Despite Black Adam bringing back Henry Cavill’s Superman in its end-credits scene and the actor teasing afterwards that we’d see more of him as the Man of Steel, it was announced in December that Cavill’s time as Superman was officially over. Instead, DC Studios co-head James Gunn is writing a Superman reboot that will focus on a younger version of Kal-El/Clark Kent. Now the filmmaker has debunked a big rumor about this particular upcoming DC movie.
It was recently reported that Euphoria and The Kissing Booth trilogy star Jacob Elordi has been selected to play the next Superman. While Elordi certainly fits the ‘younger’ Superman bill since he’s 25 (plus there’s already fan art of him as the character), James Gunn said on Twitter he isn’t anywhere close to casting the popular DC superhero since the reboot’s script isn’t finished. He explained:
My thoughts are no one has been cast as Superman yet. Casting, as is almost always the case with me, will happen after the script is finished or close to finished, and it isn’t. We’ll announce a few things in not too long, but the casting of Superman won’t be one of them.
This is just the latest example of James Gunn going on social media to shoot down inaccurate information about what he and Peter Safran have in the works at DC Studios. More information may be coming soon about the DCU slate, but we’re a long ways off from learning who will succeed Henry Cavill as the next cinematic Superman since Gunn isn’t anywhere close to finishing the reboot’s script. That’s not to say that Jacob Elordi still couldn’t be considered a candidate at some point, but until Gunn is finished putting his Superman story together, or at least close to finishing, casting isn’t on the table.
In addition to the Superman in James Gunn’s reboot being a younger man, the Guardians of the Galaxy director has also said that this will not be an origin story and he will not be meeting major characters from the Superman mythos “for the first time, either.” That makes it sound like the Superman reboot is taking cues from The Batman, as Matt Reeves’ take on the Caped Crusader introduced audiences to Robert Pattinson’s Bruce Wayne two years into his vigilante crusade, but didn’t go over how he ended up putting on the cape and cowl. Beyond that though, we have no idea what to expect from the Superman reboot, including if it will be a standalone affair or be part of a new shared universe.
Rest assured, once it’s announced who will play Superman in James Gunn’s reboot, we’ll let you know. In the meantime, if you’re looking to watch a current live-action Superman, check out Tyler Hoechlin’s portrayal in Superman & Lois. The first two episodes of that CW show can be streamed with an HBO Max subscription, and Season 3 will premiere in March.
