David S. Goyer, the screenwriter for 2013’s Man of Steel, has given his verdict on James Gunn’s Superman, and it may disappoint the SnyderVerse fans. Since Gunn was announced as the co-head of the DC Universe and the director of the next Superman feature, a certain section of DC fandom has been quite vocal about their opposition to these decisions, instead preferring Zack Snyder’s approach to the character.
Man of Steel writer David S. Goyer loves Superman trailers and Krypto
David S. Goyer disclosed during an interview with Josh Horowitz of the Happy Sad Confused podcast that people had enquired about his reaction to Gunn’s approach to Superman and trailer for the upcoming movie. The scriptwriter added that while he hadn’t seen the movie yet, he did “love” the trailers. He elaborated, “It’s not Man of Steel at all…Because I came from that world, it would not have occurred to me to use Krypto, but when Krypto shows up, I’ve just got a big grin on my face.”
Man of Steel debuted in U.S. theaters on June 14, 2013. The movie was a box office success. However, it received mixed to negative responses from the critics and currently has a 57% approval rating on the review aggregating site Rotten Tomatoes. There were plans for another solo Superman movie with Henry Cavill reprising the titular role, but those were scrapped.
In January 2023, Gunn and his fellow DCU co-head Peter Safran made their DC plan public. They revealed the first few projects of the DC falling under a portion titled Chapter One, Gods and Monsters. They also made it clear that the Superman movie, known at the time as Superman Legacy, will be a prominent part of it. By February 2024, Gunn had retitled the project simply as Superman.
Recently, Gunn took to Threads and dismissed some SnyderVerse fans’ call to boycott his Superman movie, saying, “I think we’ll survive.” He also addressed this during his interview with Rolling Stone. “It’s all right to have an opposing force every once in a while,” Gunn said. “Some of the things get ridiculous — I just know that every time something comes out, it doesn’t matter how positively received, there’s gonna be something that is of great controversy,” he added.
