James Gunn confirms he is directing the Superman: Legacy movie he has been developing and writing.
Gunn took to Twitter which follows DC Comics writer Tom King recently confirming the news.
“Yes, I’m directing Superman: Legacy to be released on July 11, 2025. 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,” said Gunn.
Gunn continued, “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 added, “It has been a long road to this point. 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.
“Then 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,” said Gunn.
“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 (sorry, Peter)” offered Gunn.
Gunn tweeted, “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. #UpUpandAway,” he said.
What is Superman: Legacy about?
Superman: Legacy was announced at the end of January as part of the new DCU slate of five movies that also includes The Authority, The Brave and the Bold, Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow, and Swamp Thing and is described as focusing on Superman balancing his Kryptonian heritage with his human upbringing.
“(This) is really the launch of the DCU. The first two projects are an amuse-bouche for what’s coming up with Superman: Legacy. James is currently writing it. We’re hoping that he will direct it,” said DCU co-head Safran during the big announcement. “It’s not an origin story. It focuses on Superman balancing his Kryptonian heritage with his human upbringing. Superman represents truth, justice and the American way. He is kindness in a world that thinks of kindness as old-fashioned.“
Gunn added, “With our stories, we want to take it away from good guy vs. bad guy. There are really good—almost saintly—people and Superman is among them. There are really terrible villains like Gorilla Grodd or the Joker. And then there’s everybody in between them, so there are all these shades of gray which allow us to tell complex stories.”
The trades have also reported Clark Kent and Superman will be around the age of 25 years old and that the movie will focus on Superman’s life as a cub reporter in the fictional city of Metropolis, with the audience encountering him meeting key characters, like colleague Lois Lane, and because Gunn’s Superman is younger, there was never a chance of Cavill playing the role.
“In the initial stages, our story will be focusing on an earlier part of Superman’s life, so the character will not be played by Henry Cavill. But we just had a great meeting with Henry and we’re big fans and we talked about a number of exciting possibilities to work together in the future,” Gunn said back in December.
It’s also known Superman: Legacy will be PG-13, that casting hasn’t yet started, with Gunn also confirming Superman is “not meeting the major characters for the first time, either. He’s merely younger.”
