James Gunn’s Superman Movie Will Include These Other Superheroes

Superman will be joined by some other superheroes in his big debut for James Gunn’s upcoming rebooted DCU.

The new slate included new films for the Caped Crusader and the Man of Steel, a Green Lantern streaming series, projects for more unknown properties like The Authority and Booster Gold, and more.

But how will the company succeed in introducing those fringe characters to wider audiences like Gunn did with the Guardians of the Galaxy?

Back when James Gunn first announced Chapter 1: Gods and Monsters, the DC Studios co-lead explained his plan to “take [their] diamond characters, which is Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, and we use them to prop up other characters that people don’t know.”

The Authority Joins Superman

A new report from The Hollywood Reporter confirmed that another group of superheroes will debut alongside the Man of Steel in James Gunn’s Superman: Legacy.

According to this report, The Authority, who are set to get their own film in the upcoming DCU reboot, will be joining the fun in Superman’s upcoming reboot.

In the original announcement for the DC Studios reboot slate, Gunn called The Authority “one of [his] real passion projects:”

“This is one of my real passion projects. I’ve been working really hard on it with the writers and we’re starting to put together the entire story. This is a big movie. I don’t know how many of you are familiar with the Authority. They’re WildStorm characters. WildStorm was a comics imprint that was bought by DC that I really love. We’re moving a lot of these WildStorm characters into the DCU.”

The filmmaker elaborated that the group offer “a very different kind of superhero story,” as they feel like “the only way to fix [the world] is to take things into their own hands:”

“‘The Authority’’s a very different kind of superhero story. They are basically good-intentioned, but they think that the world is completely broken and the only way to fix it is to take things into their own hands, whether that means killing people, destroying heads of state, changing governments—basically, whatever they want to do to make the world better.”

Gunn reiterated that the group is made up of “morally gray characters:”

“We’ll see how that journey goes for them. There are morally gray characters (in our DCU), of which these are… We love that they think the ends justify the means and they’re the ones that decide what the right ends are.”

The members of the superhero group, alongside Lex Luthor, are among those who will be cast after the creative team cast their Superman and Lois Lane.

It’s currently reported that David Corenswet, Tom Brittney, and Andrew Richardson are the top three choices for the titular superhero.

How Will The Authority Be Involved?

There are a few ways The Authority could be involved in Superman: Legacy.

The team could only be in a minimal amount of the movie, perhaps only serving as a small cameo to set up their own adventure down the line.

On the other hand, perhaps their ant-hero ways will put them in an antagonist role going against Superman. Maybe Lex Luthor even employs them to take the Man of Steel down a few pegs.

The identity of a proper villain for Gunn’s upcoming reboot remains a mystery. It could be The Authority; however, many rumors point to the likes of Lobo or Brainiac.

Hopefully, Comic-Con 2023 will bring some fun announcements about the film for fans.

Superman: Legacy is set to hit theaters on July 11, 2025.