‘Superman: Legacy’: James Gunn Defends His Decision to Add More DC Superheroes Into the Movie

After finishing his work on Marvel’s ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’ trilogy, James Gunn has switched his focus on ‘Superman: Legacy,’ the first movie set in the DC Universe franchise that he and Peter Safran planned as a soft-reboot of DC Extended Universe. The movie is currently in pre-production, and Gunn announced the filming should begin in January 2024 unless the imminent actors’ strike delays the production.

Gunn recently announced that David Corenswet and Rachel Brosnahan joined the movie as Clark Kent/Superman and Lois Lane. However, unlike previous standalone ‘Superman’ movies, this one will feature more guest characters, including Mr. Terrific, Guy Gardner/Green Lantern, Hawkgirl, and Metamorpho.

Some fans shared their confusion with so many superheroes set to be introduced right in the first DCU movie, and some even compared this situation with Black Adam, in which Dwayne Johnson played the titular character, accompanied by four Justice Society of America members.

James Gunn defends a large number of supporting superheroes in ‘Superman: Legacy’

James Gunn is known for being active on social media, and it’s not unusual for him to reply to fan questions occasionally. So recently, James Gunn was asked by some fans why he chose to include so many supporting characters in a movie that was supposed to be a standalone Superman adventure. Here’s how Gunn clarified his decision:

“I’ve never used one movie to set up another movie. The characters are there because they help to tell Superman’s story better, not so we can set up separate projects in the franchise. Superman and Lois are the very clear protagonists.”

James Gunn

On his Instagram page, Gunn also replied to one comment with this:

“Superman is a man of two worlds: Clark with Lois, Jimmy, and Perry – and Superman with his meta-human compatriots. How could I tell a full story about Clark/Superman without including all areas of his life?”

James Gunn

Of course, some other DC fans resented Gunn for defending his decision like this because there have been many Superman movies in the past that were focused solely on Superman. However, we don’t know what Gunn is cooking, and we can’t judge anything before we get a chance to see it on the big screen.

‘Superman: Legacy’ will officially kick off DCU in July 2025 (if everything goes according to plan). Apart from that opening installment, there are four other movies and five television shows currently in development in DCU, and some of them will feature characters and continuation of storylines from the DCEU. Gunn also announced that he’d start working on the second season of ‘Peacemaker’ as soon as he finishes his work on ‘Superman: Legacy.’

‘Superman: Legacy’ is set to star David Corenswet, Rachel Brosnahan, Isabela Merced, Edi Gathegi, Nathan Fillion, and Anthony Carrigan. The actors for Jimmy Olsen and Lex Luthor are yet to be picked. Written and directed by James Gunn, ‘Superman: Legacy’ is currently set to be released on July 11, 2025.

Are you looking forward to ‘Superman: Legacy’? What do you expect of it? Let us know in the comments!

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