James Gunn recently revealed that he went on to reject directing Superman and picked The Suicide Squad over it in 2018. Gunn, who now took up the director’s chair for the 2025 film, also disclosed the reason behind doing so back then. Superman features David Corenswet in the titular role and Rachel Brosnahan as Lois Lane, as well as Nicholas Hoult as Lex Luthor.

Why James Gunn chose to direct The Suicide Squad over Superman

The veteran filmmaker recently sat down for a Q&A session in London when he revealed why he decided to reject directing Superman in 2018.

James Gunn opened up about feeling frightened by the task of directing Superman. He stated, “When I was originally offered to direct Superman back in 2018, I said no. I was daunted by the task. I wasn’t sure how I was going to do it. Also, if you remember, there was other stuff happening with Superman at the time. It was going to be politically messy.”

Gunn further shared that he picked the 2021 movie The Suicide Squad over Superman, as he was “familiar” with it. He conveyed, “So, I said no and I took The Suicide Squad, which was more of a familiar type of group to me, which I’m glad I did. That was fun.”

However, Superman was something that kept revolving in the Peacemaker creator’s mind over the years. He said, “I kept thinking about Superman. I couldn’t get it out of my head. ‘How would I do it if I did it? What would that movie be like? How could I make it work for today’s audience? How could it speak to people?’ And eventually started to think that maybe it was something I could do.”

Thus, James Gunn disclosed that when he was asked to direct Superman later, he immediately grabbed the opportunity. “When they reapproached me with the idea for writing Superman three years ago, I said yes,” he added.

Meanwhile, Superman is set to hit theaters on Friday, July 11, 2025.

Originally reported by Ishita Verma on SuperHeroHype.