The DCU Justice League Doesn't Exist (Yet) and Other Major Details We Learned About James Gunn's Superman

James Gunn’s Superman is easily one of the most hotly anticipated movies of 2025. Not only does the film introduce a brand new cinematic incarnation of the Man of Steel and his supporting cast, but it also kicks off the live-action side of Gunn’s and Peter Safran’s DCU. There are a great many questions about how exactly Superman introduces this shared cinematic universe and what role David Corenswet’s Kal-El plays, but things are becoming clearer thanks to a new roundtable interview from Entertainment Weekly.

From the fact that the DCU has a Justice Gang rather than a Justice League to the surprisingly deep history of metahumans in this world, here are the biggest takeaways from the EW interview.

Justice League or Justice Gang?

Superman’s fellow DC heroes like Nathan Fillion’s Guy Gardner, Isabela Merced’s Hawkgirl, and Edi Gathegi’s Mister Terrific have featured prominently in DC’s marketing so far. We know that these heroes serve on the DCU version of the Justice League, a team apparently spearheaded by Sean Gunn’s Maxwell Lord (a nod to the Justice League International comics of the ‘80s). But what we didn’t know until now is that this team isn’t actually called the Justice League. They’re the Justice Gang.

That one change speaks volumes about the team and their place in the wider DCU. There’s a certain harder edge inherent to the Justice Gang, partly because their name also dredges up images of the supervillain team from the comics known as the Injustice Gang. Rather than consisting of the best, brightest, and most noble heroes the world has to offer, the Justice Gang is comprised of hotheads and abrasive personalities. We saw from the recent Peacemaker Season 2 trailer that Lord and his team aren’t particularly respectful of their fellow heroes.

Ultimately, the Justice Gang is still a force for good in the DCU. They just aren’t necessarily blessed with the same inherent sense of kindness and decency as Superman himself. "They're good. They just are not saintly," Gunn tells EW.

That speaks to a larger desire on Gunn’s part to explore the full spectrum of morality in the DCU. Corenswet’s Superman and Nicholas Hoult’s Lex Luthor represent polar extremes, but most characters fall somewhere firmly in the middle of the good/evil spectrum.

"There are some characters that are really almost saintly, like Superman," Gunn says. "There are some characters who are almost pretty terrible, like Lex Luthor. But I don't think Lex is all bad, and I don't think Superman is all good. All those people in between, the Guy Gardners and the Jimmy Olsens of the world, are even more complex in their moralities and what they think is okay."

Fillion also points out an important distinction when it comes to Guy Gardner and Green Lanterns in particular. They’re recruited into the Green Lantern Corps not because they’re the most heroic beings in the universe, but simply because they feel no fear. That’s how you wind up with a proud jerk like Guy wielding a power ring.

"I love the idea that if you have an emergency and you need a Green Lantern — there's thousands of them out there in the galaxy — this is the last one you want," Fillion says. "What is very true about Guy Gardner, and what James understands very well, is you don't have to be good and pure of heart to be a Green Lantern. You just have to be fearless. You just have to have the will. And Guy Gardner thinks he can take on Superman. That's how fearless he is. No, you can't take on Superman, dude."

Lois and Clark Are Already Dating

The latest Superman trailer shines a light on the dynamic between Corenswet’s Clark Kent and Rachel Brosnahan’s Lois Lane. As Lois grills Clark on his recent controversial actions in Boravia, it becomes clear that she knows his secret identity and isn’t afraid to call him out for his mistakes. What wasn’t clear from the trailer, however, is whether Lois and Clark are actively dating as the movie opens. Yes, we see the two kiss in one shot, but is that a later development or an extension of an existing romance?

Gunn now confirms that the latter is true. Superman is set in a world where Kal-El and his fellow heroes have been active for some time already, and that extends to his relationships with the Daily Planet crew. Lois and Clark have known each other long enough that she already knows his secret and has come to appreciate the many sides of Superman.

“This isn't like the interview in the [Richard] Donner movie where Lois doesn't know that he's Clark," Corenswet says. "Lois knows everything about him, so he's in a very vulnerable position. He's madly in love with this woman and desperately wants her to understand him and appreciate him and love him back."

This dynamic between Lois and Clark will play a very prominent role in the film, to the point where it fundamentally affects Corenswet’s performance. This is a hero who puts on one public face as Superman and another as bumbling reporter Clark Kent. Lois becomes one of the very few people to know and appreciate the real man that exists between those two facades.

"We also had this third character, of who Clark is when he's in a room with somebody who knows both sides of him,” Corenswet says. “He's not really playing the character of Superman, but he's also not really playing the role of Clark, either. It's a personality that only comes out with his parents and with Lois, once she really gets to know everything about him."

The DCU’s Long Metahuman History

We’ve known from the beginning that Superman takes place in a world with a rich, existing history of superheroes and metahumans. But until now, we didn’t realize just how deep that history goes. Gunn reveals that the DCU is a place where the general public is intimately familiar with the existence of metahumans. These figures have been public knowledge for roughly 300 years by this point.

"If you saw a shark-man walking down the street, you'd probably vomit and s--- yourself to death," Gunn says. "If they saw one, it would be more like if you saw Paul McCartney on the sidewalk in New York."

At this point, we can only speculate as to the metahuman-related conflicts the DCU has dealt with in the past. No doubt this is a world where, like in the comics, many heroes and villains played parts in World War II. The 300-year timeline probably also encompasses the Paradise Lost series, which will explore the political turmoil and strife on Wonder Woman’s home island of Themyscira. And that’s to say nothing of immortal metahuman characters like Vandal Savage.

How The Engineer Is Different From the Comics

By now, it’s become clear that María Gabriela de Faría’s Angelia Spica/The Engineer is one of the main antagonists in the film. The trailer shows The Engineer battling Superman alongside the mysterious Ultraman and even clashing with Superman’s faithful pup Krypto. This is a character who will differ from the source material in terms of both powers and motivations.

When it comes to the former, The Engineer has been reimagined so that she’s no longer a T-1000-style shape-shifting, liquid metal lifeform. Instead, she’s a human modified by advanced nanotech, allowing her to generate deadly weapons from pure thought.

De Faría provides some insight into her character’s motivations, revealing Angela to be a true believer in Lex Luthor’s vision for humanity. And while this isn’t overtly referenced in the film, there may be a romantic attraction driving her as well.

“I imagined that Lex and Angie had this work relationship where they respect each other so much," she says. "Angela highly believes in Lex's idea of making the world a better place. She's practically given her life to Lex for this greater good. But at the same time, I feel like there's an element of an underlying relationship going on between the two of them.”

De Faría even reveals she told Gunn, “I feel like these guys f***.”

Metamorpho’s True Purpose

Some DC fans have noted concern about the large ensemble cast of what is ostensibly a Superman-centric movie, pointing to the presence of numerous other metahuman heroes and villains as a sign the film is too crowded for its own good. Though if the Guardians of the Galaxy movies proved anything, it’s that Gunn has a knack for drawing in all manner of characters without making them superfluous to the plot.

That looks to be true for Superman as well, especially now that we know exactly what role Anthony Carrigan’s Metamorpho is meant to play in the conflict between Superman and Lex Luthor. It seems that Luthor sees Rex Mason as a valuable weapon. A man whose body can transmute itself into any element is the world’s most ready-made source of Kryptonite. Rex, naturally, is less than thrilled at becoming a pawn in Luthor’s anti-Superman crusade.

"You're in a situation where it's having to hurt someone, having to be an agent of the bad guy. And at the same time, there's this struggle to want to be good," Carrigan says. "What the film does brilliantly is it puts you in this situation of, 'Oh! He has no choice.' He has to be doing this, and you see how painful it is."

Gunn Is Developing a Superman Follow-Up

Superman is just one step in a much larger roadmap for the DCU. Gunn and Safran announced a number of movies and series when they first revealed DCU Chapter One: Gods and Monsters in 2023. With the emphasis on getting scripts ironed out before moving forward on any project, the release lineup has shifted somewhat in the years since, but Gunn definitely has a plan he’s busy executing.

We’ve known for a little while that Gunn is busy writing his next major DCU project after Superman and Peacemaker Season 2. But now the director is confirming that he’s specifically developing a follow-up to Superman (whether or not these are the same project remains unclear). Not necessarily a direct sequel, but one that builds on the characters and plot points introduced in the first DCU movie.

"What I'm working on is in some way…I mean, yes, yes, yes, yes,” Gunn says. “But is it a straight-up Superman sequel? I would not say necessarily."

It appears that Gunn’s next several projects will be about establishing more connective tissue in the DCU and making it more clear what the Gods and Monsters plan actually entails.

“The most important thing is the specific stories, but there is also a much bigger story that we're telling that will take a little bit longer to tell," Gunn says. "That's sort of where my next couple of things are going to be."

Part of that process may involve introducing a true Justice League in the DCU. Gunn cryptically hints, "There is no Justice League in this world… not yet."

Again, we now know that Lord’s team in Superman is the Justice Gang rather than the Justice League. That distinction is even more significant if it turns out the idea is to build toward the debut of a proper Justice League down the road. As the DCU debuts its versions of key heroes like Wonder Woman (who’s confirmed to be getting a new movie) and Batman (the DCU version of whom will debut in Batman: The Brave and the Bold), Gunn’s goal may be to introduce a more traditional Justice League team comprised of these iconic heroes just in time for the climax of Gods and Monsters.

Do you want a more traditional Justice League team in the DCU, or do you prefer the misfit Justice Gang? Cast your vote in our poll and let us know your thoughts in the comments below.

For more on the future of the DCU, brush up on every DC movie and series in development.

Jesse is a mild-mannered staff writer for IGN. Allow him to lend a machete to your intellectual thicket by following @jschedeen on BlueSky.