Superman’s sequel is yet to be confirmed by James Gunn, but that has not stopped the filmmaker from inadvertently setting up a great way to differentiate it from the first film.James Gunn’sSupermanmovieis set to kickstart the DCU in July 2025, meaning the DC Studios chief is focused solely on that for a while yet. That said,Gunn’s recent DC Universe revealssaw him confirm that he has already begun work on his next script in the franchise. As far as Gunn was willing to confirm, this script is not aSupermansequel.
However, that does not meanSuperman 2is not planned as part of the ever-growing slate ofupcoming DCU movies, simply that it may be further away than first thought. As themovies of the DCU’s Chapter Onebegin to release, Gunn will undoubtedly be toying with ideas for aSupermansequel that will continue the story of the first but add a new, unique flavor to the franchise. Interestingly, the filmmaker may already have provided a way to add this element to aSupermansequel, making it different enough from the original film to stand on its own.
James Gunn Has Already Explained How A DC Universe Superman Sequel Could Likely Be Different To The Upcoming 2025 Superman Movie
Different Filmmakers Have Different Visions
In December 2024, James Gunn appeared on theHappy, Sad, Confusedpodcastto promoteCreature Commandosand the rest of the DCU’s upcoming slate. During this interview, Gunn was asked about certain pet peeves for superhero movies, citing a lack of creative consistency from a story standpoint as one of them. Regardless, Gunn still outlined his desire to have distinct and different visual styles be part of his DC Universe, just as they are part of DC Comics from artist to artist.
Gunn insisted that he has his own version of Metropolis, but that he would be completely fine with another filmmaker in the future having their own, slightly different visual referencefor Superman’s iconic city. Herein lies how a sequel to the DCU’sSupermancould differentiate itself from the original. While the broader strokes of the city would need to remain consistent, having someone else come in and alter the visual style of Metropolis somewhat could be very interesting, allowing the sequel toSupermanto have its own unique look that still links to the first film.
Why It’s Good James Gunn Is Open To A Very Different Superman Sequel
Gunn Is Not Limiting The DCU At All
With this update from Gunn in mind, it cannot be seen as anything other than a great thing for the filmmaker to be open about this. In many franchises, as Gunn points out himself, there can be strict rules and regulations that filmmakers must follow to fit “canon.” Although the DCU will certainly have this,it is great that Gunn is willing to stretch that somewhat to allow for aspects like different visual styles in the core movies, complete standalones likeSwamp ThingorClayfacethat bend genres, or completely separate movies in the Elseworlds sect of the franchise.
The DC Universe would be able to tell its overarching story with the same characters set in the same world while allowing each individual movie or TV show to be completely different from the last…
The one prevailing benefit that this will allow the DCU as a whole to have is a lack of staleness. Long-running franchises that adhere to such strict rules could become stale very quickly, yet Gunn’s openness to a completely different visual style forSuperman 2, for example, would prevent this. This way, the DC Universe would be able to tell its overarching story with the same characters set in the same world while allowing each individual movie or TV show to be completely different from the last, keeping the franchise fresh in a way that could begin withSuperman 2’s unique take on Metropolis.
