Warner Bros‘ plans to leave the DCEU behind are moving forward just as planned. As we prepare to turn the page into a historical chapter for live-action superhero films, fans are still eager to see what the new cinematic universe starring the legendary characters from DC Comics will be like. But why does James Gunn’s Superman, the first film in Warner Bros’ DCU, already have so many DC characters? Where are their origin stories?
A New Superman Era Begins
Just as it happened with the Snyderverse, James Gunn’s DCU will begin with a Superman film. That makes perfect sense: over the decades, the Man of Steel has become synonymous with superheroism and comic books in general. What’s not so promising is the fact that it seems as if Warner Bros. appears to be steering the DCU toward the same pitfalls that doomed the DCEU early on.
Lessons from the MCU
Let’s not delude ourselves: if you want to be successful in the superhero film business, you must take some pointers from the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Zack Snyder tried to do just that with Batman v Superman by introducing a multitude of characters from across DC’s history without introducing them to audiences first.
The DCEU as a whole seemed to be doing things backward; while the MCU took its time and mostly added new characters in solo films or sequels before having them feature in team-up movies, the Snyderverse introduced heroes and villains without establishing their identities beforehand. That’s the reason why so many fans felt that characters like Ben Affleck’s Batman were wasted in the DCEU – the lack of proper exposition and character growth.
Red Flags For James Gunn’s DCU Superman
Considering how James Gunn managed to make audiences care about a ragtag team of intergalactic reprobates, it’s easy to see why he’d be the best man for the job of bringing the DC cinematic universe to a new era. However, the more we know about Superman, the more red flags we notice about the whole project.
While the idea of beginning a cinematic universe with a Superman movie sounds perfectly fine, All-Star Superman is hardly what one would call a “origins” story. If anything, the comic book, written by Grant Morrison, feels more like an eulogy for the Man of Steel. To make matters worse, the story involves many characters from the DC universe – many of which are set to appear in Superman.
That’s not something that has DC fans particularly hopeful for the series reboot. While the prospect of seeing some lesser-known DC characters make their live-action debuts on Superman sounds enticing, it also sounds like Warner Bros. learned nothing from the missteps they committed with the Snyderverse.
The Challenge of Building a Cinematic Universe
James Gunn has mentioned that he doesn’t want Superman to be just another origin story for the Man of Steel – but it sure feels like it should, at least, be a suitable starting point for a cinematic universe. Seeing so many new characters make their debut all at once could effectively lessen the impact they could have on the overall narrative, meaning that we’d get another Justice League situation all over again.
There’s still hope that Gunn could be able to break the DC curse with Superman. After all, the filmmaker has proved that he’s more than capable of working with large character rosters in the past with movies like Guardians of the Galaxy and The Suicide Squad reboot/remake/sequel. Whether or not that applies to an entire cinematic universe, however, remains to be seen.
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Tell us, do you think James Gunn and Warner Bros are making mistakes with the new DCU Superman movie?
Superman |
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Superman embarks on a journey to reconcile his Kryptonian heritage with his human upbringing as Clark Kent. |
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| Studio: DC Entertainment, The Safran Company |
| Running Time: TBA |
| Release Date: Jul 11, 2025 |
| Cast: David Corenswet, Rachel Brosnahan, Isabela Merced, Frank Grillo, Nicholas Hoult, Nathan Fillion, Alan Tudyk, Milly Alcock, Skyler Gisondo, Will Reeve, Pruitt Taylor Vince, Sean Gunn, Wendell Pierce, Anthony Carrigan, Mikaela Hoover, Edi Gathegi, Beck Bennett, Terence Rosemore |
| Director: James Gunn |
| Writers: James Gunn, Jerry Siegel, Joe Shuster |
| Genre: Action, Adventure, Superhero |
| Box Office: N/A |
