By Griff Griffin
Contributing Pop Culture Writer
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Superman won't spend its running time retelling the origin story of its hero, according to new comments made by director James Gunn.
"Everything needs to stand by itself," Gunn tells The Wrap. "I don't want somebody to have to go see this movie and be relying on anything else. If this sets up stuff in Peacemaker, which it does, then that's great. But that is never, ever, ever, with me, going to be something that I'm going to sacrifice even a moment or a beat in a story for, especially a movie."
Previous Superman reboots, including the most recent in 2013's Man of Steel, chart Superman's rise from the beginning. That's not something Gunn is going for with next summer's Superman, previously titled Superman: Legacy, given audiences are already familiar with DC's arguably most iconic superhero.
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Instead of exploring Superman's life since childhood, we arrive right in his prime. Superman already has a relationship with Lois Lane, and history with the villainous Lex Luthor.
"We just start in the middle of the action," Gunn said. "Superman's already existing. Lois and Clark already know each other. Lex hates Superman's guts from the beginning, although they don't know each other personally."
Keenly aware of the time limitations of movies, Gunn is making every minute count. While he can afford to take detours with Peacemaker, his spinoff to Suicide Squad starring John Cena, Superman cuts to the chase. "With TV, you've got a little bit more leniency to be able to do that. But in a movie, every beat has to be in there for the movie itself."
What's the story in Superman?
As well as outlining the movie's story, Gunn also shared his inspiration behind it. He cites Richard Donner's 1978 Superman as a huge influence - Gunn even uses parts of the same score, as composed by John Williams, in John Murphy's newly original score as a nostalgic callback.
"I think that obviously the original Donner movie influenced me, but there's also a lot of things that this isn't, like I'm not just making a Donner type movie. It's very different from that."
In addition, Gunn detailed the work that's going into the action scenes - in particular, the aerial scenes. According to Gunn, his crew used drones to place viewers in the sky alongside Superman, letting them get closer than ever to the Man of Steel.
"We shoot a lot of our action with actual drones flying in and around Superman and the people that he's flying with, Engineer, whoever else, that he's fighting up in the air." Gunn said. "We got these really small, crazy drones now. We've got some of the best flyers in the world here who are working with it."
Superman opens in theaters on July 11, 2025.
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