SUPERMAN: LEGACY Director Explains Latest Casting Additions; Says Focus Will Remain On Superman And Lois Lane

SUPERMAN: LEGACY Director Explains Latest Casting Additions; Says Focus Will Remain On Superman And Lois Lane

Superman: Legacy director James Gunn has addressed his decision to add Hawkgirl, Mister Terrific, and Green Lantern to the movie's cast, assuring fans the plan is to keep the spotlight on Superman...

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By JoshWilding - Jul 12, 2023 05:07 AM EST
Filed Under: Superman: Legacy

Superman: Legacy recently cast David Corenswet as Clark Kent and Rachel Brosnahan as Lois Lane, but the ensemble expanded yesterday evening with the addition of Isabela Merced as Hawkgirl, Edi Gathegi as Mister Terrific, and Nathan Fillion as Guy Gardner/Green Lantern.

Those are three huge names to put in a movie which is already expected to add Lux Luthor and key members of The Authority. However, director and DC Studios co-CEO James Gunn is clearly looking to quickly establish the DCU as a world full of established superheroes. 

Over the past 12 hours or so, some fans have understandably questioned whether Superman: Legacy is getting a little crowded. The movie is, after all, meant to establish the Man of Steel's place in the DCU and we've seen what can happen when a movie is devoted almost entirely to setting up what comes next. 

According to Gunn, the trio fit the story he's telling in this reboot and was quick to assure fans the focus will remain on Superman and Lois Lane. 

The filmmaker has a proven track record of deftly handling ensembles, though both Guardians of the Galaxy and The Suicide Squad were movies actually about teams rather than an individual superhero like Superman. 

In other news, despite these well-known characters being added to Superman: Legacy's cast, Gunn has confirmed he's still in the process of finding someone to play the DCU's Jimmy Olsen. We've previously heard the plan is to cast a young, redhead actor in that role. 

"Superman: Legacy tells the story of Superman's journey to reconcile his Kryptonian heritage with his human upbringing as Clark Kent of Smallville, Kansas," reads the movie's synopsis. "He is the embodiment of truth, justice and the American way, guided by human kindness in a world that sees kindness as old-fashioned."

Superman: Legacy is set to be released in theaters on July 11. 2025.

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TempleRod
TempleRod - 7/12/2023, 5:17 AM
Gunn's got it.
This movie is going to change the landscape.

ENTIRELY. Superman BACK ON THE MAP.
People here will be pissing themselves, but that is entirely OKAY.
Everything about this movie sounds PERFECT.
TheManWithoutFear
TheManWithoutFear - 7/12/2023, 5:18 AM
I just watched the first episode of My Adventures with Superman. It was really good.
FireandBlood
FireandBlood - 7/12/2023, 5:21 AM
@TheManWithoutFear - Haven’t seen it yet, but keep seeing gifs of yellow lightning around him. What’s that about?
TheManWithoutFear
TheManWithoutFear - 7/12/2023, 5:23 AM
@PlusUltra - yeah i don't know what's going on there haha. I think each time he activates/discovers a new power that lightning happens? Didn't really bother me.
FireandBlood
FireandBlood - 7/12/2023, 5:24 AM
@TheManWithoutFear - Oh right lol. Cheers man
GhostDog
GhostDog - 7/12/2023, 7:10 AM
@TheManWithoutFear
@PlusUltra
I think it’s his bio electric aura. The show is anime inspired too. The showrunner is active on Twitter and explains stuff sometimes
FireandBlood
FireandBlood - 7/12/2023, 5:20 AM
He’s not slick. The “primary” story revolves around Superman and Lois, not the movie. That right there tells you this movie’s dedicating screen time to set-up. Can’t even get a proper Superman solo nowadays.
dracula
dracula - 7/12/2023, 5:25 AM
@PlusUltra - could work really well depending how they are used

Superman Man of Tomorrow had Martian Manhunter and Lobo helping out Superman against Parasite. Both's role were limited to supporting roles, part mentor and part antagonist.

worked well there.

could see Terrific being connected to Luthor corp. not sure how you can tie in hawkgirl and gl though
FireandBlood
FireandBlood - 7/12/2023, 5:29 AM
@dracula - Idk, that animated movie was kind of weak. We’ll see, but it’d be nice if we could actually explore Superman’s corner of the DCU, like we should in a Superman movie, instead of dedicating another one of his movies to setting up yet again another DC cinematic universe for WB.
TempleRod
TempleRod - 7/12/2023, 6:45 AM
@PlusUltra - LOL.
That's a real reach.
Maybe wait until the movie becomes clearer before all your 'concern'.

'a proper Superman solo'.

LOL. Just hate harder why don't you?
Meanwhile the rest of the world is going to be LOVING this movie. Whether it's "proper" to you or not.
But hey, have fun in your little corner.
philinterrupted
philinterrupted - 7/12/2023, 7:02 AM
@TempleRod - why wait when he can bitch now?

There are so many scenarios besides a team up where another character could show up. But here we are, people making wholesale assumptions based off of scraps of information.
TheManWithoutFear
TheManWithoutFear - 7/12/2023, 5:21 AM
Also i notice this conversation happened on Threads. As someone who doesn't have social media and is outside looking in, it makes it look like everyone just switched overnight without even blinking. Elon really did blow it.
dracula
dracula - 7/12/2023, 5:26 AM
Wonder what origin they will go with for the hawks

egyptians reincarnated or aliens
FireandBlood
FireandBlood - 7/12/2023, 5:29 AM
@dracula - Both.
Superspecialawesomeguy
Superspecialawesomeguy - 7/12/2023, 8:23 AM
@dracula - You should check out the Hawkman book by Robert Venditti and Bryan Hitch, it was a great run that does an amazing job of making sense of Hawkman's various origins imo.
Matchesz
Matchesz - 7/12/2023, 5:31 AM
Cant get excited for yer another superman incarnation. The only reason we’re on our 15th superman is because the movie studio be [frick]ing up
RafaelTorres
RafaelTorres - 7/12/2023, 6:17 AM
@Matchesz - oh no!!! Im so burnt out after the FOURTH cinematic Superman has been announced in… 45 years?!
Arthorious
Arthorious - 7/12/2023, 7:49 AM
@Matchesz - how you feel about Spider-Man or Batman?
ModHaterSLADE
ModHaterSLADE - 7/12/2023, 5:34 AM
I mean just cause they're in the movie doesn't mean they were going to have a big part in it anyway, could just be a nod to another franchise Gunn has in the works. I hope Fillion pops up again in a GL project, as well as Mr.Terrific maybe getting his own Terrifics team project or solo film.
Metan
Metan - 7/12/2023, 5:43 AM
Nice. Yeah, I think people have been flipping out over other heroes being included in a Superman film way too prematurely and without trying to imagine how it could work or has worked before. Sure, Black Adam and other films have tried to introduce a bunch of superheroes/villains in a solo character's film before to mixed results, so maybe that's made people cautious of the prospect, and the former makes for a funny comparison.

But people have been acting as if comics haven't been presenting fully fleshed out worlds and thrusting heroes into them in media res successfully for decades. As if there aren't great animated shows that have been doing this with just 20 minute long episodes, like the DCAU ones or Invincible. As if The Incredibles and Spider-man: Into the Spider-Verse aren't a thing. As if Guardians of the Galaxy and The Suicide Squad aren't a thing. And so on.

Honestly, I think it's refreshing that we're gonna jump into a world that's already established as somewhere fantastical, if not quite fully formed yet, and which Superman can interact with as such. Not everything needs an origin story before being shown in a story. The MCU is not the only model for success. Now, whether Gunn can pull it off well we'll see, but fingers crossed.
CoHost
CoHost - 7/12/2023, 5:49 AM
This is like if Matt Reeves added the Aqua Teen Hunger Force in The Batman.
Metan
Metan - 7/12/2023, 5:56 AM
@CoHost - I mean, Matt Reeves' The Batman had: Batman, Catwoman, Gordon, Riddler, Falcone, Penguin, and Joker. Multiple heroes/anti-heroes and villains, amongst other characters, but the focus was still on Battinson and his story. Admittedly, I had a bunch of problems with The Batman and its storytelling, including the horrible Joker cameo, and disliked it more than a lot of other people. But I don't think the number of characters was a problem.
Metan
Metan - 7/12/2023, 5:59 AM
@CoHost - Honestly, I remember people fretting and foing over the number of characters set for The Batman before it came out too, worried that it would end up as another Spider-man 3, Batman Forever or whatever. But then it came out and most people really liked it.
FireandBlood
FireandBlood - 7/12/2023, 6:07 AM
@Metan - They’re all Batman characters, integral to Batman and his mythos. Hawkgirl, Mr. Terrific and Guy Gardner ain’t Superman characters, nor do they have any strong ties to him. None of them even come from Metropolis. They’re being featured solely to set up a universe, just like the last time they included the Justice League in a Superman movie (BvS). Not sure why anybody is pretending otherwise.
RafaelTorres
RafaelTorres - 7/12/2023, 6:21 AM
@PlusUltra - I think James Gunn writing a movie that juggles an eclectic mixture of DC characters is a little different than Zack Snyder shoehorning in the justice league and Wonder Woman into a movie for no reason. I don’t think Guy Gardner is gonna be popping up just to steal milk on CCTV. Surely Gunn has bought enough goodwill with his projects by now for people to have faith that this is still gonna be a great Superman movie which organically weaves in the wider DCU? Sounds like you’re just being negative for the sake of it.
Metan
Metan - 7/12/2023, 6:39 AM
@PlusUltra - That's a fair point and distinction. Still, Hawkgirl, Mister Terrific and Guy Gardner still feel like they're in the same realm as Superman to me because they've all been/will be Justice League members. And there's no reason they couldn't become part of the Superman mythos.

Wolverine debuted in Incredible Hulk comics before becoming one of the X-men. Drax the Destroyer first appeared in Iron Man, went on to appear in a bunch of other titles, and then became a Guardian. Punisher launched in The Amazing Spider-Man. Mister Terrific debuted in Spectre. Just a few examples.

We don't really know the story that Gunn's going to be telling with these characters yet. His take on all of them might fit together really well and justify their inclusion. Or, yeah, maybe some of them will feel shoehorned in as set-ups. But we don't know which way it will go yet, and whatever, the case I don't see why he can't try new things or remixes.
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