James Gunn says that the Superman movie could still happen – but with a new director and a new cast

Gunn and his team are planning to make a “chapter two” of the DC universe, which would include a movie about the character and his family.

If you’re a big fan of DC Comics — and the movies and TV series inspired by them — it’s a bit of a confusing time. DC Studios is still planning on releasing “The Flash,” “Blue Beetle,” and “Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom” this year, but after that, the universe is undergoing a bit of a hard reboot under the direction of new cochair and CEO of DC Studios James Gunn.

Gunn — who also helmed the Guardians of the Galaxy films for Marvel — and Peter Safran joined the company as its new leaders in November 2022, and in January, they announced a new slate of film and TV projects they’re calling “chapter one” of the new DC universe. Their plans include a movie titled “Superman: Legacy,” which Gunn himself will be writing and directing. But some fans have worried that means a previously announced Superman movie from Ta-Nehisi Coates and J.J. Abrams won’t be happening anymore.

In a new interview with Gizmodo, Gunn explained that Coates and Abrams’s movie is “unrelated” to “Legacy” and could still happen.

“That’s an exciting movie,” he told the outlet. “I know that Chantal Nong, who is the executive on that project, is extremely excited about it. So if it comes in and it’s great, which I haven’t read the script, and if the timing is right, that could absolutely happen. That’s totally unrelated. It would be an Elseworlds tale like ‘Joker.'” Gunn and his team are referring to DC films outside of his planned universe — such as 2019’s “Joker,” the upcoming sequel “Joker: Folie à Deux,” and the upcoming sequel to 2022’s “The Batman” — as “Elseworlds” stories.

No casting has been announced yet for “Superman: Legacy,” and Coates’s movie has planned to introduce a Black actor as the Man of Steel for the first time. If both movies happen, the leads would join a legacy of big-screen Superman stars that includes Christopher Reeve, Brandon Routh, and, more recently, Henry Cavill, who is no longer attached to the role.

Tyler Hoechlin has played Superman on two CW series: “Supergirl” and “Superman & Lois.” Tom Welling played Superman on the long-running show “Smallville,” which ended in 2011, and Dean Cain played the role in ’90s series “Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman.” The character has also appeared in a myriad of animated projects.