Writer-filmmaker James Gunn is set to direct the upcoming Superman: Legacy as per a previously announced reboot of DC’s Superman franchise.

The Guardians of the Galaxy director confirmed the news on Thursday through an Instagram post. He started writing the feature even before he became the co-head of DC Studios along with Peter Safran in November last year.

Gunn shared an image of the Superman: Legacy comic and a note about his involvement in the film as director. He also confirmed the release date of the film.

“Yes, I’m directing Superman: Legacy to be released on July 11, 2025. My brother Matt said, when he saw the release date, he started to cry. I asked him why. He said, ‘Dude, it’s Dad’s birthday.’ I hadn’t realized,” he wrote.

In the note, Gunn gave some details about the way he envisioned the new Superman project and the importance of Superman’s heritage. “It has been a long road to this point. I was offered Superman years ago - I initially said no because I didn’t have a way in that felt unique and fun and emotional that gave Superman the dignity he deserved. Then a bit less than a year ago I saw a way in, in many ways centering around Superman’s heritage - how both his aristocratic Kryptonian parents and his Kansas farmer parents inform who he is and the choices he makes,” he wrote.

The Suicide Squad helmer also talked about his inhibitions about taking the job as a director. “So I chose to finally take on writing the script. But I was hesitant to direct, despite the constant pestering by Peter Safran and others to commit (sorry, Peter). Just because I write something doesn’t mean I feel it in my bones, visually and emotionally, enough to spend over two years directing it, especially not something of this magnitude. But, the long and the short of it is, I love this script, and I’m incredibly excited as we begin this journey.”

The first big-screen feature of the Gunn-Safran era at Warner Bros. Discovery’s DC, Superman: Legacy is scheduled to release on July 11, 2025.

Henry Cavill will not play Superman in the film, even though the British actor had earlier portrayed the superhero in films like Man of Steel (2013), Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016) and Justice League (2017). After Gunn and Safran took over DC last year, it became apparent they would cast someone younger in the superhero’s role.

The Superman film is one of the projects Gunn and Safran teased earlier as part of what they have dubbed DC’s Chapter 1: God and Monsters, which is billed as an overarching story told via different TV shows, films and video games. Other titles under this project include Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow and The Authority. Also on the big screen will be titles that do not fit into their overarching continuity, such as Matt Reeves’s The Batman Part II, which is set to arrive in cinemas on October 3, 2025.

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