James Gunn’s ‘Superman’ Gets New Title, Production Now Underway

James Gunn’s Superman: Legacy is not happening.

That’s because the movie — which is officially in production as of today, February 29 — now has a new name. From now on, it is just Superman.

Gunn posted a photo to his Instagram account revealing the news, writing “overjoyed to be announcing the start of principal photography on SUPERMAN today, February 29, which just so happens to be – coincidentally and unplanned – Superman’s birthday.”

“When I finished the first draft of the script, I called the film Superman: Legacy,” he added. “ By the time I locked the final draft, it was clear the title was SUPERMAN.”

Gunn’s post includes a close-up of the new Superman shield, which resembles the won worn by the Man of Steel in the ’90s comic series Kingdom Come, with that comic’s black and red color scheme subbed out for the character’s more traditional yellow and red.

In that series, set in a dark alternate future, a new generation of heroes proves ill-equipped to protect the world, leading to the older members of the Justice League — including Superman — to return from retirement to confront them. Although Kingdom Come has never been adapted to a film, the version of Superman played by Brandon Routh in the Arrowverse’s “Crisis on Infinite Earths” crossover wore a version of that same Superman uniform. (Routh, of course, previously played the Man of Steel in 2006’s Superman Returns.)

Superman (not Superman: Legacy) is currently scheduled to open in theaters on July 11, 2025. It is meant to be the first film in a brand new DC Comics cinematic universe, overseen by Gunn.