Creature Commandos will kick off DC’s next era of movies and television under James Gunn and Peter Saffran, though the first feature film of that new era will be the highly anticipated Superman in 2025. The film previously known as Superman Legacy will star David Corenswet in the role of the Man of Steel, and while Gunn is helping oversee DC’s grand plan, he stepped into the director role for Superman as well. While there are many things that Gunn is keeping under wraps about his take on Superman, Josh Horowitz recently got Gunn to share one particularly intriguing detail on the latest episode of the Happy Sad Confused podcast, where Gunn teased that some key Silver Age elements of Superman will finally make it to the big screen.
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“I don’t think we’ve ever seen the big science fiction Silver Age Superman aspects that we have in our movie,” Gunn said. “And we’ve never seen…you’ll see it when the movie comes out, but we’ve never seen this specific part of Superman’s life.”
Gunn also teased a bit about what fans can expect from Nicholas Hoult’s Lex Luthor, and like with Superman, there are elements to this interpretation that have never made it to the big screen in previous adaptations.
“I don’t think we’ve ever seen the Lex that Nic is. Nic is…he’s imposing. You go ‘oh, f***, poor Superman. That’s the thing we never see, and not in film,” Gunn said. “Sometimes in the comics you go ‘oh, Superman’s f*****’ because Lex is so smart and good at what he’s doing. But in the movies you’re going Lex is about to get f*****.” Gunn also added, “You see now where Lex is, he’s not the person you want to have against you.”
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The Silver Age is notable for several reasons, but in Superman’s case specifically, it was a period of time that held just about no limitations for his powers. Superman’s abilities were essentially godlike in the ’60s, including the fact that he was pretty much invulnerable to anything aside from kryptonite and magic, and even magic was more like a hinderance as opposed to something that could cause real harm.
His abilities also extended to the mind, as he was super intelligent during this time, though Luthor still had the upper hand in some regards. That unchecked power and leaning into the science of everything could be what Gunn is referring to, and if that’s the case, it will be the first real chance fans have had a chance to see that version of Superman on the big screen.
Corenswet (Superman/Clark Kent) is joined by Rachel Brosnahan (Lois Lane), Hoult (Lex Luthor), Wendell Pierce (Perry White), Pruitt Taylor Vince (Jonathan Kent), Neva Howell (Martha Kent), María Gabriela de Faría (Angela Spica/the Engineer), Isabela Merced (Hawkgirl), Nathan Fillion (Guy Gardner), and Edi Gathegi (Mister Terrific).
Superman will soar into theaters on July 11th, 2025.
Are you excited for those Silver Age elements in Superman? You can talk all things DC and movies with me on Threads and Twitter @mattaguilarcb and on Bluesky @knightofoa!
