{"id":56286,"date":"2025-06-04T03:25:13","date_gmt":"2025-06-04T03:25:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/peymantaeidi.net\/stem-cell\/?p=56286"},"modified":"2025-06-04T05:37:53","modified_gmt":"2025-06-04T05:37:53","slug":"dc-confirms-the-comic-book-stories-that-inspired-james-gunns-superman-movie","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/peymantaeidi.net\/stem-cell\/2025\/06\/04\/dc-confirms-the-comic-book-stories-that-inspired-james-gunns-superman-movie\/","title":{"rendered":"DC Confirms the Comic Book Stories That Inspired James Gunn\u2019s Superman Movie"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>James Gunn\u2019s <em><a href=\"https:\/\/comicbook.com\/tag\/superman-2025\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Superman<\/a><\/em> movie <a href=\"https:\/\/comicbook.com\/movies\/news\/new-superman-trailer-breakdown-easter-eggs-references-villains-dcu-explained\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">pays homage<\/a> to dozens of <a href=\"https:\/\/comicbook.com\/movies\/news\/james-gunn-assembles-comic-book-greats-on-superman-movie-set\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">the legendary creators<\/a> who contributed to the Man of Steel\u2019s 87-year history in comics. From writer Mark Waid and artist Alex Ross (<em>Kingdom Come<\/em>), to prolific penciler Curt Swan (<em>Superman\u2019s Pal Jimmy Olsen<\/em>) and DC Comics publisher and artist Jim Lee (<em>Justice League<\/em>), there are a <a href=\"https:\/\/comicbook.com\/movies\/news\/new-superman-trailer-breakdown-easter-eggs-references-villains-dcu-explained\/\">number of Easter eggs<\/a> for the Eagle-eyed super-fan to spot. But there are three titles in particular that influenced the previously-titled <em>Superman: Legacy<\/em>: 2005\u2019s <em>All Star Superman<\/em>, 1998\u2019s <em>Superman For All Seasons<\/em>, and 2005\u2019s <em>Lex Luthor: Man of Steel<\/em>. <\/p>\n<div class=\"wp-block-savage-platform-primis-video\">\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-savage-platform-primis-video__heading\">\n\t\t\tVideos by ComicBook.com\t\t<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n<p>Issues from <em>All Star Superman<\/em> (a 12-issue miniseries by <em>Batman and Robin<\/em> dynamic duo Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely), <em>Superman For All Seasons<\/em> (a four-issue limited series by <em>Batman: The Long Halloween<\/em> collaborators Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale), and <em>Lex Luthor: Man of Steel<\/em> (a five-issue limited series from <em>Joker<\/em> scribe Brian Azzarello and artist Lee Bermejo) are collected together for the first time in <em>DC Comics Presents Superman: The Official Comic Book Stories That Inspired the New Movie<\/em>.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><\/figure>\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-related-superman-trailer-breakdown-secret-justice-league-cameo-villains-amp-dcu-easter-eggs-explained\"><strong>RELATED: <a href=\"https:\/\/comicbook.com\/movies\/news\/new-superman-trailer-breakdown-easter-eggs-references-villains-dcu-explained\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><em>Superman<\/em> Trailer Breakdown: Secret Justice League Cameo, Villains &amp; DCU Easter Eggs Explained<\/a><\/strong><\/h4>\n<p>Borrowing its name from the Superman-fronted title <em>DC Comics Presents<\/em> and featuring a cover by fan-favorite artist Dan Mora (<em>Batman\/Superman: World\u2019s Finest<\/em>) paying homage to Superman\u2019s first appearance in 1938\u2019s <em>Action Comics<\/em> #1, the limited-edition collectible magazine contains <em>All Star Superman<\/em> #1,<em> Superman For All Seasons<\/em> #1, and <em>Lex Luthor: Man of Steel<\/em> #1. Each issue is accompanied by an introduction explaining how that comic book story influenced the new movie. <\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-all-star-superman\">All Star Superman<\/h2>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"928\" height=\"1429\" src=\"https:\/\/peymantaeidi.net\/stem-cell\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/All-Star-Superman-Comic.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-1359230\" \/><\/figure>\n<p>Gunn has long cited the timeless <em>All Star<\/em> as <a href=\"https:\/\/comicbook.com\/movies\/news\/superman-legacy-dc-studios-all-star-superman-explained-dc-universe-james-gunn\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">the biggest influence<\/a> on <em>Superman<\/em>, with the 12 issues (referred to as \u201cepisodes\u201d) recounting Superman\u2019s legendary twelve labors. The book featurs the likes of Krypto the Superdog, cape-clad Superman Robots attending to the Fortress of Solitude, Lex Luthor, and a kaiju-esque monster that attacks Metropolis \u2014 all elements that appear in the new movie. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere\u2019s a couple of [influences], but <em>All Star Superman<\/em> is the thing that we borrow the most heavily from,\u201d Gunn told ComicBook and other outlets during a press event for the <em>Superman<\/em> trailer premiere. \u201cOur plot has nothing to do with <em>All Star Superman<\/em>, but some of the aesthetics of what Grant wrote and what Frank drew were incredibly influential.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThey also had that sort of science fiction, and the idea of Lex as a mad science sorcerer, almost. You know, science is his own sort of sorcery,\u201d Gunn continued. \u201cAnd the giant monsters and the threats and all of that, the Silver Age look through a green lens. I think a lot of that was taken from <em>All Star Superman<\/em>, and that was my biggest one, for sure. Also my favorite.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-superman-for-all-seasons\">Superman For All Seasons<\/h2>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"928\" height=\"1427\" src=\"https:\/\/peymantaeidi.net\/stem-cell\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/Superman-For-All-Seasons.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-1359227\" \/><\/figure>\n<p><em>All Star Superman<\/em> and <em>Superman for All Seasons<\/em> are also collected in <a href=\"https:\/\/comicbook.com\/comics\/news\/superman-legacy-box-set-comics-inspiration-james-gunn-dc-movie\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">The Superman Box Set<\/a> releasing in August, which is adorned with a movie-style Superman logo and collects \u201csome of Superman\u2019s greatest and most influential tales,\u201d including <em>Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow?<\/em> (by Alan Moore and Curt Swan) and <em>Kingdom Come<\/em> (by Waid and Ross). <\/p>\n<p>Taking place over the course of four seasons in Superman\u2019s life, <em>All Seasons<\/em> chronicles the Last Son of Krypton\u2019s humble beginnings as a farm boy raised in Smallville, Kansas, who becomes the mythic Man of Steel of Metropolis. The four issues are told from four unique perspectives \u2014 Pa Kent, Lois Lane, Lex Luthor, and Lana Lang \u2014 but<em> For All Seasons<\/em> is, ultimately, a story about how it\u2019s the person, not the powers, that makes Superman a hero.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-lex-luthor-man-of-steel\">Lex Luthor: Man of Steel<\/h2>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"928\" height=\"1427\" src=\"https:\/\/peymantaeidi.net\/stem-cell\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/Lex-Luthor-Man-of-Steel-Hope.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-1359233\" \/><\/figure>\n<p>Originally released as <em>Lex Luthor: Man of Steel<\/em> before being collected as <em>Luthor<\/em> for DC\u2019s Black Label imprint intended for mature readers, the five-issue series is told entirely from Luthor\u2019s point of view. When Nicholas Hoult\u2019s Lex Luthor refers to David Corenswet\u2019s Man of Steel as an \u201cit\u201d in the latest <em>Superman<\/em> trailer, it\u2019s a line inspired by <em>Luthor<\/em>: \u201cHe\u2019s <em>not<\/em> a man,\u201d Lex says while scholding his right-hand woman, LexCorp employee Mona. <\/p>\n<p>Believing Superman to be dangerous and an affront to humanity, Lex refers to Superman as \u201cit\u201d again in conversation with Wayne Industries\u2019 Bruce Wayne. \u201cIt isn\u2019t natural,\u201d Lex says, adding that the name \u201cSuperman\u201d is a name \u201cwe gave him, an attempt to humanize him \u2014 as pointless as naming a hurricane.\u201d Whereas <em>All Star Superman<\/em> and <em>Superman For All Seasons<\/em> are about humanizing the Man of Steel \u2014 not as a god-like alien, but a farm boy from Kansas \u2014 <em>Luthor<\/em> is about dehumanizing the glowing red-eyed alien as an \u201cit,\u201d and it\u2019s science, not Superman, that humanity must strive toward for a better tomorrow. <\/p>\n<p>As his answer to Superman, Lex engineers a new superheroine he calls Hope, a lab-grown android who appears to have inspired the role filled by Mar\u00eda Gabriela de Far\u00eda\u2019s character \u2014 Angela Spica, a.k.a. the Engineer of The Authority, known for her nanotech-based liquid machinery biology \u2014 in <em>Superman<\/em>. <\/p>\n<p>DC Studios\u2019 <em>Superman<\/em> \u2014 starring David Corenswet as Clark Kent\/Superman alongside Rachel Brosnahan as Lois Lane, Nicholas Hoult as Lex Luthor, and Edi Gathegi as Mister Terrific, Anthony Carrigan as Metamorpho, Nathan Fillion as Green Lantern Guy Gardner, Isabela Merced as Hawkgirl, with Skyler Gisondo as Jimmy Olsen, Sara Sampaio as Eve Teschmacher, Mar\u00eda Gabriela de Far\u00eda as Angela Spica\/the Engineer, Wendell Pierce as Perry White, Alan Tudyk as Superman Robot #4, Neva Howell as Ma Kent, Pruitt Taylor Vince as Pa Kent, Sean Gunn as Maxwell Lord and Frank Grillo as Rick Flag Sr. \u2014 is only in theaters July 11.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>James Gunn\u2019s Superman movie pays homage to dozens of the legendary creators who contributed to<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":56288,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/peymantaeidi.net\/stem-cell\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56286"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/peymantaeidi.net\/stem-cell\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/peymantaeidi.net\/stem-cell\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/peymantaeidi.net\/stem-cell\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/peymantaeidi.net\/stem-cell\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=56286"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/peymantaeidi.net\/stem-cell\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56286\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":56319,"href":"https:\/\/peymantaeidi.net\/stem-cell\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56286\/revisions\/56319"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/peymantaeidi.net\/stem-cell\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/56288"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/peymantaeidi.net\/stem-cell\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=56286"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/peymantaeidi.net\/stem-cell\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=56286"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/peymantaeidi.net\/stem-cell\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=56286"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}