With July 11, 2025, right around the corner and the hype for Superman (2025) reaching a fever pitch, director James Gunn, co-chairman and co-chief executive officer of DC Studios, has reportedly been working on the final edits of the highly anticipated DCU reboot until recently. In fact, the Guardians of the Galaxy filmmaker was still tinkering with the structure of the new film, which stars David Corenswet as the new Man of Steel and Nicholas Hoult as Lex Luthor, just weeks before it was locked.
One surprising narrative element that didn’t survive the final cut of Gunn's Superman is a bold, Quentin Tarantino-style structure that reportedly divided the film into chapters marked by title cards. The approach could’ve brought a fresh, chapter-driven structure rarely seen in Superman films like Man of Steel or Superman Returns. During a recent episode of The Hot Mic podcast, hosts Jeff Sneider and John Rocha revealed that James Gunn originally structured Superman with chapters labeled by days of the week:
"With Superman, specifically, I believe there was a days-of-the-week thing. So, it would start with, you know, Monday. Just like Se7en did. I'm told that's gone."
While the podcast references David Fincher’s Se7en, which used days of the week as a narrative countdown, most fans will recognize the format from Quentin Tarantino films. From Reservoir Dogs to Kill Bill and The Hateful Eight, the director often uses episodic storytelling and the chapter title cards storytelling technique to introduce new characters, segment narratives, and enhance pacing.
Tarantino once explained to The New York Times, "I got the idea of doing something that novelists get a chance to do but filmmakers don't: telling three separate stories, having characters float in and out with different weights depending on the story."
Essentially, chopping his films into chapters in a novel format allows him more control. Breaking the story into bite-sized chunks lets him play with time, mess with your head, and shift tones without warning. One chapter builds tension, the next lets you breathe, then, at just the right time, the story can shift back to the chaos. But it’s not completely random either. The titles tease what’s coming, keeping you hooked like you're flipping pages.
While the exact reasoning behind the original structure still remains unclear, fans speculated that Gunn’s original plan may have been to emulate the chapter-driven format of comic books or graphic novels. Title cards probably could’ve helped differentiate character arcs and plot developments, or maybe even jump between timelines or worlds, similar to how Tarantino organises overlapping stories in his films.
According to The Hot Mic and corroborating reports from scooper Daniel Richtman, the removal of the title card structure came after negative test audience feedback for Superman. This decision also appears to reflect a small shift in creative direction, with Gunn choosing a more traditional, continuous narrative for Superman’s first adventure in the DCU.
While Gunn could have simply been experimenting with the film's structure, Sneider noted that Warner Bros. and DC Studios are also "playing it cautious" with its flagship hero. That meant removing anything they deemed too risky. As a result, up to 25 minutes of the film could have been trimmed down from an earlier version.
Just a few days ago, Gunn confirmed on Facebook that the film is completed: "Our last visual effect shot has been finished and dropped into Superman."
In theory, the format could have provided a fresh take on Superman’s world by adding stylised flair. However, the final cut of the film now reportedly opts for a single, straightforward timeline. While it might be great to see this version of the film someday, just don't expect it to be the Gunn Cut of Superman.
