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Back in 2018, James Gunn was offered the chance to direct a Superman movie – but he turned it down in favor of The Suicide Squad, which released in 2021.
Now, of course, his own take on Superman is releasing in just a few days, with David Corenswet stepping up as the new Man of Steel, and Gunn has explained why he decided not to go ahead with a Supes movie seven years ago.
"I was originally offered to direct Superman back in 2018, and I said no," Gunn commented during a London Q&A at HMV (H/T ComicBook.com). "I was daunted by the task. I wasn't sure how I was going to do it. Also, if you remember, there was other stuff happening with Superman at the time.
"They didn't want it to be… It was going to be politically messy," Gunn continued. "So I said no, and I took The Suicide Squad, which was more a familiar type of group to me. Which I'm glad I did, that was fun."
Of course, back in 2018, the old DCEU was still in full swing, meaning Henry Cavill was still Superman. We saw him again in the Black Adam post-credits scene, which seemed a promise of more of his Supes in the future, but he was soon lost to the reboot that followed Gunn stepping up as DC Studios co-CEO with Peter Safran.
"But I kept thinking about Superman, I couldn't get it out of my head," Gunn added at the Q&A. "How would I do it, if I did it? What would that movie be like? How could I make it work for today's audience? How could it speak to people? And eventually, [I] started to think that maybe it was maybe something I could do. So, when they reapproached me with the idea for writing Superman, whatever it was, three years ago, I said yes."
Superman arrives in theaters this July 11. In the meantime, check out our guides to all the upcoming DC movies and TV shows and how to watch the DC movies in order.
