LOS ANGELES – Director James Gunn is set to helm the next Superman movie, titled Superman: Legacy, which is slated to be out in 2025.

He had been working on the script even before he became the co-head of DC Studios with film producer Peter Safran in November 2022 and was widely expected to take on directorial duties as well.

Gunn, 56, posted on Twitter on Wednesday, saying he had previously chosen to take on The Suicide Squad (2021) instead of Superman.

“I initially said no because I didn’t have a way in that felt unique and fun and emotional that gave Superman the dignity he deserved,” he wrote.

“Then a bit less than a year ago, I saw a way in, in many ways centring around Superman’s heritage – how both his aristocratic Kryptonian parents and his Kansas farmer parents inform who he is and the choices he makes.”

Gunn added that he was hesitant to direct his own screenplay, saying: “Just because I write something doesn’t mean I feel it in my bones, visually and emotionally, enough to spend over two years directing it, especially not something of this magnitude. But, the long and the short of it is, I love this script and I’m incredibly excited as we begin this journey.”

Gunn’s reboot will feature a younger version of Clark Kent and not star British actor Henry Cavill, 39, who portrayed the superhero in Man Of Steel (2013), Batman V Superman: Dawn Of Justice (2016) and Justice League (2017).

Cavill also appeared in a cameo in 2022’s Black Adam and had expected to reprise his role as the caped crusader before Gunn and Safran took the character in a different direction.