James Gunn Debunked Controversial Superman: Legacy Rumor While Hinting Fan-Favorite Daily Planet Characters May Show Up

Nick Venable
·3 min read
3
Superman in front of Daily Planet building on Action Comics #1000 cover.
Superman in front of Daily Planet building on Action Comics #1000 cover.

James Gunn knows as much as anyone that the DCU’s Superman: Legacy could very well be the biggest film of his success-filled career, and it’s already sparked an exorbitant amount of fan anticipation, which has itself led to unfounded reports about casting additions and storyline elements. The filmmaker has always had a good back-and-forth relationship with his fanbase on social media, and that hasn’t stopped just because he’s working on his first Man of Steel project. To that end, Gunn put the kibosh on one plot rumor that had already sparked a bit of controversy, while also cheekily leaving the door open for two Daily Planet fan-favorites to be included in the Superman: Legacy cast.

James Gunn Debunked Controversial Plot Rumor

Back in the middle of the summer, when both the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes were still in play, a rumor surfaced online pointing to the upcoming DC movie's plot featuring some form of Middle Eastern terrorist threat that would require Supes and other Justice League-friendly heroes to head across the planet to help. Fans quickly decried the idea of yet another superhero action movie leaning heavily into international terrorism as a plot point, given how often it’s happened in the past.

Thankfully, James Gunn directly replied to one fan who inquired about that being one of his film’s antagonistic struggles, confirming that particular avenue of worry was for naught.

  • OWENJGORDON: Please tell us the "terrorist threat in the Middle East" storyline rumour isn't true

  • JAMES GUNN: It isn't true.

To his credit, Gunn very rarely plays by Hollywood’s usual handbook, so a lot of reactions to the rumors were pure disbelief, with many fans doubting that his first project as the co-head of the DCU would fall back on the trope-iest of villain tropes. That said, the lack of further context in that reply does technically make it possible that only one of the details in that question isn’t right.

Maybe there’s a terrorist threat from somewhere else in the world, or maybe there’s a Middle East threat that isn’t specifically tied to terrorists. One can hope that Gunn will either go with something entirely original, or will pull something equally fresh from the long history of Superman comics.

James Gunn Plays Coy Over Fan-Favorite Daily Planet Characters

With that rumor out of the way, let’s focus more on some potentially good news. Ahead of The Righteous Gemstones’ Skylar Gisondo being cast as Jimmy Olsen, someone asked James Gunn if it was possible that two other newspaper faves would be popping up in live-action anew.

  • NATE_PNH: Can we expect more characters from Daily Planet? Like Cat Grant or Steve Lombard?

  • JAMES GUNN: 😏

No reason to celebrate just yet, but it sounds like fans might be seeing Cat and/or Steve whenever James Gunn's movie hits theaters, and would likely hear about the casting news long before that. Or should I say, Cat-sting news. No, on second thought, I shouldn't.

As Supergirl fans no doubt remember, Calista Flockhart portrayed the Arrowverse’s take on Cat Grant, while Tracy Scoggins was the first to play the role on TV for Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman. Meanwhile, Jack Ryan’s Michael Kelly took on the role of Steve Lombard in Zack Snyder’s Man of Steel.

Superman: Legacy will hit theaters on July 11, 2025 as part of the DCU’s “Gods and Monsters” opening gambit. Check out everything that we’re expecting on the big screen before then with our upcoming 2023 movies schedule.