Superman
Release Date: July 11, 2025
Director: James Gunn
Writer: James Gunn
Cast:
• David Corenswet – Superman/Clark Kent
• Rachel Brosnahan – Lois Lane
• Nicholas Hoult – Lex Luthor
• Maria Gabriela de Faria – Engineer/Angela Spica
• Nathan Fillion – Green Lantern/Guy Gardner
• Isabela Merced – Hawkgirl/Kendra Saunders
• Anthony Carrigan – Metamorpho/Rex Mason
• Edi Gathegi – Mister Terrific/Michael Holt
• Milly Alcock – Supergirl/Kara Zor-El
• Sean Gunn – Maxwell Lord
• Sara Sampaio – Eve Teschmacher
• Skyler Gisondo – Jimmy Olsen
• Wendell Pierce – Perry White
Although this will not be James Gunn’s first involvement with the DC Universe (changed from DC Extended Universe), Superman will make a grand entrance for the revamped film series that Gunn is overseeing, similar to how Kevin Feige runs the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Gunn has previously developed The Suicide Squad and its Peacemaker spin-off show, and now will be heavily involved in Superman, again serving as both writer and director.
The cast of this movie has quickly come together, with David Corenswet as the son of Krypton. This is unfortunate for DCEU fans who were fond of watching Henry Cavill fly around on the big screen. The other big parts filling in the story are Rachel Brosnahan's Lois Lane, Nicholas Hoult's Lex Luthor, and Nathan Fillion as the Guy Gardner edition of Green Lantern. Fillion is a notable James Gunn regular, recently applying his straight-faced humor in Gunn’s Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3.
James Gunn decided to drop the subtitle “Legacy” and simply name the film Superman. This is a bold move as fans have been divided lately over the direction of DC films, when few question their loyalty to the original Superman from 1978. Gunn has quite a challenge on his hands, having to differentiate his vision to stand out from, not just Richard Donner’s classic, but also Bryan Singer’s interpretation, as well as Zack Snyder’s version of the hero.
The Fantastic Four: First Steps
Release Date: July 25, 2025
Director: Matt Shakman
Writers: Josh Friedman, Jeff Kaplan and Ian Springer
Cast:
• Pedro Pascal – Mister Fantastic/Reed Richards
• Vanessa Kirby – Invisible Woman/Sue Storm
• Ebon Moss-Bachrach – Thing/Ben Grimm
• Joseph Quinn – Human Torch/Johnny Storm
• Ralph Ineson – Galactus
• Julia Garner – Silver Surfer/Shalla-Bal
• John Malkovich
• Paul Walter Hauser
• Natasha Lyonne
The Fantastic Four already had two cinematic endeavors this century. The most recent was directed by Josh Trank in 2015 and was a dismal affair. Despite Black Panther’s Michael B. Jordan standing in as the Human Torch, the film was a critical and commercial failure. Ten years prior, Tim Story helmed a Fantastic Four two-fer; a fun family friendly superhero series with Chris Evans portraying Johnny Storm not too long before suiting up as Captain America in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Now it is the MCU’s turn to take a crack at the super family. Director of the Spider-Man “Home” trilogy, Jon Watts, was in early talks to lead the franchise but is taking a break from comic book adaptations, leaving an opening for WandaVision’s Matt Shakman to take over. Shakman directed all nine episodes of the near-perfect limited series. If he can lend a similar fervent idiosyncrasy to First Steps, this movie could stand out just like his Disney Plus series.
John Krasinki stunned fans when he played Mister Fantastic in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. But that version of the character was in an alternate dimension, so pop culture icon Pedro Pascal will look to dominate yet another beloved universe. Ebon Moss-Bachrach has some experience in this genre after portraying Micro in Netflix’s The Punisher. And Joseph Quinn is no “stranger” to admired genre properties; he was fan-favorite Eddie Munson in Stranger Things. However, the cast member with perhaps the least invitations to comic-con is the finest actor of the quartet, Vanessa Kirby.