James Gunn directing the first Superman movie since ‘Man of Steel’ is being treated as a personal insult

After a painstaking search to find the perfect candidate for both rebooting a pop culture icon and relaunching the DCU through Chapter 1 – Gods and Monsters’ first major release, DC Studios co-CEO James Gunn has hired himself to direct Superman: Legacy.

All kidding aside, there wasn’t a single shocked reaction when it was confirmed that the filmmaker would be writing, producing, and stepping behind the camera for the Big Blue Boy Scout’s upcoming reinvention, especially when Tom King went ahead and spoiled the surprise a few days ago while Gunn remained completely silent on the matter.

It goes without saying that there’s an alarming number of DC supporters out there who refuse to get on board with Gunn and Peter Safran’s vision for the sole reason that neither of them are Zack Snyder, and the confirmation that the Guardians of the Galaxy steward would be tackling Superman: Legacy mere hours after the SnyderVerse subset were sent into raptures by their overlord’s mysterious announcement went down exactly as you’d expect.

Gunn directing the first Superman-centric standalone blockbuster since Man of Steel was always going to leave a sour taste in a lot of mouths, but let’s not overlooked the fact that the old regime had a full decade to give the green light to a Henry Cavill-fronted sequel and never came remotely close to pulling the trigger.

If Batman can rebooted three times in the space of a decade – with all three iterations being greeted with an enthusiastic reception – then there’s no harm in Kal-El following suit. With Gunn locked in for the director’s chair, though, it’s time brace ourselves for almost three and a half years of intense online scrutiny.