The historically long Writers Guild of America and SAG-AFTRA strikes upended Hollywood’s production and release calendars in a way that will be felt for years to come. But the launch of James Gunn and Peter Safran’s new DC Universe at Warner Bros. will not be impacted.
The studio had previously announced that its rebooted take on the DC Comics franchise would kick off with “Superman: Legacy,” a new origin story written and directed by Gunn that will introduce David Corenswet as the new Superman alongside Rachel Brosnahan’s Lois Lane. The film had been slated for a July 11, 2025 release date.
Many of the biggest upcoming blockbusters, including much of the 2024 Marvel slate, have been shuffled and pushed back amid strike-related production delays. But Gunn took to X (formerly Twitter) on Saturday, November 11 to confirm that “Superman: Legacy” has not been delayed and is on pace to hit its original release date.
“Thanks to the efforts of our talented crew, who never lost faith during the longest strikes in Hollywood history, and who never let their foot off the pedal, continuing to barrel forward, creating the most amazing character and set designs I’ve seen in my entire career, ‘Superman: Legacy’ will be making the originally planned release date of July 11, 2025,” Gunn wrote.
The project benefitted from some serendipitous timing, as its 2025 release date meant that it was largely immune to 2023 production delays. Because Gunn’s script was already written before the WGA strike and the castings of Corenswet and Brosnahan were announced several weeks before SAG-AFTRA followed suit, pre-production was able to proceed without major interruptions.
While “Superman: Legacy” plot details are scarce, Gunn previously revealed that the project will focus on a younger iteration of the character than Henry Cavill played. Since the film was announced, Gunn has been open about his love of Superman and his personal connection to the material.
“I completely relate to Superman because he’s everything I am,” he said in a recent interview with The Hollywood Reporter. “He’s somebody who is an outsider who feels like an alien, but also the ultimate insider, because he’s fucking Superman. And that’s kind of like what I feel like.”
