To Mike De Luca, James Gunn’s Superman felt perfectly nostalgic.
«I love Superman. I think James Gunn has crushed it. It’s got tons of his trademark heart and humor and the action is jaw dropping,» the Warner Bros. Pictures co-CEO said during an extensive Deadline interview about the future of Warner Bros. Pictures’ genre releases. Regarding the future of Superman, whose big-screen return will kick off the DCU’s live-action era under Gunn and Peter Safran, De Luca called his film «the Superman I grew up with, so I get choked up when I watch it. I think it’s so epic and visually arresting and emotional. The performances are great. It is a five-star movie to me, and I can’t wait for the world to see it. Yeah, we’re really excited about Superman, James crushed it.»
When asked how it compared to the original Superman movie starring Christopher Reeve, De Luca felt that «in spirit, it is closer to that, but it’s also a big hunk of epic sci-fi. It has a little bit of what I loved about Guardians of the Galaxy, but it’s true-blue Superman. The comic book sources that he uses for inspiration, All-Star Superman and the like are in there, too. It is really a love letter to what has made Superman endure for almost a hundred years. He managed to get it all in there.» More of these sci-fi elements were revealed in the film’s CinemaCon sneak peek, which not only highlighted more interactions with Krypto the Superdog, but multiple robot servants operating Superman’s Fortress of Solitude. Another exclusive image teased Gunn directing an encounter between Superman (David Corenswet) and longtime foe Lex Luthor (Nicholas Hoult), though his ulterior motives in the film remain unknown for now.
Superman Is a Workplace Origin Story
Along with its Silver Age elements, Superman will feature several metahuman characters in supporting roles, with its trailers focusing on interactions with Guy Gardner, Mister Terrific, and Hawkgirl. Described as a «workplace origin story» by Gunn in 2023, the marketing also teased more about Clark Kent’s life at the Daily Planet, including his relationship with longtime love interest Lois Lane (Rachel Brosnahan). Superman is the second DCU entry after last year’s Creature Commandos, with Peacemaker season 2 set to follow it in August. Other DCU projects in production include Lanterns and Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow, with the latter seeing the return of Aquaman‘s Jason Momoa as fan-favorite bounty hunter Lobo.
Released in 1978, Superman is widely regarded as one of the most influential comic book movies of all time, with Reeve’s performance impacting every Superman portrayal afterward. The actor would play Superman in three more films until his tragic paralysis in 1995, with the accident’s fallout and Reeve’s career being the subject of last year’s documentary Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story.
Superman releases in theaters on July 11.
