Taking on the most popular superhero of all time is no easy task, but with James Gunn’s Superman coming out in 2025, he’s not only attempting to do the character justice on the big screen, he’s also introducing the world to a new DC Universe. In addition to writing and directing Superman, Gunn is also now the co-chairman and co-CEO of the new DC Universe with Peter Safran, which means he can create this entirely new vision how he sees fit, and move the company away from the DCEU that has existed since 2013. Gunn has been quite open online about his vision for where this world will go, and it’s exciting to watch a universe like this being built almost from scratch with such legendary characters.

Earlier this year, Collider and several other outlets had the opportunity to sit down with Gunn on the set of Superman to discuss his plans for this highly-anticipated film. In this conversation, Gunn talks about the influences for his vision of the superhero, how Superman differs from any projects he’s made before, how Clark and Lois’ relationship is unlike anything we’ve ever seen in a superhero film, and finding the right Clark Kent/Superman in David Corenswet.

‘Superman’ Puts Audiences in the Action Right From the Beginning
Image via James Gunn

Superhero films have been packed with origin stories since their inception, and not even a hero as famous as Superman is exempt from falling into this. But that’s not the case with Gunn’s Superman, as the writer-director revealed:

“We just start in the middle of the action. Superman’s already existing. Lois and Clark already know each other. Lex hates Superman’s guts from the beginning, although they don’t know each other personally. So we start right in the middle of the action. It takes place over a short amount of time.”

While this is a bit odd for superhero films in general, it sounds like this is just one of many shifts from what we’ve come to expect from the genre. Gunn mentioned, “It was about really putting us in the middle of the action from the beginning. And there’s a lot of things in this movie now that I’ve been making it for over a year that I think of as normal. But now when you bring it up, I go, ‘oh yeah, that’s pretty unusual.’”

‘Superman’s Action Was Partially Inspired by ‘Top Gun: Maverick’
Image via Paramount Pictures

Another struggle that Superman films have had is how to make action exciting when the Man of Steel is extremely powerful and nearly unstoppable. Yet Gunn has planned meticulously for the action, while also allowing himself room to experiment. “I wrote up this big document on action and what our philosophy is of action and how we shoot it and what it is, and keeping it alive in the air as well as on the ground.”

For when the action is in the sky, Gunn has also been influenced by one of the biggest action films of the 2010s:

“And being able to shoot stuff in the sky like that is really hard. So we took a lot from films like
Top Gun: Maverick
… We shoot a lot of our action with actual drones flying in and around Superman and the people that he’s flying with, Engineer, whoever else, that he’s fighting up in the air. And we did that on sound stages. We got these really small, crazy drones now. We’ve got some of the best flyers in the world here who are working with it. And so we use those guys a lot and everything’s planned out with me, as it always is.”

Tonally, ‘Superman’ Is Different From Anything James Gunn Has Done Before
Image via Warner Bros.

But inherently, Superman seems like a strange superhero film to be directed by Gunn, whose sense of humor and occasional cynicism, as well as his deconstruction of the genre, seems almost antithetical to the optimistic, positive viewpoint of Superman. Gunn is well aware that this is a shift for him, yet he knows the tone this story needs to set:

“So for me, this is…about coming at something from the inside. So how can [Nicholas Hoult] tell you what Lex is like? It’s like he’s coming from an interior place. It’s not so different with the tone of the film, I know what it feels like to me. I know the texture, I know that it’s something different than I’ve ever done before, but how can I then translate that to you guys on the outside? Because I start with a place that’s very hopeful, fun…but incredibly serious all at the same time.”

Even though Superman is serious, that doesn’t mean it’s a complete tonal shift for Gunn, as his vision for Superman still has plenty of humor. “It’s humorous, but it certainly is not as comic or as much a comedy as either Suicide Squad or Guardians. There’s plenty of humor in it. People like Rachel [Brosnahan] are so funny and David [Corenswet] is very [funny as well], so there’s humor in it, but it’s trying to create something that is grounded, but also it’s an incredibly fanciful world, it’s fantasy, it’s taking from other things like Game of Thrones, where it’s this universe where superheroes actually exist. What are they like? There’s a magic there that’s undeniable.”

Don’t Expect ‘Superman’s Soundtrack To Resemble Other James Gunn Films
Image via HBO Max

At this point, a great soundtrack has become synonymous with Gunn’s films and TV projects, but Superman also comes with his own iconic score, thanks to the work of John Williams in the 1978 movie. In another somewhat surprising shift for Gunn, however, his Superman won’t have a soundtrack in the same way his previous work has, while the score by John Murphy, who Gunn has worked with on The Suicide Squad, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, Peacemaker, and The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special, has thrown in homages to the original film in the music:

“There’s nods to Williams and then also John Murphy’s created this incredibly beautiful score. But the one thing is it is a score, it’s not a soundtrack, so it’s not about the songs. There’s a few songs in it. And of course I chose those songs beforehand, but it isn’t like any of my previous movies really in terms of the score is what drives it. It’s a much, much more of a score film.”

All Previous DC Material Influenced James Gunn’s Take on the New DC Universe
Image via DC

There have also been so many different iterations of Superman over the years, in comics, movies, TV shows, books, podcasts, and even more, to the point that it’s pretty much impossible for anyone to create a new Superman story that isn’t somewhat influenced by the past. In talking about the influences on his new DC Universe and specifically his Superman, Gunn mentioned that he’s been inspired by a ton of different sources. “I think that all previous DC media influenced me. I think that obviously the original Donner movie influenced me.” But Gunn goes on to say that he’s not just making a Donner film, and that “It’s very different from that.”

Gunn also namedropped the Superman director that came before him, as well as his biggest influence overall: “Zack [Snyder] did some excellent stuff. So there’s a lot of ways that influenced me. There’s a lot of ways in which the DC animated universe [influenced me], and then there’s a lot of stuff from the comic books above and beyond everything else, All-Star Superman, that influenced me more than anything.”

Gunn admitted that All-Star Superman also influenced a more sci-fi approach to this world, adding:

“To take that sort of Silver Age feel, that sort of science fiction approach to it with gadgets, Lex [Luthor] is really a sort of sorcerer in a way. He’s a scientist, but he’s so good at science and I think of him as like a sorcerer. So everything [influenced me], and then it’s just something that’s completely us.”

Related The Synopsis For James Gunn’s ‘Superman’ Arrives Ahead of the First Trailer The film flies into theaters on July 11, 2025.

Clark and Lois’ Relationship Is Unlike What We’ve Seen in Any Superhero Movie

However, one of the places where Superman pushes new ideas is in the relationship between Clark Kent and Lois Lane. In discussing his inspirations, Gunn said: “The relationship between David and Rachel’s [characters] on screen is something I don’t think we’ve ever seen — I hate to say stuff like this — but I don’t think it’s something we’ve ever seen any superhero movie ever.”

Diving a bit deeper into what makes this Clark/Lois relationship different from the ones we’ve seen previously, Gunn stated:

“It’s a complicated relationship, and we really get into it and there’s long scenes that are about their relationship and the way they relate and what it would be like for a person who’s this incredibly intelligent, strong-headed, stubborn, skeptical journalist to have a relationship with someone who can lift a skyscraper.”

Gunn continued that Lois also “knows who Superman is.” In addition to throwing us right into the action, and with these characters established in this world, it’s also exciting that Gunn seems to be moving past the dynamic of whether Lois will find out Superman’s true identity or not and focusing more on the deeper relationship details of Lois and Clark.

‘Superman’ Isn’t Just Trying to Set Up Future DC Projects
Photo by Jefferson Chacon

In this world of cinematic universes, it can often seem like trying to catch up with these worlds is becoming more like homework and not actual entertainment. But even though Gunn has a lot of new characters he wants to play with, and plenty of projects in the works, he’s determined to keep the story at hand the most important thing, rather than setting up future projects down the line. “It’s really about this. Now, are seeds being planted? Yes, there’s seeds being planted, but that is never going to be the predominant thing in any scene for me. It’s always about getting to the next scene. What’s in the moment? How are we making this movie the best we can be? And it’s going to stay like that as much as I can possibly make it like that.”

When asked how much of the film is spent setting up other stuff, Gunn replied:

“Zero. Zero. I mean, maybe two little things, two moments, but basically if something’s there just to set up something else, fuck it. I even say that. And for all I know, those things can be cut by the time we get to the editing room because something has to exist for this movie. And if that works in tandem with setting up characters that exist in other media, then that’s great. If this sets up stuff in ‘Peacemaker,’ which it does, then that’s great. But that is never, ever, ever, with me, going to be something that’s, I’m going to sacrifice even a moment or a beat in a story for, especially a movie. With TV, you’ve got a little bit more leniency to be able to do that. But in a movie, every beat has to be in there for the movie itself.”

That decision to make everything stand on its own is fantastic to hear, considering the state of cinematic universes lately, but Gunn’s vision for this universe goes for all forms of media, and Gunn even discussed how he’s even tried to make his work within the Marvel Cinematic Universe stand on its own outside the larger world as well. “Everything needs to stand by itself. I don’t want somebody to have to go see this movie and be relying on anything else. Now listen, once we get down the line, that may change a little bit. In Guardians, what did you have to see in Guardians 3 to really understand it? You’d be better off seeing the first two Guardians, but even Infinity War, I explained it in an elevator, the whole plot. It’s like trying to keep things as simple as possible so you don’t have to have homework, especially TV shows that some people aren’t into.”

David Corenswet Had to Audition as Both Clark Kent and Superman
Image Via A24

In picking the right Superman for this essential story in the new DC Universe, Gunn mentioned that David Corenswet “auditioned for both Clark and for Superman,” proving how integral both parts of this character are to Gunn’s Superman. Expanding on the duality of the character, Gunn says:

“It’s not just Clark. It’s not just Superman. It’s Clark/Superman. And the only people that know Clark/Superman are his mom and his dad and a few others who know who he is, and those are very different things. People said all sorts of different things. They said, ‘Clark’s the real one.’ They said, ‘Superman’s the real one and Clark’s the secret identity.’ But I don’t, and it says in my script on the second page — I don’t believe either of those things. I don’t think anybody knows Superman unless they know both of them. And when they know both of him, they know the real guy. And that means not too many people.”

In trying to find the right Clark/Superman and Lois, Gunn once again went back to his previous experience with big-budget superhero projects: “The truth is, I think I took cues from their casting process when I cast Chris [Pratt] in the Star-Lord role. So I’ve been taking tips from those casting processes all along. I’ve always believed that the casting is the most important and that as long as the actor is the best possible actor for that role, that’s more important than it is for a name.” Gunn went further into the casting process, and said that Corenswet’s name was in consideration early on thanks to Ti West’s Pearl:

“A lot of people auditioned, and the weird thing is I was so crazily nervous about getting Superman ready, on the very first day of the tapes coming in, I had seen [David] Corenswet in Pearl. So I said, ‘Get him on, get him on.’ I said, ‘Get him on the tape.’ And when the very first day came in David’s tape and Rachel’s tape, and I saw both of those, and I went, ‘Oh my God, we’re going to be okay.’ Because both of these people are amazing. There were other really good actors for both of those roles, but at the end of the day, it was both of them as individuals.”

Yet since Superman seems to be quite a bit about the relationship between Clark/Superman and Lois, Gunn wanted to make sure his two leads worked together, creating a unique scenario to gauge their chemistry. “Then we did something that I didn’t do with Guardians, which is I cast the two leads together and they came in and we had this 15-minute-long scene that they have to act together and talk and discuss and just communicate. And I mixed and matched all the different couples and it was simple magic when the two of them came up. I got to say, it’s one of my greatest moments in filmmaking.”

James Gunn Was Team “No Trunks” For a Long Time, but David Corenswet Changed His Mind
Image via Adult Swim

In creating the costume for Superman, one of the biggest conversations seems to have been whether Gunn’s Superman would wear trunks. Eventually, Gunn went pro in the costuming question, but it took a bit before he made that decision. “I was on the no-trunks team for a long time. For a long time. And Zack [Snyder] said that when he was doing it, he tried a billion different trunk versions as we did. And I kept going back to no trunks, no trunks. And I’m like, well, let’s just grind it out. Let’s just keep trying trunks and see what happens.”

But it was David Corenswet who ultimately made the difference in the trunks discussion, as Gunn elaborated:

“And David [Corenswet] said something to me that really affected me. We were trying on all these different versions, and we screened tested with trunks and no trunks. And one of the things David said is that Superman wants kids to not be afraid of him. He’s an alien. He’s got these incredible powers. He shoots beams out of his eyes, can blow the truck over. He’s this incredibly powerful, could be considered scary individual and he wants people to like him. He wants to be a symbol of hope and positivity. So he dresses like a professional wrestler, he dresses in a way that makes people unafraid of him, that shows that. And I was like, that really clicked in for me. And I think trying to pretend that Superman’s costume doesn’t have some frivolity to it at its base, trying to make it look serious is silly because he is a superhero. He’s the first one, brightly colored and that’s who he is. And so that’s where we landed and eventually we all came to a place where almost all of us agreed on the trunks.”

‘Superman’s Supporting Cast Consists of James Gunn Picking Who He Wanted
Image by Jefferson Chacon

Another great benefit of not only being the writer and director of a Superman film, but also the head of the studio making the film itself, means Gunn can introduce whatever characters he’d like in this DC story. Gunn has often played around with lesser-known characters in these universes in the Guardians of the Galaxy films and The Suicide Squad, and it seems as though Gunn is similarly playing around with some unexpected choices in his Superman:

“I think it was just who I wanted to really, honestly. I love Mr. Terrific. These characters all get their moment in the sun. They all have their moments. They’re not just cameos, these are the characters. They’re supporting cast, but Mr. Terrific is the main character of those characters. He actually has a big part of the plot. And so that was fun. And of course getting to work with Nathan [Fillion] is always something, and putting him in a stupid look, and then Isabela [Merced] is great. I’ve been a fan of hers for a long time. But it was about balance.”

From our discussion with Gunn on the set, Superman seems like a fascinating project for the filmmaker and an intriguing way to kick off an entire cinematic universe. Gunn knows this character and world extensively, and his inspirations and influences look directly at the Superman stories that came before his, which allows him to pay homage to the past while also trying new things that we’ve never seen before in a Superman film.

Hearing Gunn talk about the upcoming film, it’s clear he has a very specific vision and outlook not just for this project, but for the entire DC universe he’s creating. Yet as promising as this film is, Gunn admittedly knows this is a project unlike anything he’s worked on before, and it’s exciting to see him push himself and try new things in this superhero space that we already know he can do so well. Superman is a hard character to get right in movies, and many have certainly tried their best, but after speaking to Gunn on the set of Superman, it looks like Kal-El is ready to fly high next year.

Superman comes to theaters on July 11, 2025.

Follows the titular superhero as he reconciles his heritage with his human upbringing. He is the embodiment of truth, justice and the American way in a world that views kindness as old-fashioned.Release Date July 11, 2025 Cast David Corenswet , Rachel Brosnahan , María Gabriela De Faría , Edi Gathegi , Nicholas Hoult , Frank Grillo , Nathan Fillion , Milly Alcock , Sara Sampaio , Pruitt Taylor Vince , Skyler Gisondo , Anthony Carrigan , Wendell Pierce , Beck Bennett , Sean Gunn Expand