Editing Superman (2025) (section)

=== Background ===
[[Warner Bros.|Warner Bros. Pictures]] was planning in 2012 for the film ''[[Man of Steel]]'' (2013), based on the DC Comics character Superman, to start a shared universe, which became known as the "[[DC Extended Universe]]" (DCEU). They announced a full slate of DC films in October 2014, prioritizing ''[[Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice]]'' (2016) as the second DCEU film after ''Man of Steel'' failed to meet the studio's financial expectations. Despite this, they said an undated sequel to ''Man of Steel'' was in development with [[Henry Cavill]] set to reprise his role as [[Superman (character)|Clark Kent / Superman]]. ''Man of Steel'' director [[Zack Snyder]] said they had been considering the imprisoned Kryptonians from the first film and the character Brainiac as antagonists for the sequel before work began on ''Batman v Superman''. A ''Man of Steel'' sequel was in active development as a top priority for the studio in August 2016, which Cavill's manager [[Dany Garcia]] confirmed the following month. [[Amy Adams]], who portrayed Lois Lane in ''Man of Steel'', said in November that the studio was working on the screenplay. [[Matthew Vaughn]] was Warner Bros.' top choice to direct the film and had preliminary conversations about it by March 2017. Vaughn and comic book writer Mark Millar had previously pitched a new ''Superman'' trilogy prior to the development of ''Man of Steel'', in which the destruction of the planet Krypton would not occur until after Superman had already grown-up on the planet. After the troubled production of the DCEU film ''[[Justice League]]'' (2017), Warner Bros. re-thought its approach to DC projects. By the end of 2017, a ''Man of Steel'' sequel was not coming "anytime soon, if at all". ''Justice League'' producer [[Charles Roven]] said story ideas had been discussed but there was no script.

Before the release of ''[[Mission: Impossible – Fallout]]'' in July 2018, director [[Christopher McQuarrie]] and co-star Cavill pitched their take on a new ''Superman'' film, but Warner Bros. did not pursue the idea. Later in 2018, the studio asked [[James Gunn]] to write and direct a ''Superman'' film, but he was uncertain if he wanted to take on the character. He did not have a clear vision for such a film, especially since Superman was a well-known character unlike the [[Guardians of the Galaxy (team)|Guardians of the Galaxy]] who he had adapted for [[Marvel Studios]] in the film ''[[Guardians of the Galaxy]]'' (2014). Gunn chose to make ''[[The Suicide Squad]]'' (2021) instead. In September, negotiations for Cavill to reprise his role for a cameo appearance in ''[[Shazam!]]'' (2019) ended due to contract issues, as well as a scheduling conflict with Cavill's ''Fallout'' commitments. The actor was reported to be parting ways with the studio, with no plans for him to reprise his role in future projects, but Cavill said in November 2019 that he had not given up on the character and still wanted to do the role justice. At that time, Warner Bros. was unsure which direction to take the character and was talking to "high-profile talent" about the property, including [[J. J. Abrams]] — whose company [[Bad Robot Productions]] signed an overall deal with Warner Bros.' parent company [[WarnerMedia]] — and [[Michael B. Jordan]], who pitched himself as a Black version of the character. By May 2020, Warner Bros. was no longer developing a ''Man of Steel'' sequel, but Cavill was in talks to appear in a different future DC film. In February 2021, [[Ta-Nehisi Coates]] was revealed to be writing a new ''Superman'' film that Abrams was producing. The film was expected to feature a Black actor portraying Superman, with the potential for Jordan to take on the role.