James Gunn Reveals Updates for “Superman,” “Supergirl,” and “Lanterns”
At this past weekend’s New York Comic Con, DC Studios co-chief James Gunn had a lot to say. He, his fellow Creature Commands executive producer Dean Lorey, and cast members from DC’s upcoming animated series revealed the wild first trailer, and while he was there, Gunn dished on some of the studios’ most marquee upcoming projects.
Those projects include his big-time reboot, Superman, which will fly first out of the gate and become DC Studios’ marquee first feature. Gunn wrote and directed Superman, which stars David Corenswet as Clark Kent/Superman and Rachel Brosnahan as Lois Lane. Gunn also teased Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow, based on Tom King’s comic “Woman of Tomorrow,” starring Milly Alcock as Kara Zor-El/Supergirl and directed by Craig Gillespie, and finally, the upcoming new series Lantners, starring Kyle Chandler as Hal Jordan and Aaron Pierre as John Stewart, two members of the Green Lanterns Corps who travel to Earth to work on a murder mystery set in the American heartland.
On the Superman front, a lot is riding on Gunn’s reboot of DC’s most iconic superhero—unless you prefer that Dark Knight fella from Gotham—which kicks off the feature slate for Gunn and co-DC Studios chief Peter Safran, which they’ve titled “Chapter 1: Gods and Monsters.” Gunn reassured fans that, yes, Superman’s superheroic dog, Krypto, will be in the new film. Considering Gunn’s third and final Guardians of the Galaxy was a loving homage to Rocket the Raccoon (voiced by Bradley Cooper)’s tragic past, Gunn has proven that he has no issues fronting an animal’s point of view.
“Krypto, that’s been something that’s just been amazing,” Gunn said at New York Comic Con. “We’ve been working with him in the edit. He’s an incredible part of the story to me personally. When I was writing the screenplay, he came in and kind of changed everything up.”
As for Corenswet’s performance as Superman, Gunn was very excited.
“We’re deep in the process of editing. David Corenswet is going to f**ing blow people away. He is the movie star that everyone just dreams he could possibly be. I don’t think anyone really understands the depth of this guy’s talent dramatically, comedically. He’s the best physical action star I’ve probably ever worked with. I feel good about it, and I’m really hard on stuff, so it’s been fantastic… It won’t be too long before we see a trailer, but it also won’t be too soon.”
As for Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow, Gunn seemed just as enthused about reintroducing Superman’s cousin, Milly Alcock’s Kara Zor-El, and how Tom King’s comic “Woman of Tomorrow,” offers extremely rich source material for the character.
“[Writer] Anna [Nogueira] came in, and she pitched the story to me of Supergirl, and it was just one of the best pitches I’ve ever heard, and she immediately wrote it,” Gunn said. “She came in with the first draft that was great, and it’s just gotten better and better. Then [director] Craig [Gillespie] has been incredibly easy to work with, and I can’t wait for that to come out.”
For DC Studios’ upcoming Lanterns, Gunn talked about the latest and most major casting addition along with Kyle Chandler’s Hal Jordan, and that’s Aaron Pierre’s John Stewart.
“Aaron Pierre is somebody who I’ve wanted to work together with for a long time,” Gunn said. “People don’t know, but he was almost cast as Adam Warlock. He’s an amazing actor, and I just really admired him from the beginning of his career. Seeing him read with Kyle was one of those miraculous moments. I don’t care what they’re saying, I just love what they’re saying together. When we first started the DCU, the first couple of weeks of heading this out, we got together with a group of writers, and Tom King was one of those writers, and we were in this room, and we came up with sort of this concept for Lanterns. It’s a very grounded series, a very real series, which is a strange thing to say about a Green Lanterns show. But it’s going to be something like nobody’s ever seen before.”
For more on all things DC Studios, check out these stories:
James Gunn Reveals the Wild First Trailer for “Creature Commands”
Alan Tudyk Has Secret Role in James Gunn’s “Superman”
Batman Supervillains Bane & Deathstroke Getting Their Own Movie at DC Studios
Featured image: David Corenswet is Clark Kent/Superman in “Superman.” Courtesy James Gunn/Warner Bros.
