Casting rumors for James Gunn’s new Superman movie are running rampant across social media, but the writer-director and new DC Studios boss says none of it is true considering he’s stilling penning the screenplay. Gunn took to Twitter to debunk one user’s claim that “Euphoria” actor Jacob Elordi was rumored to be the new Superman in the DC Universe.
“My thoughts are no one has been cast as Superman yet,” Gunn responded. “Casting, as is almost always the case with me, will happen after the script is finished or close to finished, and it isn’t. We’ll announce a few things in not too long, but the casting of Superman won’t be one of them.”
Gunn and Peter Safran are in charge of the DC Universe as the heads of DC Studios and are currently mapping out a 10-year plan for an interconnected story that will span movies, television, and video games. The two have already confirmed their overhauled DC Universe does not include Henry Cavill’s return as Superman, as Gunn’s Superman movie centers on a younger iteration of the character, nor will it feature Dwayne Johnson’s return as Black Adam. Patty Jenkins’ “Wonder Woman 3” has also been scrapped, although it’s unclear if that means Gal Gadot will continue as Wonder Woman.
While other details about the new DC Universe are being kept under wraps, Gunn has continued to tease that a first round of announcements will arrive “in not too long.” Whenever they do, the new Superman actor will not be among the news.
Variety reported in December that Gunn is writing a new Superman movie. The writer-director is not creating an origin story, but he did share that “our story will be focusing on an earlier part of Superman’s life, so the character will not be played by Henry Cavill.” The script will focus on the character’s life as a cub reporter in the fictional city of Metropolis. Audiences will encounter him meeting key characters, like colleague Lois Lane, insiders added.
“We know we are not going to make every single person happy every step of the way,” Gunn later wrote on Twitter about his DC Universe overhaul. “But we can promise everything we do is done in the service of the STORY & in the service of the DC CHARACTERS we know you cherish and we have cherished our whole lives.”
While Gunn and Safran are mapping out their own DC Universe, whatever plan they come up will not disrupt the BatVerse that filmmaker Matt Reeves is developing. Reeves’ parallel universe launched with his Robert Pattinson-starring “The Batman” and will continue with “The Penguin” series on HBO Max and Pattinson-centric film sequel. Reeves recently confirmed that he has a meeting set with Gunn and Safran to go over their individual universes to ensure they don’t “crash” together and “support each other.”
