Following a soaring opening weekend, rave reviews, and the biggest audience response to a film centered on the big blue boy scout in decades, James Gunn would have every right to be sitting back, relaxing, and soaking up the success of his latest film, Superman.
After all, the long-gestating first feature-length installment in Gunn and Peter Safran’s freshly minted DCU had a lot riding on it. The film had to simultaneously create a new version of this iconic hero that would speak to fans across the world, even as other superhero-related fare saw lessening returns at the box office, and had to successfully get audiences invested in this entire new cinematic universe. And miraculously, Gunn pulled all of that off and then some. However, the writer-director is taking no time to rest on his laurels.
This past weekend, Gunn appeared at the San Diego Comic-Con to promote the new season of his DCU-related series, Peacemaker, and received a standing ovation from the crowd while he was there.
Now, when asked on his social media platform of choice, Threads, about what he’s currently working on, the filmmaker revealed that he is actively writing the script for a Superman sequel. To follow up this response, the user asked, “WHEN ARE YOU GONNA TEASE THE SEQUEL?” with Gunn responding, “I JUST DID!”
While a sequel to Superman is certainly no surprise given the film’s massive success and the larger ambitions of the DCU, the fact that Gunn is writing it right now is new information. Previously, Gunn had hinted in interviews that it wouldn’t be long before audiences would see David Corenswet return as the titular Man of Steel, but played coy about referring to the follow-up project explicitly as a Superman sequel. This led to widespread speculation online that the film might be a team-up film of some sort. However, Gunn refers to the script he’s writing as a “sequel” in the post, which marks a first for the project.
Additionally, just because Gunn is writing the script for the sequel does not necessarily mean the film will be one that he directs. Infamously, Gunn initially wanted to merely write the script for Superman and have someone else direct it, before Safran ultimately convinced him to take a more hands-on role in launching this new universe.
As such, it wouldn’t be shocking to find out Gunn is writing the script but looking to pass off director duties to someone else. His job as a central creative figure in the DCU is only growing more complex, with a bevvy of new projects now in the works, from Clayface to Supergirl to Swamp Thing and beyond, which might leave him with precious little time to devote to full-time directing another Superman entry.
Conversely, Gunn clearly grew quite attached to the character of Superman over the course of making the film and made this iteration of the character very much his own. Just as he was reluctant to relinquish control of the Guardians of the Galaxy franchise at Marvel Studios, he may very well be writing this now officially confirmed Superman sequel with the intention of it being his next film proper.