Did You Hear? is a weekly examination of headlines in the entertainment industry and a take on what they could mean for the future of the industry and (often), the little geeky bubble that we occupy!
It’s a Bird, it’s a Plane, it’s a Superman 2 Release Date
On Wednesday of this week DC Films architect, James Gunn, took to social media to make an announcement about the future of the film franchise and fans of the Big Blue Boy Scout lost their minds:
James Gunn on X (formerly Twitter): “Man of Tomorrow. In theatres July 9, 2027. pic.twitter.com/hegJEuRMTk / X”
Man of Tomorrow. In theatres July 9, 2027. pic.twitter.com/hegJEuRMTk
In DC Studio’s previous incarnation under Zack Snyder (referred to as the “DCEU”), we were teased with Man of Steel 2 for years. Much of what what initially planned for that movie made its way into the long-suffering Justice League movie, as remains evident to this day via the Superman resurrection storyline.
Gunn’s Tweet from this week seems to let us know that neither he, nor the current batch of DC and Warner Bros executives have forgotten this unfulfilled promise in the wake of this summer’s Superman theatrical release. The posts across multiple platforms specify a release date:
July 9, 2027
In major motion picture studio time this is QUITE SOON
… like REALLY SOON …
… LIKE TREMENDOUSLY SOON ..
… particularly when you consider the finishing time required for contemporary superhero movies. Since the mass market popularity of The Marvel Cinematic Universe the movie going public has heard from everyone from Visual Effects Artists to Star Actors to Studio Heads about “crunch time”, reshoots, and the horrific working conditions undertaken in order to bring our favourite heroes from the panel to the screen. There have been pushbacks from the individual level to Guild and Union strikes in order to stop this becoming the standard across mediums.
Most recently strikes across Guilds and Unions have been attacking the video game industry, but film is equally as guilty for this.
If there’s a new James Gunn Superman movie which is going to be released in the summer of 2027 it would have to be already in the can – or almost in the can – if not in early stages of post-production in order to make the promised date. If this is the case I’m lead to wonder (I can’t conclude without a bit more information), that Gunn and DC Films shot two Superman movies back-to-back.
The great irony of this being that the Christopher Reeve Superman and Superman II also shot back-to-back in order to save on production costs and make schedules align better. Famously, this didn’t work and we now have the lore of The Donner Cut providing fun film trivia for generations of Clark Kent fans to come.
As someone who watched the theatrical cut of Superman II for the first time this year as part of the Geek History Lesson Patreon Movie Club I can’t say I find this to be an effective strategy.
Knowing all of this, I’m choosing to believe Gunn’s second Superman movie is actively underway. The summer 2027 release date still feels very close to me. It leads me to flippantly react:
“I”ll believe that date when the movie is released.”
This is me predicting here and now, Spoilerites, we will see this Superman movie under the guidance of James Gunn, but it won’t be on July 9, 2027.
And if we do I’ll happily admit I was wrong!
