James Gunn took to social media to dispel worried notions and concerns about his upcoming DCU debut movie, Superman: Legacy.
Superman: Legacy is shaping up to be quite the opening number for James Gunn and Peter Safran’s revamped DCU. Several characters, including some additional superheroes, have been cast for the film ahead of production kicking off in 2024.
Heroes like Mister Terrific and Hawkgirl were announced to join the 2025 movie. Also involved are supporting cast members such as Eve Tessmacher, who will presumably report to Lex Luthor (played by X-Men: First Class’ Nicholas Hoult).
Gunn Offers Retort to Superman: Legacy Character Count
But does Legacy have too many characters?
On Instagram, James Gunn personally responded to another user who claimed that Superman: Legacy “went from a solo Superman to 100+ characters.” This was likely in reaction to the amount of casting information that has surfaced for the film in recent months.
Gunn was quick to point out that there most certainly not “100+” characters in Superman: Legacy and that nothing being done was outside of the norm:
“Or like every other single protagonist of all time with 10 speaking roles announced.”
Elsewhere, in the comment section of another Instagram post made by James Gunn, a user asked, “any more casting news announcement dropping soon?”
The director promised “a couple more soon.”
”Well we’re running out of characters to announce but there will be a couple more soon.”
It’s important to note that there are indeed a few key characters in the Superman mythos yet to be cast for Legacy, including Jonathan and Martha Kent, and some of the players from Clark’s workplace at The Daily Planet.
In fact, when faced with a query in a post comment over additional co-workers from the Planet being announced, Gunn simply posted a very specific emoji in response. User nate_phn asked if fans can “expect more characters from Daily Planet? Like Cat Grant or Steve Lombard?” Gunn answered with a yellow smirking face, neither confirming nor denying.
Superman: Legacy Will Be Worth the Wait
Even though Superman: Legacy isn’t due out for some time, roughly a year and a half, it’s seemingly shaping up to be a fun, exciting time at the cinema and the most respectful big-screen take on the Man of Steel in years.
Make no mistake, James Gunn is a giant comics nerd. See his work on The Suicide Squad and Guardians of the Galaxy. Or just take a glance at the types of DC projects he’s chosen to green light for the DCU. He’s giving the spotlight to some interesting characters who haven’t always had the most opportunity to shine in modern media.
This shows that Gunn has a reverence for comic books and superheroes. And his love for comics seems to permeate much of his decision-making process for overseeing the DCU.
So, his taking on Superman indicates that he’ll honor the iconic hero and where he came from over his decades of existence. Clark Kent is one of the world’s most recognizable figures, and one could argue that his star has fallen a bit in recent years thanks to adaptations that didn’t quite get everything right.
DC Studios’ Superman: Legacy soars into theaters on July 11, 2025.
