When it was announced that Peter Safran and James Gunn were taking over as co-CEOs of DC Studios and were working on a brand-new slate of films to fill out the new DCU, fans were assuming that meant the death of every other project that was being developed prior. This included the highly-publicized ‘Superman’ film being produced by J.J. Abrams and written by Ta-Nehisi Coates. It didn’t seem like there was room for two competing ‘Superman’ films, especially after Gunn has already announced a release date for his upcoming reboot. Well, that’s apparently not the case.
Speaking to Gizmodo, James Gunn was asked about the current status of the Ta-Nehisi Coates ‘Superman’ reboot film that had been in development before he took over as co-CEO. As mentioned, many people assumed the film would be killed, as it wouldn’t make sense for DC Studios to release two competing ‘Superman’ reboots so close to each other. Gunn dispelled rumors that it was being shelved, and instead, he said that the film could still happen (if it’s good enough). However, it wouldn’t be part of the ongoing DCU.
“Those two things are totally unrelated,” Gunn explained about the two ‘Superman’ projects. “That’s an exciting movie. I know that Chantal Nong, who is the executive on that project, is extremely excited about it. So if it comes in and it’s great, which I haven’t read the script, and if the timing is right, that could absolutely happen. That’s totally unrelated. It would be an Elseworlds tale like ‘Joker.’”
For added context, Gunn is currently in the middle of pre-production on “Superman: Legacy,” the forthcoming film he has written and will direct. That will feature a brand-new actor in the lead role (replacing Henry Cavill) and won’t have any connections to previous iterations of the character. The film that Coates was said to be working on was another reboot. The reports said that the film would feature a Black Clark Kent and would also be focused on his younger years as Superman.
However, as Gunn teased, there’s a chance that Coates’ film could be set up as an Elseworlds film. That is the name given to films such as “Joker” and “The Batman,” which deal with DC superheroes but don’t exist in the established DCU continuity. Each of these Elseworlds franchises would inhabit their own universe and continuity.
Obviously, this sort of thing—having two, very different ‘Superman’ franchises—would really only work if there is a clear distinction between them and both are really good. There’s no incentive for Gunn to greenlight Coates’ version unless it’s very fucking good and needs to be made. Otherwise, if it’s just a ho-hum ‘Superman’ tale, there’s no reason to add to consumer confusion by trying to explain to the casual fan how both of these franchises exist.
All that to say, sure Coates’ version isn’t “dead,” but that’s not confirmation that it’s actually ever going to happen. But there’s still a small chance that it could if Gunn and Safran want it to.