James Gunn Shows Off The New Logo And Announces Name Change For 'Superman: Legacy'

By Brian Richards | Film | March 1, 2024 |

By Brian Richards | Film | March 1, 2024 |

February 29th was the topic of discussion on social media yesterday for a few reasons. For one, it’s Leap Day. (Which resulted in this…peculiar tweet from the Twitter account for the Empire State Building.) For another, it gave an extra day of celebration for Black History Month, even though most of the day involved Black folk wondering why Katt Williams wouldn’t shut the f-ck up. And the date is also known as the birthday of Clark Joseph Kent, a.k.a. Superman.

Since it was announced that Superman: Legacy, writer/director/co-CEO of DC Studios James Gunn’s upcoming film to launch the newly rebooted DC Extended Universe, would begin production this week, fans were hoping that Gunn would do something to mark the occasion. Maybe he would show what the film’s Superman costume (which is designed by Judianna Makovsky, who previously worked with Gunn on The Suicide Squad, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3) would look like, or confirm what emblem would be seen on the costume. Isabela Merced, who plays Hawkgirl in Superman: Legacy, showed a photo on Instagram of her name card from the table read that she and the rest of the cast members were doing a week ago. And on the card right next to her name was a Superman emblem.

But this wasn’t the traditional one that everyone and their grandparents are familiar with. This version of the emblem was used in the comic book miniseries Kingdom Come, which was set in an alternate version of the DC Universe. Though Gunn had originally said that there would be no official photos of David Corenswet in his Superman costume until production was complete, that still didn’t stop fans from hoping that something would be done to whet their appetites in honor of Superman’s birthday.

Speaking of the table read, Gunn shared this photo on Threads last week, which featured the main cast, Gunn himself, and Peter Safran, the other co-CEO of DC Studios.

Yesterday afternoon, Gunn decided to give fans what they were asking and hoping for. He didn’t reveal what the Superman costume looked like in its entirety, but he did share a photo of the costume’s Superman emblem, which he took with his iPhone and posted from his accounts on Threads and Instagram.

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A post shared by James Gunn (@jamesgunn)

The photo confirmed online theories that Gunn would be using a modified version of the Superman logo from Kingdom Come for his film. And with the photo showing the emblem being slightly covered by snow, it’s already being assumed that scenes of Superman at the Fortress of Solitude were being filmed. As for the other piece of major news posted by Gunn? The film will no longer be titled Superman: Legacy, but will simply be titled Superman.

From the photo’s caption:

When I finished the first draft of the script, I called the film Superman: Legacy. By the time I locked the final draft, it was clear the title was SUPERMAN. Making our way to you July 2025.

People on social media had a lot to say once they got their first look at Gunn’s chosen design for the Superman logo. Some fans were happy to finally get a look at it, and were very pleased with what they saw. Others expressed their confusion as to why Gunn didn’t just stick with the original logo, and several fans couldn’t help but state how unimpressed they were, while also comparing the emblem design for Gunn’s film (which in their eyes, looked like it had the same texture as a football or basketball) to what director Zack Snyder used for Superman’s costume in Man of Steel, Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice, and Zack Snyder’s Justice League. At least one person on social media wondered why Gunn was running his mouth about Superman, but had nothing to say about Coyote vs. Acme getting shelved, even though he is one of the film’s producers, and also co-wrote the story for it.

Of course, this person has either forgotten, or is completely ignoring, the fact that Gunn is still a Warner Bros. employee, and that publicly talking well-deserved sh-t about his greedy and incompetent f-ckwit of a boss to be published all over the Internet on websites such as this? It would get him sent to the unemployment line faster than a speeding bullet.

However, Gunn wasn’t the only one who decided to use social media to get the fans talking. Rachel Brosnahan, who will be playing Lois Lane in Superman, shared a video on TikTok. It showed her seated in front of her phone, with John Williams’ classic Superman theme playing as background music, and right behind her, Nicholas Hoult (who is playing Lex Luthor, and who is now sporting a shaved head for the role) and David Corenswet (who is playing Superman/Clark Kent) lean in from opposite sides to be viewed on camera before Brosnahan succumbs to laughter and stops recording. Judging from the glowing responses to Brosnahan’s video, it made fans even more excited to see the three actors onscreen together.

@rachelbrosnahan

A supervillain, a journalist and an alien walk into a bar…

♬ Superman 1978- Main Theme - Geek Music

Besides Gunn stating that there won’t be any official photos of Corenswet in costume until production has ended, he has also stated that there won’t be a trailer for Superman anytime this year. This hasn’t dissuaded fans from thinking that Gunn may have said that he won’t release a full trailer, but he will actually release a teaser instead, and possibly have one that is attached to Joker: Folie á Deux when it opens on October 4.

P.S. If you’ve seen any recent photos online of Corenswet in his full Superman costume, those photos are about as real as Pope Francis rocking the hell out of a puffer jacket.

Superman, starring David Corenswet (Superman/Clark Kent), Rachel Brosnahan (Lois Lane), Nicholas Hoult (Lex Luthor), Nathan Fillion (Guy Gardner/Green Lantern), Edi Gathegi (Michael Holt/Mister Terrific), Isabela Merced (Hawkgirl, and it remains unknown as to which version she will portray), María Gabriela de Faría (Angela Spica/The Engineer), Anthony Carrigan (Metamorpho), Skyler Gisondo (Jimmy Olsen), Sara Sampaio (Eve Teschmacher), Terence Rosemore (Otis), and possibly Sean Gunn (making his first appearance as Maxwell Lord, though that hasn’t been confirmed), and Milly Alcock (making her first appearance as Kara/Supergirl, though that also hasn’t been confirmed) is scheduled to open in theaters July 11, 2025.