The future of DC icon Superman on the silver screen is largely unknown. While The Batman continues to ply his trade, there are currently no plans for any further big screen adventures with the Man of Steel. Well, it turns out that that may not be the case for too much longer, and that none of other than Guardians of the Galaxy director James Gunn was almost the man at the helm.
During a recent interview, James Gunn offered some insight into a conversation he had with Marvel head honcho Kevin Feige surrounding a sequel to Guardians of the Galaxy. Upon being offered the MCU threequel, Gunn revealed to Feige that he had already accepted a project over at DC just the day before, to which Feige asked, “Is it Superman?” While the project in question was in fact the upcoming supervillain team-up The Suicide Squad, Gunn admits that Superman “was a possibility.”
Though Gunn did not elaborate any further about the discussion, it would seem to confirm that Warner Bros. is planning to develop a new Superman project. While Gunn turned it down in favour of The Suicide Squad, it is hard not to feel a twinge of disappointment that we will never see Gunn’s take on the Man of Steel come to fruition.
While fans remain in the dark regarding the continuing adventures of Kal El, rumors persist that Justice League star Henry Cavill will reprise the role on the eventually. The most recent internet buzz claimed that Cavill will indeed be returning to the big screen as the Last Son of Krypton, with the 37-year-old actor reportedly having signed a new deal that includes three movies and options for cameos across other DC universe movies. It has also been alleged that interest in Henry Cavill returning was sparked by the successful announcement of The Snyder Cut, which is due for release on HBO Max next year, with Cavill himself reportedly pitching a take on Superman to the studio that was very well received.
As for The Suicide Squad, Gunn has brought back a few familiar faces for his first foray into DC, including Margot Robbie as Harley Quinn, Viola Davis as Amanda Waller, Joel Kinnaman as Rick Flag and Jai Courtney as Captain Boomerang, who are all reprising their roles from 2016’s Suicide Squad. Alongside them will be a lot of new faces, with the rest of the team made up of Idris Elba as Bloodsport, John Cena as Peacemaker, David Mastmalchian as Polka-Dot Man, Daniela Melchior as Ratcatcher, Flula Borg as Javelin, Nathan Fillion as T.D.K., Peter Capaldi as Thinker, Pete Davidson as Black Guard, Alice Braga as Sol Soria, Sean Gunn as Weasel, Michael Rooker as Savant, Mayling Ng as Mongal, and Steve Agee as King Shark.
Gunn is looking to make an impression with The Suicide Squad, and has clearly already impressed studio bosses, as spin-offs have already been put into development. A series centred on Peacemaker has been given a straight-to-series order of eight episodes for the first season, with John Cena set to reprise his role as the unstable DC superhero. Gunn will write all eight episodes, as well as direct a few himself, and serve as an executive producer alongside Peter Safran, with Cena as co-executive producer. Peacemaker is scheduled to begin production in early 2021, and will stream exclusively on HBO Max.
The Suicide Squad meanwhile is scheduled to be released in the United States on August 6, 2021. If that weren’t already more than enough to keep Gunn busy, Guardians of the Galaxy 3 will begin filming in summer 2020 for release sometime in 2022. This comes to us from Empire.
