JJ Abrams and Ta-Nehisi Coates' Superman movie could still happen, says James Gunn

Now that James Gunn is directing his own Superman reboot movie as co-CEO DC Films, he says there's room for both his vision and a previously announced Superman movie written by longtime Black Panther comic writer Ta-Nehisi Coates and produced by JJ Abrams.

"Those two things are totally unrelated," Gunn told io9. "That’s an exciting movie. I know that Chantal Nong, who is the executive on that project, is extremely excited about it. So if it comes in and it’s great, which I haven’t read the script, and if the timing is right, that could absolutely happen. That's totally unrelated. It would be an Elseworlds tale like Joker."

The key to Gunn's explanation is of course the 'Elseworlds' branding, which denotes the idea of alternate reality takes from the core DC Films continuity. The term 'Elseworlds' originated in comic books, where it has traditionally meant the same thing - stories that exist in parallel realities and alt-timelines.

Initially, Batman and Superman were the usual stars of Elseworlds comic book tales - the branding even launched with the 1989 Batman: Gotham by Gaslight one-shot by writer Brian Augustyn and artists Mike Mignola and P. Craig Russell.

Despite the original Elseworlds line generally featuring Batman and Superman characters, dozens of DC heroes and villains also appeared in Elseworlds stories over the years, with the Joker becoming a consistent presence as well.

“There is a new, powerful and moving Superman story yet to be told," J.J. Abrams said of the movie he and Coates were working on when news of the film first broke in 2021. 

"We couldn’t be more thrilled to be working with the brilliant Mr. Coates to help bring that story to the big screen, and we’re beyond thankful to the team at Warner Bros. for the opportunity."

Gunn's Superman: Legacy reboot film is heavily inspired by the classic story All-Star Superman, which is one of the best Superman comics of all time.