James Gunn Officially Confirms He’s Directing ‘Superman: Legacy’
Can you imagine Kevin Feige directing a Marvel movie? Well, it looks like DC can. James Gunn, who is currently working as the co-CEO of DC Studios (which kind of makes him Kevin Feige of DC), and he’s planning a new cinematic universe based on DC Comics, has officially confirmed the report that was launched a few days ago; He’s going to be a director of the upcoming DC movie Superman: Legacy, which is set to kick-off the DCU, a new cinematic universe that will replace DCEU and it will be a new attempt by WB and DC to build a shared universe the way Marvel had years ago.
Last month, James Gunn announced the first projects that will be part of Chapter 1 of his DCU. There are all kinds of projects; from live-action motion pictures and live-action TV shows to animated projects. Gunn confirmed that DCU will officially start with Superman: Legacy, which is set to be released in July 2025, and the events of that movie will lead into the next movie, The Authority. Apart from those two, three more live-action movies have been officially announced; a new Batman movie, The Brave and the Bold, Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow, and Swamp Thing. Gunn has previously teased that only half of the planned projects have been officially announced so far.
While there are still a few movies that DCEU will need to release before DCU takes over, it’s still not known how exactly those two franchises will be connected. It’s known that some actors from DCEU will continue playing their roles in DCEU, but also some brand-new actors will be introduced to take over. Henry Cavill will not return as Superman in DCU, as Gunn announced that he’s looking for a new actor. Ben Affleck also will not play Batman in DCU, although we’ll see him one last time this June in The Flash movie. The fate of some other actors, like Gal Gadot, who played Wonder Woman in DCEU, is still unknown.
DCEU started in 2013 with Man of Steel, starring Henry Cavill and directed by Zack Snyder. Snyder returned to direct Batman V Superman, and he was set to direct the Justice League movie, which he left during the production because of the family tragedy. The studio then hired Joss Whedon, who was known for directing the first two Avengers movies at the time. Whedon rewrote most of the script and reshot the majority of the movie. The final theatrical cut received mixed reviews, and it was a box-office bomb. Although Zack Snyder released his cut on HBOMax in 2021, WB was still looking for the right way to start a successful cinematic universe, and they trusted James Gunn and Peter Safran could do that for them.
Superman: Legacy, the first movie of DCU, will be released on July 11, 2025. A new Superman actor is still unknown.
