James Gunn's Superman Coming In 2025

[Jeffrey2]

I wonder though what would have happened had Black Adam done better? Would Zazlav have told Gunn to keep Cavill? Or would they have just kept Henry as the separate Superman of a separate Black Adam/Shazam sub-universe similar to what appears to be going on with Reeves Batman?

In any case if indeed Zazlav and the other execs knew Henry wasn't really returning and Still let him make that announcement anyway...then it's par for the course for how WB have treated Henry these last few years and the Superman character the last couple decades. A lack of utter respect. That doesn't bode well even with all the talk about Superman being a priority. Until we see results , I'm going to continue to be very suspicious of WBs handling of the character.

Well at least Henry has landed on his feet with the Warhammer series. Good luck to him. I'm sure it still hurts though that he won't be likely wearing the cape again.

Yeah - who told Cavill to make the announcement? He had no contract only a verbal sort of agreement about another Superman film. The Rock is not innocent in all of this. He used Superman/Cavill to promote his film and gain a piece of the DC Studios pie. Best laid plans as they say. Syl Abdul said on a podcast that Cavill was campaigning for the role back in October so maybe no one told him to announce anything. Or maybe someone from Johnson's camp?

Now eyes turn to a new actor. If only Tyler was 10 years younger and had not been cast in S&L. The question is do they go with a known actor or do a Routh total unknown? And would a known actor want to role - a lot of grief comes with it. At this point Reeve does not hang over the franchise as he did (because of time) and Routh and Cavill were less than stellar in the role so a new actor can be free of constraints that held back other actors. Routh was basically told to imitate Reeve rather than make the role his own. As Tyler Hoechlin and Gerard Christopher are doing/have done.

[Gaelforce]

Hey all, let's keep this on track please!

Feel free to start another thread if you are so inclined

[Dagothoth]

Hollywood reporter confirmed that Dwayne Johnson used Henry as a pawn to get control over a portion of DC’s future

[Primal Slayer]

Gunn has a diverse set of films he's written. Watching them, you definitely can pick up his style.

I'll name a few and you can start putting together an idea.

Scooby-Doo and Scooby-Doo 2 Monsters Unleashed Wrote and directed.

Dawn of the Dead 2004 - Written by Gunn and directed by Zack Snyder.

Slither 2006 - Wrote and directed.

Guardians of the Galaxy 1, 2 and 3 - Wrote and directed.

The Suicide Squad and Peacemaker - Wrote and directed.


Horror comedy mix is Gunn's wheelhouse. But he can do touching and emotional as well.

Watch this scene from GOTG 2. It's played for laughs, but Yondu murders his entire crew to upbeat music. This film was rated PG-13.

He didnt direct the Scooby Doo films.

[Doctor Know]

He didnt direct the Scooby Doo films.

I could’ve swore he did. I changed the post details. Thank you for the correction.

[Jeffrey2]

One advantage to a young Superman film is the focus will be Supes. The DeLuca idea seemed to be a film giving Supergirl a big role. A team-up. That is not likely to happen now and that is a good thing.

If Gunn has been writing the script for a while and if rumors are true that they are looking for their Superman actor (and presumably other key actors such as Lois) it is possible the film could go into production in late 2023 for a summer 2025 release. Of course, that is true only if Superman is still a priority at WBD as Zaslav has said. The early 2023 announcement and if Superman is part of it will tell it all. WBD is going to have to announce 3 or 4 films for a 2024/2025. Pattison's Batman for sure - the other several films? Stay tuned.

[Vordan]

I’m guessing Andy Muschietti will be the director for this, unless Gunn decides to direct it himself. It’s said Muschietti was up to direct MoS2, his Flash movie has been very well received per test screenings, he knows how to deliver cool Superman tier fights apparently given he has Supergirl and Zod in that movie, and he’s eager to work with Gunn per the trades. Giving him Superman would be an obvious fit if all of that is true.

[Anthony W]

Barely any show on post Galactica Syfy stood a chance. They cancelled 90% of their shows after 1-2 seasons. Season 1 was the highest rated Syfy show so that's definitely not a flop.

Isn't that like saying you're the tallest little person in the room?

[Last Son of Krypton]

How many times have we lost out on Brainiac in a movie?

At least we can expect from this experience that the moment Gunn will tease Brainiac will be in his Superman saga, it'll be cancelled.

[Jeffrey2]

Gunn is not really doing a total reboot. The SS stuff will mostly continue over with Will Smith possibly returning. There has been huge blowback apparently about letting Gal Gadot go. That was actually never announced. Only that Patty Jenkins is gone. There's a good chance Gal remains as WW and a new film is announced next month with a new director/creative team. WW is their second most lucrative franchise and Gal is a key part of that. Pattison is not the DCEU Batman. Gunn corrected that quickly after the rumor spread. That likely means a non-Reeve Batman film with a new actor will be announced next month as well. Sounds like Mamoa will stay on but possibly get a Lobo film instead of another Aquaman film. Affleck is in discussions to direct DC movies though he isn't expected to direct a Batman film. Ironically Affleck first came on board with plans to direct DCEU films - directing being his first love. It could be that only Cavill, Miller and Fischer end up out of the DCEU.

Although Gunn said Superman will be part of the slate it is not clear that he will continue as a priority. Gunn is being given lots of leeway by Zaslav and is not tied to Zaslav's earlier plans. If it's confirmed that an actor search is on, then yes Superman is a priority. Until then it's sort of up in the air again for Superman. Like what else is new. LOL!

[Dagothoth]

Gunn is not really doing a total reboot. The SS stuff will mostly continue over with Will Smith possibly returning. There has been huge blowback apparently about letting Gal Gadot go. That was actually never announced. Only that Patty Jenkins is gone. There's a good chance Gal remains as WW and a new film is announced next month with a new director/creative team. WW is their second most lucrative franchise and Gal is a key part of that. Pattison is not the DCEU Batman. Gunn corrected that quickly after the rumor spread. That likely means a non-Reeve Batman film with a new actor will be announced next month as well. Sounds like Mamoa will stay on but possibly get a Lobo film instead of another Aquaman film. Affleck is in discussions to direct DC movies though he isn't expected to direct a Batman film. Ironically Affleck first came on board with plans to direct DCEU films - directing being his first love. It could be that only Cavill, Miller and Fischer end up out of the DCEU.

Although Gunn said Superman will be part of the slate it is not clear that he will continue as a priority. Gunn is being given lots of leeway by Zaslav and is not tied to Zaslav's earlier plans. If it's confirmed that an actor search is on, then yes Superman is a priority. Until then it's sort of up in the air again for Superman. Like what else is new. LOL!

No


James Gunn and Zaslav don’t care about public sentiment


They want a hard reboot at all costs

[Prime]

You can blame the Rock and the De Lucas. Rock should’ve gotten Cavill a contract and the De Lucas should’ve either been up front with Cavill that new management was coming in and it’s unlikely he would get another solo movie, or rejected Rock’s attempts to go around Hamada.

Gunn handled it about as well as you could have. He called Cavill in and broke the news personally but did leave open the option to bring Cavill back in another role.

I feel like those discussions should have been done before filming the cameo. So it has been a **** show. I’m ok with rebooting but EVERYONE needs to be recasted. Especially they f*cker Ezra Miller.

[Prime]

Three major reasons:

1. Budget. We want this Superman movie to be a success, Brainiac is going to be expensive. Better to not blow the budget out of scope at the start.
2. Escalation. Starting off with a Superman movie where he fights off a full blown alien invasion means that if the next movie downscales to just Metallo or whatever, you run the risk of people rating the sequel lower because it doesn’t measure up to the epic feel of the previous film
3. Repetition. The last solo Superman movie was him fighting off an alien invader determined to destroy the world. There’s differences between Zod and Brainiac but I’d rather get another villain in between the two.

Vordan is right. As much as we all want Brainiac idk if he should be the main villain in the first movie. Unless they adapt Morrisons AC run.

[Ascended]

James Gunn and Zaslav don’t care about public sentiment

They want a hard reboot at all costs

That's what I'm seeing. Granted we only get a tiny peek of what really happens, and most of that is skewed in one way or another so we don't really know, but I don't see much that indicates Gunn and Safran are keeping anything. There's stuff in the pipeline that'll get to wrap up and finish, of course. It'll take a while before the new Gunn era of movies hit cinemas and they need to fill the time in somehow. But I'll be surprised if anything survives the culling, including Gunn's own Squad and Peacemaker (which'll likely get season 2, as part of the gap filling, but not carry into the new DCU).

If public sentiment was a concern then Cavill would've remained Superman. There's been too much hype about it and he *just* announced his return. Even though he's not universally popular with the fans, pulling out of a deal before the ink is (metaphorically) dry simply isn't good PR. Even the people who didn't want Cavill back have to admit that's some cold bullsh*t.

Batgirl would've been released too. Dropping a movie that's finished? Especially one with the Bat brand and a PoC female lead? You don't do that if public sentiment is a concern. And you don't let Jenkins or Gadot off Wonder Woman, even if the sequel wasn't good (haven't seen it myself).

No, these guys have crunched the numbers and come to the blindingly obvious conclusion that the short term damage of dropping the whole DCEU (popular actors and all) will cost them less than the long term suffering of letting it continue. At this point the brand is simply too damaged.

I think Black Adam might've been a breaking point. It was very much built along the tonal and structural lines of the MCU, had The Rock, Superman rumor hype, could even benefit a bit from Shazam's humbly successful film, and still failed to impress at the box office. Now, part of that is unrealistic expectations I'm sure; everyone thinks a superhero movie has to crack a billion to be any kind of success these days. But if Adam had performed better I think there's a chance Zaslav might've tried to cherry pick, keeping who/what was working from the DCEU and dumping the rest. Essentially a standard DC reboot; the top sellers remain the same and everything else shifts. But Adam had a lot going for it, still didn't do well, and if that doesn't prove that the whole DCEU has too much stink on it to be worth keeping I don't know what will.

As for Superman being a priority, I'm sure he is. He's still one of the most profitable IP's in the genre, the second most recognizable fictional character on earth, and all the Cavill hype has shown (once again) that people love Superman. All that, without the string of successful games, films, and shows that have held other characters up. Loving Supes is our natural state. We don't love what WB has given us, but we're always willing to give the next attempt a chance.

The question isn't whether Clark is a priority, it's whether the new people will be any better at managing him than the past guys. Every suit who comes through WB/DC says the same thing; Clark's priority #1. But they don't know what to do with him; they make him Batman or throw random stuff at the wall hoping it sticks. Most of it dies somewhere in production. We see it from Nic Cage to Michael B. Jordan; WB wants Superman to succeed but they've no clue how to do it and they end up running around in a panic grabbing at straws. So yeah, I'm sure Zaslav wants Superman dominating the box office ASAP. But will these guys know how to do that, or just panic like all the rest did? That's the question.

[Ra-El]

Vordan is right. As much as we all want Brainiac idk if he should be the main villain in the first movie. Unless they adapt Morrisons AC run.

Yes, he is pretty spot on on this.

Maybe is the coming Action Comics arc, but I can't stop thinking Metallo is a great option for this movie, although Metallo usually mean Luthor must be somewhere and after a evil Superman and Superman dying, Luthor is the last thing I want to see in the next movie.

But Metallo could be exactly what we need, he is low-scale compared to other foes, can stand against Superman, and isn't Zod or Luthor. Maybe more than one Metallo could be cool, like several lower level robots to give Superman a John Wick moment where he beat a dozen enemies in a spetacular action scene. Also a giant Mecha for him to fight.

And a mechanical spider.