James Gunn shed light on why the earliest stretch of his new DCU leans heavily on Kryptonian heroes, kicking off with a fresh take 12 years after Man of Steel. His Superman film officially launched the rebooted DCU on the big screen, with Supergirl set to follow next June after her brief but buzzed-about cameo. With the Super-Family more central than ever, Gunn explained the reasoning behind putting Superman and Supergirl at the heart of DC's new beginning.
In the Superman: The Art and Making of the Film book, James Gunn commented on his focus on Superman (David Corenswet) and Supergirl (Milly Alcock) in DCU Chapter 1: Gods and Monsters, the MCU equivalent of Phase 1. This was announced nearly two and a half years before Superman hit theaters, and Gunn stated that the first few films were stories that "could work as individual stories and work as part of the larger story [he] wanted to tell."
He also praised the library of DC characters to choose from. "You could throw a dart at a bulletin board of characters and build a world and classic story wherever the dart lands:"
"I just needed to focus on getting a few stories kick-started. The initial ones in Gods and Monsters were stories I thought I could work in a fun way, and that could work as individual stories and work as part of the larger story I wanted to tell.
You can't really go wrong with all the amazing DC characters out there. You could throw a dart at a bulletin board of characters and build a world and classic story wherever the dart lands."
It turns out that "the initial ones" Gunn was referring to became Superman, which he wrote and directed, and Supergirl (no longer subtitled Woman of Tomorrow), which is written by Ana Nogueira and directed by Craig Gillespie.
This means that the Super-Family is the foundation of the DCU's first phase, setting the groundwork for the rest of Gods and Monsters, which also includes a Superman sequel, Man of Tomorrow.
Gunn's co-CEO Peter Safran was clear in the new art book, "We had to start with Superman:"
"We had to start with Superman. He was our very first DC super-hero, and we are returning him to the center of the new DC Universe."
Safran noted that Gunn always gravitated toward "secondary and tertiary characters that don't have a ton of baggage," praising how he can shape them, a skill he proved in his past superhero work.
But Safran said everything shifted when Gunn called him one day and revealed, "I have a way in. I know what I want to talk about. I know what the themes of the movie should be," setting the stage for why Superman (and ultimately Supergirl) became the foundation of the new DCU:
"James [Gunn], on the other hand, has really been drawn more to kind of the secondary and tertiary characters that don't have a ton of baggage that he can really imbue with whatever characteristics he wants. And he's done an incredible job with 'Guardians of the Galaxy' and with 'The Suicide Squad' and with 'Peacemaker.' And then he called me one day, and he said, 'I have a way in. I know what I want to talk about. I know what the themes of the movie should be.'"
All this sets up a busy few years for the Kryptonians in the DCU, with Kara Zor-El next taking center stage. Supergirl flies into theaters on June 26, 2026. Marketing for the film is expected to ramp up soon, including a major presence at CCXP 2025, where fans may get their first real taste of Kara's cosmic revenge quest.
From there, Superman returns in Man of Tomorrow on July 9, 2027, where he'll join forces with Lex Luthor to face (reportedly) Brainiac, a Justice League-level threat making his long-awaited live-action debut.
With Supergirl blazing a new path across the galaxy and Superman preparing for one of his biggest villains yet, the Super-Family is clearly set to anchor DC's next era of storytelling.
How Will Other DCU Stories Collide?
As the DCU expands, the connective threads between its films and series are becoming increasingly difficult to miss, and the next wave of projects is poised to take that interlinked storytelling even further.
With Superman and Peacemaker already crossing paths through Lex Luthor's (Nicholas Hoult) surprising Season 2 cameo, that momentum now shifts toward HBO's Lanterns and Supergirl, both of which are expected to lay crucial groundwork for what comes next.
All signs point to Man of Tomorrow serving as the first true crossover event of the DCU. It will not be on the level of a full Justice League team-up, but it may come close enough to feel like a significant turning point.
If Lanterns introduces the cosmic guardians watching over the galaxy and Supergirl charts Kara's brutal journey, Man of Tomorrow becomes the point where some of these narrative threads converge.
