DC Studios co-CEO James Gunn has recently come out to share his views on why the word “Legacy” was dropped from his upcoming Superman movie. He originally announced the film, which stars David Corenswet in the titular role, in 2023. At the time, the project was labeled Superman: Legacy, before Gunn ultimately decided to shorten the title. In a recent discussion, the acclaimed filmmaker has revealed why such a decision was taken in the first place.
James Gunn explains why Superman’s title doesn’t have ‘Legacy’ anymore
The Guardians of the Galaxy director stated that he wanted to convey a Man of Steel story that takes the character forward. According to James Gunn, the title Superman: Legacy felt like it was putting too much emphasis on the past.
While talking to ComicBook, Gunn clarified the process that prompted him to ditch the word “Legacy.” He outlined that his team conducted a “post-mortem” session before shooting the film, where the crew members assumed that the movie had flopped upon release. Then, they got down to discuss the things they might be doing that could compromise the film’s quality.
Gunn stated how everyone got a chance to speak their minds about what might go wrong with the movie. One specific element about the Superman film that was highlighted in this process was the “Legacy” part of the title.
“One of the things was, I thought maybe the title had a looking back feeling about it,” Gunn explained. “This isn’t about looking back, this is about looking forward. When you see the movie, you’ll understand where ‘Legacy’ comes from because it is, again, it’s about Clark and his relationship to the script…and whose legacy is he, really? And so it’s about that. But I think as a title … it felt too looking back.”
Having dropped the Legacy bit, the movie is simply titled Superman now. The much-awaited project serves as the first theatrical entry in James Gunn’s revamped DCU. At the time of writing, Superman is slated to hit the big screens on July 11, 2025.
