J. J. Abrams' Forgotten Superman Movie Gets An Unexpected Update

Summary:

• James Gunn 's Superman: Legacy is currently the most important upcoming film for the DCU
• Unexpectedly, the forgotten J. J. Abrams movie about the same superhero hasn't been scrapped and is also in the works
• Fans find this situation very confusing and express concern that it may actually hurt the franchise

After Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom was released in December 2023 and unfortunately failed to provide a satisfying conclusion to the "old" DCU, the cinematic universe is now heading towards its upcoming reboot without any further setbacks.

Most fans are keeping a close eye on the first chapter of the renewed franchise, Superman: Legacy, hoping that James Gunn will be able to avoid the mistakes of his predecessors and revive a DCU that seems to be on its last legs after a series of massive flops.

To everyone's surprise, however, a new DC update reveals that it won't be the only upcoming movie about the iconic superhero, as another project that many fans believed had been quietly scrapped is actually still in the works.

Another Superman Movie Was Announced A Few Years Ago

Way back in 2021, before the total overhaul under Gunn was even considered, news broke that J. J. Abrams, best known for directing Star Trek ( 2009), Super 8 (2011) and Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015), would be directing a Superman movie set in an alternate universe.

Aside from the fact that Ta-Nehisi Coates was working on the script, very little was known about the project, and as everyone's attention shifted to the revamp of the entire cinematic universe, it disappeared from the public eye.

Now, James Gunn has confirmed in response to a fan's question on Threads that the film is in fact still alive and in the works, and that it will indeed have no connection to the "main" DCU timeline, even though it has also been rebooted.

Fans find this situation of having two completely different Superman movies in development at the same time to be incredibly perplexing and question the wisdom of such a decision.

Do We Really Need Two New Superman Movies?

First of all, anyone who is not familiar with the release schedule for every single upcoming DC movie can easily get confused by all of this, as it is already pretty hard to distinguish which movies based on DC Comics are part of the overarching DCU and which, like 2022's The Batman and 2019's Joker, are not.

Additionally, some fans point out that at least these two standalone movies weren't in the works back-to-back with similar DCU movies about Batman and Joker, which allowed them to stand out a bit.

They also feel that diluting resources between two films that are almost the same is a mistake, and perhaps the studio should focus on fixing their main cinematic universe before making spinoffs.

To sum it all up, the creators of Superman: Legacy have an enormous responsibility on their shoulders considering the dire situation the franchise has found itself in over the past few years.

There are no guarantees that the first chapter of the updated DCU will be spectacular, but it absolutely needs to be, or else it will instantly bury this last attempt to revive the collapsing franchise.

With that in mind, diverting attention from their big debut before it even gets off the ground seems like a questionable move.

Superman: Legacy is scheduled for release on July 11, 2025, while no release date has been announced for J. J. Abrams' film.

Sources: James Gunn on Threads, Reddit