James Gunn dispels rumors that Ta-Nehisi Coates' Superman movie is dead
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Breaking news from The Daily Planet: James Gunn said that Ta-Nehisi Coates and J. J. Abrams' Superman movie could still happen regardless of the inclusion of his Superman: Legacy to the DC roster.
The newly-appointed co-chair and CEO of DC Studios for Warner Bros. Discovery shut down rumors that Coates' adaptation was one of the many casualties of the shakeup at WB, telling Gizmodo's io9 that his upcoming iteration and Coates' version are "totally unrelated."
"That's an exciting movie," Gunn said. "I know that Chantal Nong, who is the executive on that project, is extremely excited about it. So if it comes in and it's great, which I haven't read the script, and if the timing is right, that could absolutely happen. That's totally unrelated. It would be an Elseworlds tale like Joker."
Gilbert Flores/Getty James Gunn
Elseworlds refers to the publication imprint for DC comics with stories set outside the DC Universe's main canon. Gunn and DC co-chair Peter Safran confirmed earlier this year that they'll use the Elseworlds strategy to allow their version of the DC Universe to co-exist with stories outside of canon, including Matt Reeves' The Batman and Todd Phillips' Joker franchise.
"The bar for an Elseworlds tale is going to be higher than the bar for something in the DCU," Gunn told Gizmodo in January. "Not that we're not always going to have a higher bar, but it's got to be something really special for us to tell that story outside of our regular continuity and to spend the money on it to make it."
EW confirmed in 2021 that Coates had been tapped to write a new Superman movie centered on a Black Man of Steel, with Abrams attached to produce. There have been little to no updates so far. Gunn's Superman: Legacy, on the other hand, is slated for a July 2025 theatrical release.
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