Look up in the sky! It’s a bird! It’s a plane! Is it a…blank page? That’s true; James Gunn, writer, and director of the still-in-development Superman: Legacy, is taking a break from his computer, but it’s not for the reason you think. According to Fandomwire, The Guardians of the Galaxy director is most likely temporarily halting work on Legacy in solidarity with the ongoing Writers Guild of America strike.
While James Gunn hasn’t said anything publicly about pausing Superman: Legacy or the WGA strike in general, industry insiders believe the DC Studios co-head and WGA member will support the picketers. “So, James Gunn is working on Superman: Legacy.” As a result, he will be unable to continue,” says Jeff Sneider, presenter of The Hot Mic podcast. Sneider went on to say that while Gunn may have already finished the script, James will not “cross the picket line even as an executive.”
Sneider went on to say that James Gunn will delegate his day-to-day duties at DC Studios to his partner Peter Safran, at least until the WGA and Hollywood can reach an agreement. What this means for the previously released slate of DC projects named Chapter One: Gods and Monsters is anyone’s guess, but it won’t be good for the new DCU. The majority of the planned projects mentioned by James Gunn, including Superman: Legacy, are considered to be in early production, which means they’re still in the writing phase, which is bad news for Warner Bros.
James Gunn
The WGA’s dispute with Netflix and other streaming providers is assumed to be the cause of the strike. Streamers continue to raise their fees, but none of the extra money has made its way into the writer’s pocket. In response, the Writers Guild demanded higher remuneration for the additional workloads they’re already carrying in order to meet the ongoing need for fresh content.
The strike was caused by the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers’ refusal to meet the Guild’s requests. It’s not surprising that Gunn would side with the writers, given his background. Before co-founding DC Studios and working on high-profile projects like Superman: Legacy, James Gunn worked as a freelance writer, producing screenplays for two live-action Scooby-Doo movies and Zack Snyder’s 2004 Dawn of the Dead remake, among several others.
Superman: Legacy, directed by James Gunn, was scheduled to be released on July 11, 2025, but due to Gunn’s dedication to his fellow WGA members, it will most certainly be delayed. The film is said to be inspired by Grant Morrison’s fan-favorite comic book series All-Star Superman and will not be as funny in tone as the majority of Gunn’s previous work.
Morrison’s book was a celebration of all things Superman that took place outside of the standard DC chronology and focused on a dying Man of Steel as he spent his final days accomplishing heroic acts. As James Gunn intends for Superman: Legacy to be the crown jewel in a new ongoing DC cinematic universe, the part about Supes dying would almost certainly be changed. Gunn’s takeaway from All-Star Superman would probably be the series’ distillation of Superman into his essential essence: a lovely guy with god-like powers and the ideals of a midwestern farm boy who wants to make the world a better place.
Hopefully, the writer’s strike will end soon, and James Gunn can return to work on Superman: Legacy as soon as possible.
