James Gunn Talks Superman, and the Balance of Past and Future
With its trailer dropping last month, a new Superman universe is rapidly approaching, and its development has been no easy task. After all, we’ve seen six feature films with the iconic character over the last 20 years, including the last four in Zack Snyder’s DC universe with Henry Cavill as the powerhouse protagonist. James Gunn has big shoes to fill, however the film’s latest extended trailer make it clear that the blockbuster director understood the assignment.
It’s a tricky position to be in — Cavill’s Superman has no shortage of fans, and perhaps more than that, the franchise has a devout fan base that’s always quick to challenge or question anything that feels out of line with the historical story arc of its title character. “Superman is one of the most popular characters, famous characters, in the world. And everyone has their idea of what he should be like. What his costume should look like. What his morals should be. What his power set is. And so, finding something that was as true and as authentic as I could possibly make it,” stated Gunn in our Q&A session after the trailer’s release.
We can certainly expect a healthy dose of nostalgia in the upcoming film, though not a full-on retro throwback. Both the scoring and certain story arcs will put a smile on the faces of those more familiar with earlier facets of the franchise. John Murphy’s scoring for the film got underway before Gunn’s script reached completion, and it beautifully incorporates iconic moments from the classic John Williams scoring in Christopher Reeves-era Superman films — with a modern twist, of course.

Viewers can also expect some sparks when we get the full picture of the Clark Kent/Lois Lane dynamic between David Corenswet and Rachel Brosnahan, according to Gunn. “David and Rachel were incredible individually. But when we brought them together, there was an electricity in the room that was palpable. And part of it is, yeah, part of it’s the steaminess, the sexiness of it. But part of it’s just the way they bounce off of each other. And the way that, you know, old ’40s movie stars do. You know, kind of like how Clark Gable and Claudette Colbert played off each other in It Happened One Night. So it’s a really miraculous energy between the two of them.”
We’ve still got a good way to go before the theatrical release, but it’s an exciting time for Superman fans as well as the overarching DC universe. Will this new era of the Man of Steel be as well received as some are expecting? Is the world ready for the post-Snyder Superman era? For now, we’ll just have to wait and see.
Superman will be released in theatres across Canada on July 11th, 2025.