Plenty of information has been revealed about the DC Universe in January 2023. After The Flash resets the DC Universe, Gunn's new plan will expand the franchise on film, TV, and video games, kicking off with Creature Commandos, and Superman in which a new actor assumes the role of Kal-El.

Following the success of Gunn's recent Marvel Studios project, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, and the successful premiere of Creature Commandos, excitement has been growing for Superman. Superman has been a staple of cinema since Max Fleischer's animated shorts in the 1940s, but Superman is set to tell a completely new story for the Man of Steel, continuing the legacy of the hero whom Gunn considers to be "a huge priority, if not the biggest priority" for DC Studios (via Twitter).

Superman Latest News

A Couple Of New Marketing Pieces Including A BTS Look And A Poster

Superman's July 11 release date is quickly approaching and a couple more pieces of marketing material have been released online. A brand-new poster showing off David Corenswet as Superman was posted online, highlighting the vibrant tone James Gunn seems to be going for with Superman and the beautiful colors of his suit, which really pop in the new poster. It's an exciting time to be a fan of a more colorful Man of Steel costume.

Alongside a new poster showing off Corenswet's Superman look, there was also a behind-the-scenes trailer for Superman Day that discusses more about the direction James Gunn's Superman is taking, while also giving a few more glimpses into what to expect from the new movie, with a new look at Metamorpho in the process. One of the most exciting aspects of this BTS trailer is how much of the film looks to be practical, which can feel like a breath of fresh air in a genre that increasingly relies on CGI to cut corners in production.

Superman Release Date

The Film Has A July Release Date

The 2025 summer blockbuster season will see the arrival of the DCU's first movie, as Superman is scheduled for release on July 11, 2025, allowing plenty of time for Gunn and the DC team to perfect the newest Man of Steel story. This release date fits snugly between the December 2024 premiere of Creature Commandos, as well as the August 2025 premiere of Peacemaker season 2, marking the first three projects in James Gunn's DCU.

A report from TheInSneider (via The Hollywood Handle) indicates that the current runtime for Superman is 2 hours and 20 minutes long, making it the shortest Superman film since the Christopher Reeve sequels, as Man of Steel came in at 2 hours and 23 minutes, while Superman Returns ran for 2 hours and 34 minutes. Comparatively, Superman will be much shorter than The Batman, but a little bit longer than James Gunn's The Suicide Squad. Though, this hasn't been confirmed by DC Studios or WB.

Superman Cast

There's A New Clark Kent On The Big Screen

Superman will revolve around three characters specifically, with the first being David Corenswet, who steps into the role of Superman. Corenswet has often been brought up in online discourse as a fan-cast for the DCU’s Superman, primarily due to his physical appearance matching the likes of Cavill and the late Christopher Reeve, who looked near-identical to their comic book counterpart.

Alongside Corenswet is Rachel Brosnahan, who will play Lois Lane, the main love interest of Superman and an integral part of the character's history. No Superman is complete without his Lex Luthor and Nicholas Hoult will portray the Big Blue Boy Scouts arch-nemesis during the events of the film, sporting the iconic bald look that Luthor is known for.

The Daily Planet office gets a full line-up, with Skyler Gisondo cast as Jimmy Olsen alongside Mikaela Hoover as Cat Grant, Christopher MacDonald as Ron Troupe, Beck Bennett as Steve Lombard, and Wendell Pierce as their boss, Perry White. The Planet is one of the most important settings for Clark Kent as a character, making it an integral part of the film.

There are also a number of other characters set to be in Superman, with Anthony Carrigan to play Metamorpho, Edi Gathegi set to play Mister Terrific, Nathan Fillion taking on the role of Green Lantern Guy Gardner, Isabela Merced cast as Hawkgirl, María Gabriela De Faría playing The Engineer, Lex Luthor's assistant, Eve Teschmacher, played by Sara Sampaio, Terence White as Otis, Frank Grillo as Rick Flag Sr., and Alan Tudyk in a currently unknown role, but could possibly be playing one of the robots at the Fortress of Solitude.

Finally, Clark Kent gets two parents in the film, at least for a while, with Pruitt Taylor Vince as Jonathan Kent and Neva Howell as Martha Kent. It's unclear if Jonathan Kent will away prior to the events of the film, as that is a significant moment for Clark as a character.

Superman Story Details

They're Not Going With An Origin Story

According to Peter Safran (via The Hollywood Reporter), Superman is "not an origin story" but instead "focuses on Superman balancing his Kryptonian heritage with his human upbringing." The titular hero will already be working at the Daily Planet as Clark Kent, having already met characters such as Lois Lane, rather than rehashing overused storylines of the past.

Superman will revolve around the traditional ideals that define the character but will also put a modern spin on how those ideals are perceived, as Safran mentioned that “he is the embodiment of truth, justice, and the American way. He is kindness in a world that thinks that kindness is old-fashioned.”

James Gunn revealed that Superman would take inspiration from DC Comics' 2005-2008 run of All-Star Superman. This story saw Superman close to death due to overexposure to the sun's rays, accomplishing many heroic feats - known as the Twelve Labors of Superman - in attempts to make peace before his demise. This would be an interesting choice of story for Superman's debut in the new DC Universe and would coincide with the repeated insistence that the franchise will be approaching beloved DC heroes in fresh new ways.

The iconic Superman villain Lex Luthor is also set to appear in Superman, and the casting call for "Apex" suggests Apex Lex may have a part to play in the story - a superpowered version of the antagonist. With James Gunn confirming in April 2024 that Lex will indeed be the main villain in the story, it's even more likely the plot may veer into a more physically powerful version of the antagonist if the intention is to let Luthor physically contend with his nemesis at some point in the narrative.

On a visit to the set of Superman, ScreenRant got to talk to James Gunn about how the film would set up the rest of the DCU, with Gunn highlighting the importance of each project in the universe being able to stand on its own without having to sacrifice the story at hand to set something else up. His full statement is as follows, talking about what Superman will set up:

Zero. Zero. I mean, maybe two little things, two moments, but basically, if something's there just to set up something else, fuck it. I even say that. And for all I know, those things can be cut by the time we get to the editing room because something has to exist for this movie. And if that works in tandem with setting up characters that exist in other media, then that's great. If this sets up stuff in “Peacemaker,” which it does, then that's great. But that is never, ever, ever, with me, going to be something that's, I'm going to sacrifice even a moment or a beat in a story for, especially a movie. With TV, you've got a little bit more leniency to be able to do that. But in a movie, every beat has to be in there for the movie itself.

Superman Trailers

An Emotionally Resonant Look At Superman

Following the it finally arriving on December 19, 2024, giving everyone the first glimpse of what to expect when Superman flies into theaters. Deciding to keep the dialogue at a minimum, the Superman trailer was an emotional tribute to what makes him so enduring as a character, featuring a unique riff on the iconic theme, David Corenswet embodying Superman, and what is already an all-timer Krypto appearance.

When speaking to ScreenRant at the press event for the trailer release, James Gunn opened up about the look and fit of the suit, saying he "didn't want to have it look like a wet t-shirt" and "didn't want it to have a bunch of fake muscles in it." Alongside Gunn, David Corenswet spoke about what it felt like for himself and others to see him in the suit on set, stating:

"It's like when you get, I don't know, a nice haircut, and you forget about it, but then you walk around, and everybody's like, whoa, you look great. For once, I walked on set, and I had others who saw me in the suit for the first time. So I got to see other people see Superman, and I didn't feel like Superman, but it was so amazing watching my cast mates and the crew who are also getting to work on this amazing historic piece of media. The moments when they saw it for the first time or when they saw Superman fly for the first time, not getting to be that particular, but getting to witness them, witness it. And then the best thing is seeing kids see it when crew people would bring their kids to set or getting to see first person, a five, 6-year-old kid see Superman. There's nothing like it. It's amazing."

As the release date for Superman rapidly approaches, footage of the new movie continues to be released, including a TV spot featuring a few new moments of footage. Most everything shown was already in the teaser trailer, but there is a small scene of Lex Luthor stepping out of his ship in the Arctic with the person in the black suit who is fighting Superman in the stadium, walking behind him, adding some intrigue about what that could mean for the story, especially if Clark's Fortress of Solitude is close by.

The biggest reveal of the TV spot, though, is some new footage of Superman flying, hinting at what some of his flight scenes in the movie could look like. It's a dynamic shot reminiscent of Adam Warlock in James Gunn's Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, showing that the way Superman flies in the new movie is unlike anything seen before for the character in live-action.

The extended footage initially premiered at CinemaCon sees the Krypto scene go on for much longer, showing off the playful personality of the iconic dog, who might need to tone it down slightly for Superman's sake. On top of that, the Fortress of Solitude was shown in all its glory as helper robots healed Superman using the concentrated power of the sun, a scene that has received puzzling bad-faith discourse. The All-Star Superman inspirations are heavily felt in the footage as well, backing up what James Gunn has said about that book.

Superman actor David Corenswet also teased some familiar voices that appeared in the trailer, possibly revealing who will be playing Jor-El and confirming Alan Tudyk's character. While nothing is 100% confirmed yet, one of the robots sounds an awful lot like Alan Tudyk, and it seems like a disembodied voice coming from the Fortress of Solitude seems like Bradley Cooper, who has made headlines recently as it is rumored he is attached to the film to play Jor-El.

A BTS look at the new Superman movie revealed a lot of the practical effects at play in the movie, with some standouts being Metamorpho's appearance as well as one of the Fortress of Solitude robots being a physical prop. Of course, David Corenswet and Nicholas Hoult look incredible standing next to each other as Superman and Lex Luthor. Perhaps one of the most exciting aspects about this BTS look is how everyone involved seems to be on the same page about how they want Superman and the rest of the story to be portrayed the right way.

How Superman Fits Into The DCU

It Will Help Launch The DCU

Superman is one of the first projects of James Gunn and Peter Safran's brand-new DCU, produced by DC Studios, and is a soft-reboot for the DCEU as events from The Suicide Squad and Peacemaker season 1 carry over. Although Creature Commandos was the first project released for the DCU, Superman has continuously been touted as the big start for the new shared universe, acting as an introduction to DC's iconic hero and a launching off point for the DCU as a whole.

Unlike the "Task Force X" side of things carrying over multiple plotlines into the DCU, Superman is completely new from what came before in the DCEU. It will be a fresh start for the character on the big screen and Gunn has stated that Creature Commandos won't be required viewing to understand Superman, making it a perfect starting point for those interested in seeing what the DCU is all about.

DC Movie Releases

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  Superman

  Release Date

  July 11, 2025

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  Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow

  Release Date

  June 26, 2026

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  The Batman Part II

  Release Date

  October 1, 2027

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