The DCU’s last proper ensemble film Justice League (2017) was arguably the biggest fumble in the previous era of the franchise.
As seen with the first iteration of the MCU’s Avengers in 2012, if properly executed, bringing together the greatest heroes within a universe can help meld together the franchise into an enduring powerhouse that further builds its fanbase rather than subdivides it. However, the DCU couldn’t pull it off and it has since left everything in a state of relative disarray. However, with James Gunn now taking the wheel on the future of the franchise after his own ensemble reboot The Suicide Squad (2021) was very well-received, rumors have started to float through the grapevine that the director in fact already has plans for a Justice League reboot of his own. However, per a report from Collider, Gunn has adamantly denied that any sort of project is in the works right now.
After acquiring the DCU to mold as he sees fit, James Gunn announced that his first big passion project would be Superman: Legacy, which has a confident release date of July 11, 2025. Moving away from the typical origin story formula seen with the Kryptonian, Gunn plans to have the story begin at the peak of Superman’s tenure as Earth’s strongest savior. He recently declared his casting of both David Corenswet and Rachel Brosnahan as Superman and Lois Lane respectively, along with a slew of other DCU characters never before seen on the big screen.
Among them so far are Isabela Merced (Sweet Girl) as Hawkgirl, Nathan Fillion (The Suicide Squad) as Guy Gardner, Anthony Carrigan (Barry) as Rex Mason, and Edi Gathegi (The Harder They Fall) as Mr. Terrific. While it would seem like this is quite a few new characters introduced in a Superman-centric film, and that it could easily be taken as an off-the-cuff ensemble film early in the season, Gunn has since clarified that the characters are there to help flesh out Superman’s narrative, and that he remains the focal point of the film.
Gunn Point Blank Denies Any Possibility of the Justice League, For Now
While Gunn has since formerly announced the majority of his planned Chapter One (“Gods and Monsters”) of the DCU, with just over a dozen film and series projects in the pipeline already, fans are of course still taking to the internet to form their own theories of what’s to come. The elephant in the room that remains is the prospect of re-imagining the Justice League, not only with a different premise but now with different cast.
It’s undoubtedly got many eager to know when such a project will come to life, but until then, Gunn has taken to new social media platform Threads to make a cut-and-dry response to the rumors, that he’s not doing anything of the sort right now. Answers like “No” and “Of course not” paint a pretty clear picture and put those rumors to rest, so we’ll simply have to wait a good while to see what Chapter Two and beyond will hold in the years to come. Perhaps Gunn will deliver the ensemble DCU film that the franchise has so desperately needed since the beginning, but it’s clear that he wants the foundation to take shape first.
