"Lex Hates Superman"s Guts From The Beginning": James Gunn Addresses Where Superman"s Story Starts In His 2025 Movie
The DC Universe dynamic between Lex Luthor and the Man of Steel gets established by James Gunn for the new Superman movie. One of DC Comics" most classic rivalries will be reimagined once more, with Gunn"s Superman movie pitting Krypton"s last son against Metropolis" most powerful figure. While the DC Universe is setting up the idea of superheroes already being established in this world, it also poses a lot of questions about various relationships between heroes and villains in this continuity.
During a Superman set visit in Cleveland, Ohio, back in June - with ScreenRant"s own Rob Keyes present along with other outlets in the midst of principal photography for Gunn"s 2025 superhero installment - the press got a better idea of not just the DC Universe timeline, but also about where Clark Kent"s story picks up when audience members first begin to follow him. With the idea of a superhero origin story being less of a focus for Superman, Gunn stressed that there is a big focus on starting things off in the middle, as the DC Studios co-CEO shared the following:
[indent] James Gunn: It was about really putting us in the middle of the action from the beginning. And there"s a lot of these things in this movie now that I"ve been making it for over a year that I think of as normal. But now when you bring it up, I go, oh yeah, that"s pretty unusual. We just start in the middle of the action. Superman"s already existing. Lois and Clark already know each other. Lex hates Superman"s guts from the beginning, although they don"t know each other personally. So we start right in the middle of the action. It takes place over a short amount of time.
[/indent] What James Gunn's Superman Movie Story Comments Mean Close With the many live-action Superman movies and TV shows that have come throughout the decades, the conflict between Superman and Lex has been heavily explored in various ways. With Smallville tackling how they became enemies, Superman & Lois seeing the end of their war, and the DCEU having Lex responsible for the Man of Steel"s death, now Gunn"s DC Universe gets to tackle it a new way by having their rivalry already established.
Since Superman is most likely in his second or third year as a superhero, Lex"s hatred still gets to be fresh while also not feeling it has skipped too many steps yet that will be relevant for the audience to follow. The idea of Lex and Superman still being relatively new opponents will also leave the door open for flashbacks to potentially explore how they got there.
Since this will be the first film version of Superman and Lex where they are relatively around the same age, Hoult"s version of the character could also still be early into his trajectory as one of the most dangerous players in Metropolis. This works as a departure from what the DCEU movie timeline tried to do with their Lex while also paving the way for him to have a long arc in the DC Universe.
Our Take On James Gunn's Superman Movie Story Comments![]()
Based on Gunn"s tease about the Superman movie timeline, it will be fascinating to follow what the long run will be for Lex and Clark in the franchise. Their rivalry will hopefully be one of the big takeaways in the first Superman trailer when it gets released this Thursday, giving audience members a taste of what to look forward to in 2025. Hopefully, the events of Superman will help to set up the DC Universe for many years to come.
Superman arrives in theaters on July 11, 2025.
During a Superman set visit in Cleveland, Ohio, back in June - with ScreenRant"s own Rob Keyes present along with other outlets in the midst of principal photography for Gunn"s 2025 superhero installment - the press got a better idea of not just the DC Universe timeline, but also about where Clark Kent"s story picks up when audience members first begin to follow him. With the idea of a superhero origin story being less of a focus for Superman, Gunn stressed that there is a big focus on starting things off in the middle, as the DC Studios co-CEO shared the following:
[indent] James Gunn: It was about really putting us in the middle of the action from the beginning. And there"s a lot of these things in this movie now that I"ve been making it for over a year that I think of as normal. But now when you bring it up, I go, oh yeah, that"s pretty unusual. We just start in the middle of the action. Superman"s already existing. Lois and Clark already know each other. Lex hates Superman"s guts from the beginning, although they don"t know each other personally. So we start right in the middle of the action. It takes place over a short amount of time.
[/indent] What James Gunn's Superman Movie Story Comments Mean Close With the many live-action Superman movies and TV shows that have come throughout the decades, the conflict between Superman and Lex has been heavily explored in various ways. With Smallville tackling how they became enemies, Superman & Lois seeing the end of their war, and the DCEU having Lex responsible for the Man of Steel"s death, now Gunn"s DC Universe gets to tackle it a new way by having their rivalry already established.
Since Superman is most likely in his second or third year as a superhero, Lex"s hatred still gets to be fresh while also not feeling it has skipped too many steps yet that will be relevant for the audience to follow. The idea of Lex and Superman still being relatively new opponents will also leave the door open for flashbacks to potentially explore how they got there.
Since this will be the first film version of Superman and Lex where they are relatively around the same age, Hoult"s version of the character could also still be early into his trajectory as one of the most dangerous players in Metropolis. This works as a departure from what the DCEU movie timeline tried to do with their Lex while also paving the way for him to have a long arc in the DC Universe.
Our Take On James Gunn's Superman Movie Story Comments
Based on Gunn"s tease about the Superman movie timeline, it will be fascinating to follow what the long run will be for Lex and Clark in the franchise. Their rivalry will hopefully be one of the big takeaways in the first Superman trailer when it gets released this Thursday, giving audience members a taste of what to look forward to in 2025. Hopefully, the events of Superman will help to set up the DC Universe for many years to come.Superman arrives in theaters on July 11, 2025.
