James Gunn’s DCU is on the way, but the circumstances of its origin have left a bitter taste in many fans’ mouths, and now Superman & Lois could make that a bigger issue than it already was. James Gunn, who serves as co-CEO of the Warner Bros. Discovery silo DC Studios, will soon kick off the upcoming DCU with the animated series Creature Commandos, but the franchise’s real beginning will be 2025’s Superman, also written and directed by Gunn and starring David Corenswet as the Man of Steel. However, Gunn’s Superman film hasn’t been without pre-release controversy, given that it is viewed by many as a symbol of Henry Cavill’s Superman tenure being ended under very sad and even infuriating circumstances.
The specifics of Cavill’s Superman exit, along with the de facto shuttering of the DCEU and its roster of heroes, have understandably left many fans of the franchise sceptical at best and frustrated at worst by the DCU’s beginnings, along with continued (and frankly unfair) demands that they simply “move on” from the SnyderVerse. However, Henry Cavill’s Superman could soon become just one Kryptonian casting a shadow over the DCU. With Superman & Loisending after an epic four-season run, rumours regarding the reasoning behind its end could also make Tyler Hoechlin’s Man of Steel another issue for Gunn’s Superman and the DCU to be forced to deal with head-on.
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Henry Cavill’s Superman Is Looming Over Gunn’s Superman Film
Usually, introducing a new live-action Superman in movies or television is a cause for celebration among fans, but JamesGunn’s Superman is different for one key reason – one Superman’s tenure had to be cut off for another one’s to begin. Henry Cavill famously returned to as the Man of Steel after a half-decade absence in a cameo appearance at the end of 2022’s Black Adam (his absence owing to constant stonewalling and a general lack of vision for DC on film on the part of Warner Bros.-then management.) Dwayne Johnson had long envisioned Black Adam and Superman going head-to-head on the big screen, and news of Cavill’s return sent excitement for that possibility into the stratosphere, along with what the long-awaited Man of Steel 2 could look like with Brainiac as the villain on the minds of many. However, after all the interviews and WB social media posts welcoming Cavill back, all of it was cancelled a mere two months later with the dawn of DC Studios.
The beginning of Gunn’s tenure as DC Studios’ co-CEO has been marred by controversy and bitterness on the part of many fans over Gunn’s decision to cancel Cavill’s Superman comeback and effectively end the DCEU for the incoming DCU. Not helping matters is the fact that Gunn’s own DCEU projects and casting choices are carrying over or being connected to the DCU in some form or fashion (namely, Peacemaker season two, the Viola Davis-led Waller series, and Creatures Commandos as a follow-up to Gunn’s DCEU film The Suicide Squad.) Obviously, the reasoning that the DCEU was too broken to continue is a very hard sell to many jaded fans if Gunn’s own projects are being kept alive for the subsequent DCU. Gunn’s statements on the DCU’s semi-retconned continuity haven’t done much to win many OG DCEU, Zack Snyder, and Henry Cavill fans over, with many perceiving a cavalier attitude towards continuity on Gunn’s part as well as his DCEU projects being spared the effects of the reboot by the most inherently biased party imaginable.
It’s certainly not impossible that Gunn’s Superman and the overall DCU continuity might have some built-in storytelling mechanism to make the changeover make sense and allow the DCEU and DCU to co-exist harmoniously, but even that will require Gunn and DC Studios to address to matter head-on, making it virtually impossible to wipe the memory of Henry Cavill’s Superman and the DCEU from memory. However great a Superman movie James Gunn may have written and directed, there’s simply no escaping the fact of how it came about being something that many fans and general moviegoers have plenty of (justified) reasons to remain upset about.
Superman & Lois Has Had A Phenomenal Run – & An Epic Final Season
Henry Cavill’s Superman isn’t the only Man of Steel to immediately precede David Corenswet’s, with Tyler Hoechlin having really made his mark on The Last Son of Krypton on the CW’s Superman & Lois. Though Hoechlin’s Superman tenure officially kicked off with his supporting role on Supergirl in the Arrowverse, Superman & Lois has left the Arrowverse in the dust with far more theatrical-worthy production values and action scenes, a compelling and fresh Superman arc, and Hoechlin’s own outstanding performance as Superman. Like few other live-action superhero TV shows in history, Superman & Lois has consistently managed to match and, at times, even rival the storytelling, character development, action sequences, and visual effects of many big-budget comic book movies. What’s more, each season of Superman & Lois has improved on the last even as seasons three and four have had to navigate budget cuts, shorter episode counts, and the overall end of the CW as it has previously existed.
Superman & Lois season four has also pulled off one of the show’s most impressive feats in maintaining the quality of the first three seasons with the aforementioned budget cuts and reduction to a ten-episode final season. Even with that working against it, Superman & Loisseason four has not only told a strong death and return of Superman story but told a deeply personal and enthralling story of Lex Luthor’s vendetta on the Kent family, setting up Lex getting his famed mech suit, finally given Jonathan Kent his powers, and given Superman a whole new challenge with his powers gradually diminishing powers – and all of it with two episodes of the show still remaining to air at the time of this writing. At the same time, the fact that Superman & Lois is as great a show as it is also makes the fact that there are only two episodes left to air an unexpected problem for Gunn’s Superman and the DCU.
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Is Superman & Lois Ending Because Of James Gunn’s Superman?
Coming on the heels of Henry Cavill’s Superman comeback being halted for the beginning of the DCU, rumours and speculation have swirled heavily that Superman & Lois is being ended in season four for the same reason. In the aftermath of the news that Superman & Lois’ fourth season would be its last, the CW’s President of Entertainment, Ben Schwartz, gave a very straightforward answer to why in an interview with The Wrap, stating, “They don’t want a competing Superman product in the marketplace“.
While this seemingly points the finger at Gunn’s Superman film as the reason for Superman & Lois’ end, some of the show’s cast have answered more diplomatically. Elizabeth Tulloch, revealing that Superman & Lois was originally envisioned as running for seven seasons, stated on the Sackoff Show, “People keep putting the blame on Gunn and Safran, but the reality is The CW was sold to Nexstar, Warner Bros. had a new head in David Zaslav, and then also DC Comics had new heads.” (via Superhero Hype).
By contrast, Dylan Walsh placed much more stock in Superman & Lois’ end being a result of Gunn’s Superman, stating in an interview with the Be More Super podcast, “I do, but I’m just speculating” when asked directly. While Walsh didn’t express any anger over that possibility, stating, “At the end of the day, you can’t get mad about that, this is a business“, fans of Hoechlin’s Superman aren’t likely to be any more thrilled at their Man of Steel’s tenure being ended than Cavill’s to make way for Gunn’s version.
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Gunn’s Superman Now Has To Live Up To Two Popular Men Of Steel (& Fan Bitterness Over Each Being Prematurely Ended)
James Gunn and the DCU were always going to be in the position of having to win back a not-insignificant chunk of DC fans and general moviegoers after cancelling Henry Cavill’s Superman return and effectively leaving the DCEU/SnyderVerse an unfinished story. Despite the polarized response to Zack Snyder’s Man of Steel and Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, both films have maintained a cultural foothold and legacy belying their detractors (pop quiz, hotshot – when was the last time you saw fans debating Captain America: Civil War as passionately as Batman v Superman is discussed on a daily basis?), while the release of Zack Snyder’s Justice League won over many sceptics of Snyder’s DCEU roadmap and created a rekindled love for Cavill’s Superman leading right into his return in Black Adam. All of that is still lingering heavily over Gunn’s Superman and the DCU, with the irony being that Snyder’s DCEU arc was always intended to have a definitive ending that would have long since been concluded had Warner Bros. simply wrapped it up as planned, or dove on the second chance offered by 1.5 million #RestoreTheSnyderVerse tweets in a day right after Zack Snyder’s Justice League was released.
The ending of Superman & Lois in season four, as opposed to the intended season seven, is simply amplifying that challenge for Gunn’s Superman film to overcome. Given how heavily DC has pushed the idea of the multiverse in the last half-decade between 2020’s DC Fandome, Crisis On Infinite Earths, and The Flash, and how central the multiverse is to DC’s DNA, there’s little reason why Cavill, Hoechlin, and Corenswet’s Supermen couldn’t co-exist without a problem with each catering to a different audience and segment of DC fans (something DC Studios will already be doing with The Batman franchise and Batman: The Brave and the Bold to run parallel to each other.) In any case, Gunn’s Superman film and the entire franchise to follow it now have to pull back in a huge swath of DC aficionados in the aftermath of them losing not one but two Supermen they were already enamoured with.
Moreover, the epic scale of both the SnyderVerse and Superman & Lois gives Gunn’s Superman a lot to live up to in terms of world-building, action scenes, visual effects, character dynamics, and storytelling with a pre-determined endpoint. At least Superman & Lois is being given the chance to properly put a bow on its story in a way that SnyderVerse fans are still clamouring for. Still, the fact that it’s seemingly happening three seasons earlier than was intended is nonetheless a second instance of one of Superman’s tenures being ended to clear the path for Gunns.
With all that weight on the DCU’s shoulders before it even takes off, good luck to James Gunn’s Superman and the whole DCU – you’re DEFINITELY going to need it.
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Do you think that all of the “problems” that James Gunn’s Superman is causing will be worth it in the end?
I have I intention of paying for anything with Gunn’s name in it