with Coronswet. Meaning she'll have a similar amount of screentime/lines. I'm OK with that but it becomes problematic if Gunn is bringing in a number of other characters a la The Authority.

I don't trust WB, I don't really trust Gunn. IMO launching the DCU with Superman at a time when people have no confidence in DC films and Superman is not as popular a character as he was could be a mistake. Batman should be launching the DCU. They may be repeating the error of launching the DCEU with MOS.

Gunn probably reveals the rest of chapter 1 after Aquaman 2. That will be telling - do any of the projects involve Superman in some form? Especially as that will flesh out things through 2030. I don't want to have to wait 5 years after SL before getting more of Superman on the big screen.

Part of me hopes that a buyer for DC Studios comes forward next year and that everything is put on hold (including SL) while the talks are in progress. If a sale occurs let the new company start from scratch with the DC IPs - free from the stigma of WB/the DCEU and even Gunn who is somewhat tangled up in that mess - and especially if BB and Aquaman 2 do poorly.

[Ascended]

All-Star is the one I think he’ll be looking at for the Clark/Pa interactions, that has the much stronger Pa Kent death. It’s possible he could be drawing on it for Krypton… but then both All-Star and Birthright also have plenty of Krypton stuff. I don’t think Kara will be in Legacy. Unless the intern has gone rogue and is just guessing (which very well might be the case!), the big things he’s taking from Brainiac has gotta be the titular character right? Again, that’s if this was actually approved by Gunn.

Oh for sure. Almost everything else in that Brainiac story is done in others, including All-Star and Birthright, and usually done better. I can't imagine looking at anything in that story except Brainiac. But I believe nothing until I see the official casting announcement. And it might not even be plot details Gunn is looking at, he might be looking at thematic and tonal things, who knows? But all my bet-hedging aside....yeah it does look an awful lot like Brainiac.

Nothing officially confirmed yet no, but I agree with Last Son that Gunn is likely using weasel words. Technically the Authority won’t be in Legacy… because they won’t be “The Authority” yet.

That'd be my guess too, he's trying to be cute. But I retain hope that the rumors are overblown and the Authority/StormWatch/Task Force X/whatever they call themselves are just a cameo or after credits zinger, if they're in this at all.

[Vordan]

Oh for sure. Almost everything else in that Brainiac story is done in others, including All-Star and Birthright, and usually done better. I can't imagine looking at anything in that story except Brainiac. But I believe nothing until I see the official casting announcement. And it might not even be plot details Gunn is looking at, he might be looking at thematic and tonal things, who knows? But all my bet-hedging aside....yeah it does look an awful lot like Brainiac.

Yeah I can see the argument for that… if the other two books didn’t also handle Pa dying (All-Star) and Clark exploring his heritage (Birthright) in far superior manners. If Gunn was merely looking at Johns run for ideas on how to handle an early years Clark, it would make more sense to name Secret Origin. If he wanted to take ideas from Johns having Superman butt heads with the powers that be, Secret Origin has him fight the military and Last Son of Krypton has him break Chris out of jail after they try to “claim” him as salvage. Either of those would make more sense to borrow from thematic wise imo.

That'd be my guess too, he's trying to be cute. But I retain hope that the rumors are overblown and the Authority/StormWatch/Task Force X/whatever they call themselves are just a cameo or after credits zinger, if they're in this at all.

If they’re not in it we can happily ignore every “leaker” out there, but there’s a lot of people claiming that they will be. Only question is to what extent.

[BlackClaw]

Gunn seems to know how to work within a budget.

The first Iron Man cost $130-$140 million so it’s doable.

[Vordan]