Is a year long enough to prepare for the biggest DC movie in generations?
Superman writer and director James Gunn commemorated the one-year-out mark this week by giving us a new look at the Man of Steel’s latest glyph. With its storied origin reaching all the way back to Superman’s debut in 1938, it’s a symbol that manages to feel both greatly familiar and distinctly new, a balance that Gunn will hope to maintain in his upcoming film. Gunn’s Superman, hitting theater on July 11, 2025, not only marks the Man of Steel’s return to the big screen after a seven-year absence (minus a brief cameo in 2022’s Black Adam), but will also launch the start of DC’s new cinematic shared universe.
A year feels both maddeningly far from now and tantalizingly close, especially considering that it’s now been nearly a year and a half since we first learned of Gunn’s plans with Peter Safran to launch the DC Universe with a series of movies and TV shows. Since that initial announcement, new reveals from the in-production Superman have been limited. A snow-covered close-up of the super suit here, a surprisingly relaxed first look at David Corenswet’s Kal-El there. Gunn’s shared the occasional behind-the-scenes look on his Instagram, most recently a quick video featuring a Superman flag that was shot near where the production is filming. Further reveals will undoubtedly be coming, but for now, we Superman fans can do little more than speculate about what we’ll see on screen in a year.
We know which actors will be bringing Gunn’s take on the high-flying hero to life. Superman will, of course, be played by Corenswet (Pearl, The Politician), while Rachel Brosnahan (The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel) will be playing Lois Lane and Nicholas Hoult (The Great) will take on the role of Lex Luthor. In addition, the film features Isabela Merced as Hawkgirl, María Gabriela De Faría as the Engineer, Nathan Fillion as Guy Gardner, Anthony Carrigan as Metamorpho, Edi Gathegi as Mister Terrific, Skyler Gisondo as Jimmy Olsen, Sara Sampaio as Eve Teschmacher and Terence Rosemore as Otis.
Some of those characters have ties to other announced projects. While the recently greenlit Lanterns HBO series will focus on the as-yet-uncast Hal Jordan and John Stewart, Gardner is a member of the Green Lantern Corps as well. We don’t know if he’ll make an appearance on the show, but there’s a clear connection. The Engineer is traditionally a member of the Authority, and while we haven’t heard much on the Authority film that was announced alongside Superman in 2023, it’s likely she’ll play a role in it when it comes to light. One character who hasn’t been confirmed to be in Superman but will be getting her own film not too long after its release is Supergirl. House of the Dragon’s Milly Alcock will be seen as Kara Zor-El in Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow in 2026. Whether Kara shows up in Superman or Kal-El drops by Woman of Tomorrow remains to be seen, but the characters are obviously closely tied to each other.
In short, you can slowly but surely see the new DC Universe starting to take shape. Soon enough, it will be here. For now, though, fans find themselves much like the citizens of Metropolis before Superman arrived in their city—waiting for DC’s iconic hero to first reveal himself to the world.
At least we know how long we have to wait.
Superman, written and directed by James Gunn and starring David Corenswet, Rachel Brosnahan and Nicholas Hoult, is in theaters July 11, 2025.
Tim Beedle covers movies, TV and comics for DC.com, writes our monthly Superman column, "Super Here For...", and is a regular contributor to the Couch Club, our recurring television column. Follow him on Twitter at @Tim_Beedle and Bluesky at @TimBeedle.
NOTE: The views and opinions expressed in this feature are solely those of Tim Beedle and do not necessarily reflect those of DC or Warner Bros. Discovery, nor should they be read as confirmation or denial of future DC plans.
