James Gunn gives himself the job of directing Superman: Legacy

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.

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“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.