This week marks the production start of James Gunn‘s first big DCU installment with his “Superman” reboot. Cameras are rolling in Atlanta as the writer/director posted a teaser image of the new costume (See below) and a new addition to the cast has been revealed by The Hollywood Reporter. They’ve learned that “The Wire” and “Jack Ryan” actor Wendell Pierce has landed the role of Perry White, the boss of Lois Lane and Clark Kent at The Daily Planet.
The rest of the cast of Superman consists of David Corenswet (Clark Kent/Superman), Rachel Brosnahan (Lois Lane), Nicholas Hoult (Lex Luthor), Skyler Gisondo (Jimmy Olsen), Sara Sampaio (Eve Teschmacher), Edi Gathegi (Mister Terrific), Terence Rosemore (Otis), Anthony Carrigan (Metamorpho), Isabela Merced (Hawkgirl), Nathan Fillion (Guy Gardner/Green Lantern), and María Gabriela de Faría (The Engineer).
We’re still waiting on who Gunn has selected to play Ma and Pa Kent, the adoptive Earthbound parents of Clark. There is also a chance that the DCU’s new Supergirl actress Milly Alcock (“House of The Dragon”) might be teased or appear in the upcoming flick before her solo movie.
“Superman” is set to be released on July 11, 2025, in that same month we’ll be getting “Jurassic World 4” from Gareth Edwards (“Rogue One”) and Marvel’s highly-anticipated “Fantastic Four” reboot.
Irish actor Jamie Dornan is getting a lot of awards buzz and critical praise for his lead role in the Kenneth Branagh family drama Belfast. His other credits include The Siege of Jadotville, A Private War, Barb & Star Go To Vista Del Mar, and the spy thriller Anthropoid.
The actor spoke in-depth with The New York Times about his career, focusing on the past and future. Concerning the latter, Dornan revealed that he has met with Marvel Studios and Kevin Feige about a mystery project/role.
Dornan is open about the movies he covets, and he has met with the Marvel Studios head Kevin Feige about donning a cape and tights. “I’m more ambitious than I’ve ever let on before,” Dornan said.
What that project or role could be is a bit of mystery but we know that Marvel Studios are likely aiming to find people to lead their X-Men and Fantastic Four reboots along with rumored projects like Nova, which could be seeking someone to play Richard Rider.
It isn’t like Jamie Dornan is new to the superhero world as he was one of the many actors that auditioned to play Superman in Man of Steel before Henry Cavill (who has mentioned a desire to play Captain Britain in the MCU) was ultimately selected.
What role do you think Dornan would be perfect for?
The Suicide Squad is winning over a lot of people and there had been early ideas to have Task Force X being assembled to take down Superman. However, the main threat of the film was the Borg-like alien Starro The Conqueror, who was able to control the minds of anyone that was unlucky enough to get one of the self-replicated mini-Starro attached to their face.
James Gunn has revealed to the Script Apart podcast (via Comic Book) that one of the big reasons they didn’t go with Superman was the studio’s uncertainty about Henry Cavill sticking around or what exactly their DCEU plans for the son of Krypton moving forward.
“There was a time when I thought The Suicide Squad should fight Superman. At the time, there were a lot of questions like, ‘Who is Superman in the DCEU? Is this movie outside the DCEU?’ I just didn’t want to deal with it all that much.”
This could also explain why the Superman cameo in Shazam! was a stand-in, despite that film clearly takes place within the Snyderverse/DCEU.
It’s revealed that Idris Elba’s Bloodsport put Superman in the ICU after shooting him with Kryptonite bullet, so at the least they were able to add that small connective tidbit.
Gunn explained why he wanted to use Starro.
“I think he’s a perfect comic book character because he’s absolutely ludicrous but also very scary in his own way. What he does is scary. He used to scare the crap out of me when I was a child, putting those face-huggers on Superman and Batman. So I thought he was one of the major, major DC villains that was probably never going to be put into another movie. And if they did, it’d have been a ‘black cloud’ version of Starro. Not a giant walking starfish, a kaiju that’s bright pink and cerulean blue, this ridiculously big, bright bad guy.”
The studio has indicated that they’re keen on working with James Gunn again on more DC movies, but that seemingly won’t Gotham City Sirens as the director downplayed recent speculation on Twitter.
It’s been long rumored that Michael B. Jordan was in the mix for a new Superman project at Warner Bros. and it looks like the details have finally been revealed thanks to a new report from the folks over at Collider.
Michael B. Jordan and his production company Outlier Society are developing their own Black Superman project for HBO Max that centers on the Val-Zod incarnation of the character, Collider has exclusively learned.
However, despite having an unnamed writer working on this new Val-Zod Superman project, they’re not entirely sure if this will end up a series or film. DC Comics adaptations at HBO Max have been both series and films, making it’s difficult to get a beat on what is happening with this new Superman thing. Films focused on Zatanna and Batgirl are moving forward alongside series such as Peacemaker, Gotham P.D., Green Lantern, a Constantine reboot, Justice League Dark, and more.
Jordan is also involved with a live-action Static Shock film as well. The actor is attached to star in a Rainbow Six movie as a follow-up to Without Remorse and will lead the second remake of The Thomas Crown Affair for AGBO (The Russo Brothers’ production company).
Warner Bros. is also developing a new Superman feature film with a script from writer Ta-Nehisi Coates and producer J.J. Abrams via Bad Robot. Coates is best-known for his work on the fantastic modern run of Black Panther comics for Marvel. This film would be separate from the HBO Max incarnation from Michael B. Jordan.
Having two new Superman projects in the works and Sasha Calle’s Supergirl making her debut in The Flash (A solo Supergirl film has been in development for years now), could mean that WarnerMedia is open to the idea of many different Superman incarnations happening all at once.
It doesn’t look like we’ll be seeing Regina King direct Blade, The Vampire Hunter or the new black Superman film that is being developed by Warner Bros./Bad Robot, she’s decided another comic book project altogether.
After directing the Oscar-nominated film, One Night In Miami, she’s landed a high-profile feature adaptation of the Image Comics property Bitter Root for Legendary and producer Ryan Coogler. The news comes from The Hollywood Reporter and sounds a little similar to Lovecraft Country.
Bitter Root is set in 1924 during the Harlem Renaissance and tells of the Sangeryes, a family of once-great monster hunters, who face an evil that descends upon New York.
Screenwriter Bryan Edward Hill (Power Rangers) is behind the film’s script.
It’s unknown when Legendary wants Bitter Root to begin shooting but this likely means she could be too busy to tackle films for Marvel Studios or DC Films at this time. Allowing other names floated by trades to tackle Blade and Superman as it looks like the two projects are eyeing a production start in 2022.
Ryan Coogler is about to begin shooting on Black Panther: Wakanda Forever this July with a spinoff series for Disney+ also in the works.
Zack Snyder’s next feature film Army of The Dead is getting some early buzz ahead of it’s theaterical and Netflix debut this month. The filmmaker is making the press rounds to promote the action-horror film and spoke with Bro Bible’s Post-Credit Podcast revealing some ideas about villains that could have been used for a direct Man of Steel sequel, something we never really got as the studio seemed hellbent on rushing the DCEU to get to Justice League instead of flushing out the heroes in multiple solo films first.
Snyder reveals they were indeed musing about using Brainiac, a villain long rumored to make his debut on the big screen but never came together. He also mentioned the possibility of bringing back Antje Traue’s Faora from the original film, who he previous suggested survived the ordeal and is currently in the Phantom Zone.
SNYDER: “We talked about a Brainiac movie. But I do think that the Kryptonians that are in the Phantom Zone are probably still around. And there was always a possibility for their return. Faora and whoever’s left. That was a thing that was always out there that we talked about as a possible sequel. I just think it’s best to give Superman these extaterrestrial challenges because I think you’ve got to be careful with — other than Lex Luthor, because, of course, you have to continue with Lex, because Lex is his real nemesis — but I think you really have to look outside of the Earth for challenges for him because of how powerful he is.”
It seems like WarnerMedia has closed the door for future Snyder installments alongside the Snyderverse, but, hopefully, if they do ultimately bring back Henry Cavill’s Superman they’d at least consider using the two villains.
At the moment, Warner Bros. is busy trying to find a director for their new Superman film that will see a black actor portray the next incarnation of the Kryptonian hero alongside Sasha Calle hired to play Supergirl in The Flash movie.
Disney and Warner Bros. are reportedly courting the same black filmmakers for their upcoming superhero projects as mentioned by The Hollywood Reporter. As both Blade and the next Superman film produced by J.J. Abrams are expected to be shot by experienced black directors. An exciting era of inclusion given the budgets expected for the two comic book movies.
Apparently, screenwriter Ta-Nehisi Coates’ black Superman project is expected to have a non-contemporary setting, which sounds similar to the studio’s original plans for Supergirl (1980s). However, it’s unclear when in the 1900s they’ll be aiming for. Instead, Supergirl will appear in The Flash movie (filming in the United Kingdom) played by actress Sasha Calle ushering her directly into the DCEU but the Superman movie doesn’t seem to be joining that corner of the cinematic universe.
The Superman film appears to be moving onto its own track and won’t be part of the universe, as of now. Sources tell THR that Coates is crafting a Kal-El in the vein of the original Superman comics and will have the protagonist hail from Krypton and come to Earth. While the story is currently being crafted and many details could change, one option under consideration is for the film to be a 20th century period piece.
THR is claiming that there is a group candidates that have been looked for both movies.
The names mentioned in the report are Steven Caple Jr. (Creed II), J.D. Dillard (Sleight, Sweetheart), Regina King (One Night In Miami, and Shaka King (Judas & The Black Messiah). It’s certainly an excellent group of contenders but it’s unclear if these names are simply suggestions by the outlet or actually in the running.
The former list can include Creed II’s Steven Caple Jr., J.D. Dillard, Regina King — who got raves for her drama One Night in Miami — and Shaka King, who is popular at Warners thanks to best picture Oscar nominee Judas and the Black Messiah. Some potential directors have met with both studios for both films, even as one agent said the process was “phenomenally early.”
You might remember that Steven is currently busy with Paramount’s latest Transformers movie about to shoot over in Montreal and Dillard had been previously tasked to co-write a Star Wars project for Lucasfilm.
They also mentioned that Blade’s shoot was bumped from September 2021 to July 2022, giving folks over a full year to complete any outstanding projects before jumping to the MCU. Coates is said not to be delivering his script until mid-December suggesting both projects won’t be shooting until 2022.
Deadline has breaking news that Warner Bros. is looking to reboot their iconic Superman franchise with a script from writer Ta-Nehisi Coates and producer J.J. Abrams via Bad Robot. Coates is best-known for his work on the fantastic modern run of Black Panther comics for Marvel.
Deadline has confirmed that author Ta-Nehisi Coates is writing a Superman reboot feature for Warner Bros and DC, which J.J. Abrams is producing under his Bad Robot label.
Funny, it’s being called a “reboot” and Deadline mentions Henry Cavill, but if it’s a hard-reboot that would likely mean he’s not going to be in it. The addition of Coates would give the impression they might be going with a different take on the DC hero.
They point out that Coates is working with Ryan Coolger and Michael B. Jordan on the film Wrong Answer, the connection to Jordan is certainly interesting given rumblings he wanted to play a new version of Superman.
Could that Michael B. Jordan/Superman casting rumor come true?
Variety mentioned in a report last year that Jordan pitched a Superman project.
To help find a way to make Superman relevant to modern audiences, studio brass has been polling lots of high-profile talent. There have been discussions with J.J. Abrams, whose company Bad Robot recently signed a massive first-look deal with the studio, and there was a meeting with Michael B. Jordan earlier this year with the “Creed” star pitching Warners on a vision for the character. However, Jordan isn’t ready to commit to taking on the project since filming doesn’t seem likely to happen for several years and he has a full dance card of projects. Insiders think that a new Superman film is unlikely to hit screens before 2023, given that there’s no script and no director attached.
UPDATE:The Hollywood Reporter has chimed-in and Warner Bros. are reportedly indeed looking to introduce a black Superman in the reboot. They certainly have options with Steel’s John Henry Irons, Val-Zod, and Calvin Ellis established in the comic books. Given Coates is writing the reboot and his history with Black Panther it’s hard to imagine this won’t have a black Superman.
According to sources, the project is being set up as a Black Superman story. This is something that the studio has been trying to wrap its head around for months, if not a year or two. Michael B. Jordan tried to develop a Black Superman project when he first arrived at the studio with his deal in 2019, but that did not go very far at the time, according to sources. It is possible that the studio could return to him to star down the line.
Will audiences be introduced to a Black Superman? That is the intent and something that the studio has been trying to find a way in for months if not a year or two, according to sources. https://t.co/X8RTtSJ7EK
It’s worth mentioning Michael B. Jordan is producing a film for the studio based on the DC Comics hero Static Shock.
This news comes after Warner Bros. has been developing a new solo Supergirl film from The Cloverfield Paradox (produced by Abrams) screenwriter Oren Uziel and the studio recently hiring Sasha Calle in the role, making her big screen debut in The Flash.
It’ll be interesting to see if Henry Cavill ultimately comes back to the Superman role as the chances of that seem to be getting smaller with Supergirl entering the picture and this reboot from Bad Robot now in development.
If Patty Jenkins ever decided to tackle other superheroes beyond Wonder Woman, we now have a pretty good idea of who she’d want to use. As a fan on Twitter has asked Wonder Woman 1984 director Patty Jenkins that very question and her answer consisted of Superman, Spider-Man, and even Black Widow.
JENKINS: “Thank you for the question. Probably Superman, Spiderman, or Black Widow! So much potential with all of them, always.”
Thank you for the question. Probably Superman, Spiderman or Black Widow! So much potential with all of them, always. https://t.co/zDtxgZuwM9
You might remember that Patty Jenkins is currently assigned to direct Star Wars: Rogue Squadron for Lucasfilm making her part of that family of studios under the Disney umbrella. It’s expected to begin production sometime before the end of 2022 as the release date is set for December 22, 2023.
There are a handful of examples of crossovers between Lucasfilm and Marvel Studios with Thor franchise’s Taika Waititi tackling both The Mandalorian and an untitled live-action feature film. Also, Ant-Man trilogy director Peyton Reed ended up directing two episodes in Season 2 even the emotional season finale. We can’t forget that Jon Favreau, who help usher-in the Marvel Cinematic Universe via Iron Man and Iron Man 2, spearheaded The Mandalorian series with Dave Filoni, producing three spinoffs that include The Book of Boba Fett, Ahsoka, and Rangers of The New Republic. Jon also continues to play the role of Happy Hogun, most recently appearing in the post-Avengers: Endgame film Spider-Man: Far From Home back in 2019.
Despite rumors, there hasn’t been any official word of how Warner Bros. would like to pursue another Superman film beyond having the character potentially have cameos in other projects. There had been development on a Supergirl film but that seemingly has stalled.
Concerning Spider-Man, we don’t know if Sony/Marvel will extend their production deal despite some signals that could be happening behind closed doors as Olivia Wilde‘s Spider-Woman movie could be Sony/Marvel co-production. With Spider-Man 3 director Jon Watts announced for Marvel’s Fantastic Four reboot there is now an expectation he could be moving on to make a trilogy there making it less likely he’d return to make Spider-Man 4 and beyond leaving room for a new director to make a second trilogy, that’s if Sony/Marvel can play nice for another batch of movies.
Having Patty get involved with Black Widow is an interesting proposition as it seems like Florence Pugh may end up taking that mantle as Yelena Belova in future MCU projects. Such as her reported involvement in the upcoming Hawkeye series that will be airing on Disney+ in late 2021. Yelena could lead a Black Widow franchise of films moving forward because of the death of Natasha during the events of Avengers: Endgame.
I think it’ll be a long time before we know for sure if Patty will make Wonder Woman 3 or any other superhero films given the next couple of years will be dedicated to Star Wars: Rogue Squadron.
In a new interview with Empire, The Suicide Squad writer/director spoke about when he agreed to make the DC Comics film before getting a call from Disney’s Alan Horn and Marvel’s Kevin Feige about coming back to make Guardians of The Galaxy 3.
He says that making a Superman project “was a possibility” after revealing that Feige had asked him if his DC project was indeed Superman.
After hearing from Horn, Gunn knew he had to update MCU head honcho Kevin Feige on his next project – who, when told it was a DC movie, asked: “Is it Superman?” Gunn stated that it wasn’t Superman (“That was a possibility,” he tells Empire) and explained that he had chosen The Suicide Squad. Feige’s reaction? “Please, please make a good movie. Just… make a great movie.”
At one time, it was rumored that Warner Bros. approached various filmmakers tackle a sequel to Man of Steel. However, another solo Superman film never materialized. The studio had been reportedly developing a Supergirl film that has seemingly been placed on paused for the foreseeable future.
Despite reports of Warner Bros. trying to get Henry Cavill to cameo as Superman (possibly in The Flash alongside other Justice League co-stars) his return for his own feature film is far from confirmed.
THE RONIN 