James Gunn's Superman movie: release date, confirmed cast, plot rumors, and more

Is it a bird? A plane? No, it's a new Superman movie! The first film set to be released as part of James Gunn and Peter Safran's rebooted the DC Cinematic Universe (DCU), the flick formerly known as Superman: Legacy won't be with us for another year. But, with filming well underway and plenty of recent set leaks, we've got a clearer idea of what lies in store for the Man of Steel's next silver screen adventure.

Below, we've compiled everything piece of intel we can find on the DCU Chapter One movie, including its release date, confirmed cast, plot rumors, and how it could set up future DCU films and TV shows. Potentially big spoilers follow for 2025's Superman film, so tread carefully if you're, well, trying to avoid spoilers.

Superman release date

Superman will break the supersonic sound barrier in theaters on July 11, 2025; its official launch date being revealed last January when Gunn confirmed the full DCU Chapter One movie and TV show line-up.

Principal photography began in late February and, at the time of this article update (July 2), filming has moved to Cleveland, Ohio, which is where many of its recent set leaks have happened. It's currently unclear when Superman's full shooting schedule will end, but we'll let you know when we hear more.

Superman cast

Potential spoilers follow for 2025's Superman film.

Here's the confirmed cast for Superman so far:

• David Corenswet as Clark Kent/Superman
• Rachel Brosnahan as Lois Lane
• Nicholas Hoult as Lex Luthor
• Nathan Fillion as Guy Gardner/Green Lantern
• Isabela Merced as Hawkgirl
• Edi Gathegi as Michael Holt/Mister Terrific
• Anthony Carrigan as Rex Mason/Metamorpho
• Maria Gabriela de Faria as Angela Spica/The Engineer
• Sara Sampaio as Eve Teschmacher
• Pruitt Taylor Vince as Jonatan 'Pa' Kent
• Neva Howell as Martha 'Ma' Kent
• Sean Gunn as Maxwell Lord
• Skyler Gisondo as Jimmy Olsen
• Wendell Pierce as Perry White
• Beck Bennett as Steve Lombard
• Mikaela Hoover as Cat Grant
• Christopher McDonald as Ron Troupe
• Frank Grillo as Rick Flag Sr.
• Terence Rosemore as Otis

Corenswet (The Politician, Pearl) is the latest actor tasked with bringing Clark Kent/Krypton's most famous son to life in a live-action project. His casting was revealed alongside Rachel Brosnahan's (Prime Video's The Marvelous Mrs Maisel), who'll play Kent's perpetual love interest and fellow Daily Planet reporter Lois Lane.

Hoult (X-Men, Mad Max: Fury Road), who reportedly accepted the role of Lex Luthor in November 2023 before his casting was officially announced days later, will play Superman's most iconic adversary. Despite Superman's first-look image teasing the potential appearance of another big villain, Gunn confirmed (via Threads) that Luthor will be the film's big bad. He'll be joined on antagonistic duties by Teschmacher (Sampaio), aka Luthor's assistant and love interest in the comics, and a henchman named Otis (Rosemore).

Pierce (The Wire) has reportedly been cast as Perry White, the Daily Planet's tough but fair editor-in-chief, although he declined to confirm his involvement in a Late Night With Seth Meyer interview (per X/Twitter user JeremyJLop). Gisondo (Licorice Pizza) is definitely on board as Jimmy Olsen, the Daily Planet's photographer and friend to Kent and Lane. Bennett (Saturday Night Live), Hoover (Guardians 3), and McDonald (Happy Gilmore) round out the Daily Planet's roster as self-serving sports reporter Lombard, gossip columnist Grant, and general journalist Troupe respectively.

Ordinarily a Wonder Woman villain, Maxwell Lord will also make a brief appearance, with Sean Gunn, James' brother and frequent collaborator (he appeared in the Guardians of the Galaxy films and The Suicide Squad), playing him. Lastly on the non-superhero front, Vince (Stranger Things) and Howell (Logan Lucky) will play Clarke's human adoptees in Jonathan and Martha Kent – Gunn confirming their castings on Instagram.

As for other superheroes who'll appear in one of the DCU Chapter One's most exciting movies, the only fully costumed character (via leaked set images) we've seen alongside Corenswet's Man of Steel is fellow hero Mr. Terrific. Gathegi (For All Mankind) portrays this wealthy scientist-turned-superhero who uses floating orbs – known as T-spheres – to imbue himself with superhuman abilities.

Carrigan (Barry) is playing Metamorpho, an archaeologist who acquires superpowers that enable him to alter his body's atoms to change shape and consistency. Fillion (The Suicide Squad, Firefly) is playing the Guy Gardner iteration of Green Lantern. One of many individuals to assume this alias, Gardner will be "90% flawed and [he] doesn’t care [about anything]", Fillion told Collider.

Merced (The Last of Us season 2) is on board as Hawkgirl – a Justice League of America member who's a near-identical character to Black Adam's Hawkman. She can fly, uses various weapons, and comes equipped with the usual superhuman strength, stamina, reflexes, and ability to heal quickly. Additionally, De Faria (Deadly Class) is playing Spica/The Engineer, a member of The Authority. This DC Comics super team – one unafraid to resort to extreme measures to save the day – is getting a standalone movie, too, so expect Superman to set up some story strands for The Authority.

Gunn's Superman film will feature heroes/anti-heroes from other forthcoming DCU projects. More on-set leaks confirmed Grillo's Rick Flag Sr, who'll debut in upcoming Max animated series Creature Commandos, will feature, as could another famous Man of Steel villain, with some eagle-eyed viewers thinking either Ultraman or Bizarro is the individual escorting a handcuffed Supes in the video above.

As for other potential inclusions, one notable one – if reports are to be believed – is Supergirl, who'll be played by Milly Alcock (House of the Dragon). She was one of two finalists Gunn was considering for Supergirl, aka Kara Zor-El, before her DCU casting was confirmed in late January. However, Gunn wrote (via Threads) that Supergirl might not cameo in Superman, so this cast addition might not be true.

We might, though, see another Superman-adjacent character. Indeed, another Superman movie leak suggests Mr. Terrific will encounter Superman's loyal canine friend Krypto the Superdog at some point, so expect this very good boy to likely feature in the flick's third act.

Superman story speculation

There's no plot synopsis for Superman yet, but Gunn hasn't been shy about the comic book series he's taking inspiration from. For starters, 2025's Superman isn't another origins story. Via Threads, Gunn said his movie would begin with Kal-El/Clark Kent already living on Earth, so we won't have to sit through another take on his Kryptonian backstory.

When the flick's director teased the DC superhero's new suit in March, it all but confirmed that this film will be influenced by Mark Waid and Alex Ross' Kingdom Come. A 1996 Elseworlds miniseries, the four-issue run showed a world-weary Kent come out of retirement (alongside other Justice League members) to put a bunch of new, morally complex, and violent superheroes in their place.

It's highly unlikely that Superman will be a direct adaptation of these comics – indeed, in Kingdom Come, Kent is much older than Corenswet's iteration, who's reportedly in his mid-20s, nor will it see Supes battle his fellow metahumans. However, Reddit users seem to think we'll see a reverse-engineered version of Kingdom Come's story unfold in this flick, with Corenswet's youthful and enthusiastic superpowered individual potentially helping some of Earth's battle-hardened heroes to rediscover their sense of purpose. 

@rachelbrosnahan

A supervillain, a journalist and an alien walk into a bar…

♬ Superman 1978- Main Theme - Geek Music

Before Kent embarks on a quest to re-energize his fellow heroes' commitment to protecting Earth, he'll need to deal with his own demons – chief among those being his sense of isolation.

To that end, Kent will spend most of his superhero life living alone in his iconic Fortress of Solitude. A report from Norwegian outlet vg.no carried quotes from Gunn saying his flick will show Kent "fleeing" to his Arctic base of operations at some point in the story. It's unclear when or why he does so, although a leaked set video (via the DCU Leaks sub-Reddit) shows Clark struggling to make his way through a bustling Metropolis crowd, so maybe life in a chaotic city becomes too much for him. You can expect his character arc to center on feelings of alienation, too, before he finds the courage to move past his trauma and sense of being an outcast. Speaking to Variety in April 2023, Gunn confessed to wanting a protagonist "who you want to give a hug", further underlining his penchant for wanting the DCU's Clark to be a solitary figure.

As we know, Clark will be employed as a roving reporter for the Daily Planet – Metropolis' news outlet – where he works alongside Lois Lane, Perry White, and other journalism-minded colleagues. We're unsure how much of Kent's civilian life we'll see but, if he's not actively operating as his superhero alias until later in the movie (well, in the public eye, anyway), we suspect the movie's first act will be based around his Daily Planet job, interactions with his co-workers, and the stresses of daily human life.

Fans can also expect other Superman comics, themes, and imagery to be woven into his latest cinematic adventure. According to The Direct's David Thompson, Corenswet also said it'll cherry pick elements from Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale's Superman: For All Seasons miniseries, and Grant Morrison, Frank Quitely, and Jamie Grant's All-Star Superman comics. Phillip Kennedy Johnson's Superman: The Warworld Saga, Tom King's Superman: Up In The Sky, and the character's Golden Age comics are all big influences, too (per Gunn on Threads). Richard Donner's Christopher Reeve-starring Superman movies, particularly the first two, have also impacted its development.

As for other possible plot threads, we'd rather not spoil anything else we've seen or heard about. Stay tuned for an official story brief, whenever that'll be released.

Superman trailer: is there one?

No – and we won't get one for a while yet. We'll update this section once one is released.

Where to watch every Superman movie to date

Want to know where to stream every live-action Superman movie (or films that he features in) to date? Read on to see where you can watch them:

• Superman (1978) – Max (US), Sky (UK), iView (Australia)
• Superman II (1981) – Max (US), Sky (UK), rent or buy (Australia)
• Superman III (1983) – Max (US), Sky (UK), rent or buy (Australia)
• Superman IV: The Quest For Peace (1987) – Max (US), Sky (UK), rent or buy (Australia)
• Superman Returns (2006) – Max (US), Sky (UK), Binge/Foxtel (Australia)
• Man of Steel (2013) – Max (US), Sky (UK), Binge/Foxtel (Australia)
• Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016) – Max (UK), Sky (UK), Binge (Australia)
• Justice League (2017) – Max/TNT (US), Sky (UK), Netflix/Binge/Foxtel (Australia)
• Zack Snyder's Justice League (2021) – Max (US), rent or buy (UK), Binge/Foxtel (Australia)

How will Superman set up other DCU movies and TV shows?

We suspect 2025's Superman will set up two of its fellow DCU Chapter One (also known as Gods and Monsters) movies: Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow and The Authority.

The first of those, which stars Alcock's Kara, will be inspired by Tom King's comic book series of the same name. In November 2023, a bunch of new Supergirl movie updates were released, which included confirmation that Ana Nogueira is penning its script and that Krypto the Superdog would appear. If Kara shows up in Superman, her cameo may lay the foundations for her first standalone film since 1984's Supergirl, which starred Helen Slater.

As for The Authority, very little is known about who's involved in its development. De Faria's The Engineer should show up, so she'll be the connective tissue between her superteam's first big-screen team-up and Superman. Matthew Vaughn (Argylle, Kick-Ass) has tentatively been linked as its director.

On the TV front, one show that Superman might impact is Lanterns, an HBO series that's been described as a superhero version of True Detective and whose chief creative team was revealed in late May to be King, Damon Lindelof (Watchmen, Lost), and Chris Mundy (Ozark). Gunn suggested (via Threads) that Fillion's Gardner will appear in it, so it's plausible Superman will be the jumping-off point for Lanterns' story, too. We wait with bated Super-Breath for more details, Messrs Gunn and Safran.

For more DC-based coverage, find out how to watch the DC movies in order. Alternatively, get the lowdown on the best Batman movies or see which DCEU films made it onto our best Max movies list.