The future is dizzyingly bright for DC, and yet the dark times of its recent past are still haunting it.
Superman: Legacy is coming to relaunch the universe in summer 2025, hopefully to a much broader audience than the franchise managed throughout the Snyderverse, but apparently Snyder snipers won’t be retiring with the advent of James Gunn’s DCU. As our new Lois Lane, Rachel Brosnahan, has just discovered.
As a reminder, Legacy will draw a line in the sand between the continuity that began with Henry Cavill’s Man of Steel in 2013 and the new one, introducing the world to David Corenswet’s very different, and apparently human wardrobe-sized, Clark Kent. Of course, Superman is nothing without his Lois and Brosnahan is on board an increasingly starry cast as The Daily Planet’s greatest reporter.
Speaking of which, Brosnahan has begun to open up about Legacy to real-life reporters, and her words are landing her in hot water with some.
Superman: Legacy will have “a sense of humor,” which apparently isn’t a good thing?
While chatting with ET on the red carpet of the Critics Choice Awards, Brosnahan teased what we can expect from writer/director James Gunn’s take on the Last Son of Krypton and his lore in Legacy. In addition to stressing her Lois will be “feisty, marvelous and fiercely intelligent,” the Marvelous Mrs. Maisel actress promised that the film will be made with love for Superman and that there will be a pronounced “sense of humor.” As she explained:
“I’ve really enjoyed the collaboration with James Gunn so far. Every single person involved in this production is such a perfect nerd for Superman. We all grew up watching the movies. Some of us were reading the comics. So I feel like it’s being made with so much love. And I think this Superman will have a sense of humor. We’re excited to both put our own spin on things and honor the material we love so much.”
The comments are causing a stir online thanks to SnyderVerse supporters viewing Brosnahan’s remarks as a cloaked dig at Zack Snyder’s super-serious depiction of Kal-El. Fans are allergic to hearing talk of a funny Superman after Joss Whedon’s theatrical Justice League, which attempted to add some Marvel-like comedy into the mix, turned out so poorly. The result is that some are already disowning the film, with the phrase “Mid of Steel” getting passed around as an extremely premature review.
Of course, many are also championing Brosnahan’s words as proof that things are on the right track, with her promise of some humor in the film assuring them that Gunn is due to take things in a more comic-accurate direction. “To anyone getting mad at this, just read one Superman story, any story and tell me how Clark acts in it,” said @CQuill97 in response to the backlash.
Others have taken a more measured reaction, admitting that while a sense of humor is a key part of Superman, they’re not sure Gunn’s specific, very irreverent comedic style is best suited to the Big Blue Boy Scout. “Sense of humor is great but Gunn’s sense of humor is not a match with Superman,” says @Karan2143. “And he’s writer and director here.”
That is perhaps a fair reason to be apprehensive — for many years, Gunn himself maintained that he had no interest in directing mainstream superheroes like Superman, Batman, and the Avengers — but what is clear is that Gunn is putting his all into this movie and all the signs are pointing to him wanting to honor the true spirit of Superman, perhaps to an extent that we haven’t seen on the big screen since Christopher Reeve. We’ll find out if he succeeds come July 11, 2025.
