James Gunn to direct ‘Superman: Legacy,’ aiming for 2025

James Gunn is directing a Superman film. "Superman: Legacy," which Gunn also wrote, is also set for a July 11, 2025, he and his co-chair and fellow CEO of DC Studios Peter Safran announced on March 15.

The film, Gunn said, deals with the superhero's journey to make sense of both his aristocratic Kryptonian heritage and his small town, midwestern upbringing as Clark Kent.

The legacy of Superman has been somewhat fraught recently. In October, Henry Cavill announced that he would be returning to the role starting with a cameo in "Black Adam." Two months later, though, Cavill was back on social media with the news that he was out.

"This news isn't the easiest, but that's life," Cavill wrote. "The changing of the guard is something that happens. I respect that. James and Peter have a universe to build."

Gunn and Safran were announced as the new DC leaders just a few days after "Black Adam" opened in October, replacing Walter Hamada, who had headed DC Films for four years. And Cavill as Superman was one of the casualties of the new guard.

"It has been a long road to this point," Gunn wrote on Twitter ON March 15. "I was offered Superman years ago. I initially said no because I didn't have a way in that felt unique and fun and emotional that gave Superman the dignity he deserved. Then a bit less than a year ago I saw a way in."

Gunn also said the release date is the same as his late father's birthday.

"He was my best friend," Gunn wrote. "He didn't understand me as a kid, but he supported my love of comics and my love of film and I wouldn't be making this movie now without him."

Gunn has for several years been the rare director to bounce between both DC and Marvel films. He first came to DC after directing Marvel's...