Superman Director James Gunn Says Deaths Will Count in the Rebooted DC Universe: 'In the DCU if You Die, You're Dead'

Deaths in the rebooted DC Universe will count, James Gunn has insisted ahead of the release of Superman.

Speaking on social media, the DCU co-chief and writer and director of Superman declared: “In the DCU if you die, you're dead.”

The comment was sparked by a comment from one user who said “... it is DC no one stays down forever.”

When one person pointed out that Gunn was making “a big commitment” by saying deaths count, he responded: “It's the way I've always done it.”

The comic book character death debate has been around as long as comic books themselves. In comic books, superheroes and villains tend not to die, at least, not for long, because, well, you wouldn’t have many characters left to write stories for if their deaths were permanent. And so, comic book fans have grown accustomed to deaths being more of a temporary setback than a permanent reorder of things.

Similarly, superhero movie franchises have had their own fake deaths. The Marvel Cinematic Universe, for example, famously killed off S.H.I.E.L.D. member Phil Coulson in The Avengers, only for him to return in the events of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Loki’s had his fair share of fake deaths, as has Nick Fury..

It sounds like the DCU, on the other hand, won’t go down a similar revival route for its characters. However, as was pointed out, couldn’t Gunn use DC’s already established Lazarus Pit to resurrect the dead if needed?

“Well I wouldn't mind using the Lazarus Pit (and/or resurrection) in a story,” Gunn explained. “But it would have to be a part of the story itself. I won't be killing major characters just to pop them in the old LP to be alive again."

Gunn added: “What backfires more is people believing there are no stakes and death doesn't mean anything. Dead is dead.”

That sounds pretty clear cut, which means if, say, one of those many supporting characters in Superman bites the dust, then they’re dead for good. Trailers have suggested Superman's beloved robots (including Kelex) die during an attack on the Fortress of Solitude. Could other characters be killed off one movie in? My money’s on one of Lex Luthor’s goons (the mysterious Mr. Handsome? The Hammer of Boravia?), or maybe even Metamorpho.

Earlier this month we had Superman's runtime confirmed, as well as a denial from Gunn that parent company Warner Bros. had "forced" him to make the movie shorter.

Superman, which hits theaters July 11, clocks in at 2 hours 9 minutes inclusive of credits and post-credits. For context, that’s 15 minutes shorter than Henry Cavill’s 2013 film, Man of Steel.

So, the relatively brisk 2025 Superman has a lot to squeeze in. Following various trailer reveals, fans had already wondered how Superman would do justice to its supporting cast. Superman revolves around a trio of characters: Clark Kent / Superman, Lois Lane, and central antagonist Lex Luther, but there are a number of other superheroes and supervillains confirmed to appear.

All the characters revealed so far in Superman:

• Superman
• Lois Lane
• Lex Luthor
• Mister Terrific
• Guy Gardner
• Hawkgirl
• Metamorpho
• Baby Joey
• The Engineer
• The Hammer of Boravia
• Ultraman
• Rick Flag Sr.
• Supergirl
• Maxwell Lord
• Kryptonian robots, including Kelex
• Krypto
• Jonathan Kent
• Martha Kent
• Perry White
• Jimmy Olsen
• Steve Lombard
• Cat Grant
• Ron Troupe
• Eve Teschmacher
• Otis

Wesley is Director, News at IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.