Superman: Legacy Is Removing A Key Element From Other Superman Movies

By Douglas Helm | Published

henry cavill
Henry Cavill in Man of Steel

We all know the story of how Superman came to Earth, thanks to the movies and comics that reiterate the story over and over again. His home planet of Krypton is destroyed, his family launches baby Kal-El to safety, and his pod lands on Earth. Apparently, James Gunn is just as tired of seeing this origin story played out on the big screen as he confirmed that the upcoming Superman: Legacy will be leaving this famous origin story out.

According to writer/director James Gunn, Superman: Legacy will not include the origin story of The Last Son of Krypton.

It definitely seems like a good move by James Gunn to leave Clark Kent’s origin story out of Superman: Legacy. It’s a tale we’ve seen play out time and time again, and audiences likely don’t need to be reminded of Superman’s origins once more.

Tom Holland‘s Spiderman was a recent example of a very famous origin story getting left behind, and it worked out just fine.

DC also took a similar approach with another one of their marquee characters in Robert Pattinson’s The Batman. Rather than showing a lengthy sequence of Martha and Thomas Wayne getting shot in that alleyway, the film got right down to business.

Superman: Legacy is a part of the proper DCU, as opposed to The Batman, which is under the DC Elseworlds banner, but it seems like this might be a sort of trend for some of these major superhero films.

Russell Crowe in Man of Steel (2013)

It wouldn’t be surprising if the DCU’s Batman film takes a similar approach. The DCU will be introducing its own version of Batman in The Brave and the Bold, which will focus on the dynamic between Bruce and his son Damian Wayne, who takes on the Robin mantle. It seems unlikely that this film would touch on the well-worn origin story of Batman either.

If it means we’ll get a brighter and cheerier Superman in Superman: Legacy, it will be worth skipping out on showing the origin story on the big screen.

Of course, that doesn’t necessarily mean that Superman’s heritage will be left behind altogether in Superman: Legacy. Obviously, his Kryptonian origins are an important aspect of his character, but we don’t need to see Krypton explode once again for those elements to be wrapped into the story.

It does lead one to wonder if that also means we won’t get a heavy-hitting actor filling the role of Jor-El, Superman’s father, like we’ve seen in previous films. Major names like Marlon Brando and Russell Crowe have played Jor-El in previous movies, but it seems like we’ll have to wait to meet this character in James Gunn’s DCU.

However, if it means we’ll get a brighter and cheerier Superman in Superman: Legacy, it will be worth skipping out on showing the origin story on the big screen. The destruction of Krypton was certainly a spectacle in previous films, but again, audiences are more than familiar with the tale by now.

Superman: Legacy Found Its Lois And Clark

Superman: Legacy is gradually putting the important pieces together as its 2025 release date approaches. While leaving out the origin story of Superman is an interesting tidbit of information from Gunn, the biggest recent news for the film was the casting of Superman and Lois Lane.

We finally got to find out who would be helping James Gunn kick off his new DCU when David Corenswet and Rachel Brosnahan were cast in the lead roles, and we’ll get to see how they do when the film hits theaters in 2025.