Superman | July 11, 2025 | James Gunn writing and directing | David Corenswet is Clark, Rachel Brosnahan is Lois

[WittyUsername]

At the very least, it’s now been confirmed that Youseff was supposed to play Rumaan Harjavti, ruler of Bialya. In other words, the movie was indeed supposed to involve a Middle East conflict at some point. 

Edited February 16 by WittyUsername

[Napoleon]

This is like the fourth famous person in recent months to claim or imply that the new management of DC Films has lied to them or to the public.

[Maggie]

38 minutes ago, Speedorito said:

It’s almost certain they did change the setting.

well, then maybe they should say so

Edited February 16 by Maggie

[Porthos]

17 minutes ago, Maggie said:

well, then maybe they should say so

 

I'm confused.  Should James Gunn be responding to every report/point of discussion among the Nerd Community or should he be ignoring all the noise and just make his damn movie(s).

 

(obligatory reminder: Movie making is very very very messy with even basic plot points potentially changing as things are worked on)

[Maggie]

5 minutes ago, Porthos said:

 

I'm confused.  Should James Gunn be responding to every report/point of discussion among the Nerd Community or should he be ignoring all the noise and just make his damn movie(s).

 

 

Well, they did respond and offered a convoluted mess of an answer. Should tell the truth if you respond

Edited February 16 by Maggie

[robertman2]

36 minutes ago, Napoleon said:

This is like the fourth famous person in recent months to claim or imply that the new management of DC Films has lied to them or to the public.

https://twitter.com/DCU_Updates/status/1758575553068867916?s=19

[Speedorito]

2 minutes ago, Porthos said:

 

I'm confused.  Should James Gunn be responding to every report/point of discussion among the Nerd Community or should he be ignoring all the noise and just make his damn movie(s).

 

(obligatory reminder: Movie making is very very very messy with even basic plot points potentially changing as things are worked on)

The latter. Trying to be buddy-buddy with fans online, but only when it’s convenient, kinda puts yourself in these sort of situations. Same with calling something “the greatest comic book movie of all time.” It’s especially bad when it gets extremely political and involves wars, and when a film is already on thin ice. That’s why most blockbuster directors and execs don’t say much until it’s time to do press for a film.

 

But tackling the Middle East in a blockbuster superhero film was always a poor idea. Captain America 4, which cast a superhero literally named Sabra, is getting bitten in the ass for that choice (which people complained about years ago) too and has to do rewrites and reshoots.

 

Changes always happen when making a film, but in this case it’s the scale of the change, what was changed, when it was changed, and why. Context matters.

[Maggie]

5 minutes ago, robertman2 said:

https://twitter.com/DCU_Updates/status/1758575553068867916?s=19

Good.

 

One more thing. I understand why they wouldn't say they changed the setting so late in the game. Fanboys would panic

Edited February 16 by Maggie

[Porthos]

8 minutes ago, Maggie said:

Well, they did respond and offered a convoluted mess of an answer. Should tell the truth if you respond

 

13 minutes ago, Porthos said:

 

I'm confused.  Should James Gunn be responding to every report/point of discussion among the Nerd Community or should he be ignoring all the noise and just make his damn movie(s).

 

(obligatory reminder: Movie making is very very very messy with even basic plot points potentially changing as things are worked on)

 

I think I already covered that bit. 

 

But if one prefers, there's an old adage about "never see how the sausage is made" when talking about politics.  I think the same observation could be made when it comes to entertainment of any sort.  Evasive half answers by folks that really say "I want this story to go away" aren't exactly uncommon.

 

Was gonna make an observation about Rashomon and the entire nature of "truth" in that "truth" can be a very subjective thing, but it looks like this might already be fizzling out depending on if Bassem Youssef backs up what James Gunn is saying.  So perhaps I'll save it for another time.

[ChipDerby]

2 hours ago, Napoleon said:

This is like the fourth famous person in recent months to claim or imply that the new management of DC Films has lied to them or to the public.

 

In fact, zero people have claimed DC has lied to them or the public.

[ChipDerby]

Reminder: Nobody knows the plot of the film, nor the setting.

[excel1]

yawn.

[Spidey Freak]

3 hours ago, WittyUsername said:

In fairness, I wouldn’t really consider signing a letter to be the same as going on TV and arguing with Piers Morgan about the issue. Youseff’s been far more outspoken about the issue than most other people in Hollywood. 

 

Twitter detectives have dug up evidence of Gunn, Brosnahan, Hoult and Viola Davis all showing support for Palestine in the past, in addition to Alcock, so it makes no sense for them to target just Youseff for doing the same even if he was more vocal about it.

[WittyUsername]

29 minutes ago, Spidey Freak said:

 

Twitter detectives have dug up evidence of Gunn, Brosnahan, Hoult and Viola Davis all showing support for Palestine in the past, in addition to Alcock, so it makes no sense for them to target just Youseff for doing the same even if he was more vocal about it.

When has Gunn shown support for Palestine? 
 

Also, as I said, Youseff has been far more vocal about it than most other actors, and he’s also Arab, while the other actors aren’t. All I’m saying is that claiming it couldn’t have been political because some other actors signed a ceasefire letter isn’t really a good argument. 

Edited February 16 by WittyUsername

[dudalb]

6 hours ago, WittyUsername said:

It’s increasingly sounding like that rumor about the Middle Eastern subplot was true, but that it was rewritten due to current events. 

 

I can't resist that when I first read about a Mideast Subplot, that ehey probabe had a plan B for dropping it if the Mideast Blew up.

The Mideast blew (IMHO is wass always a matte rof not if, but when) and the subplot has been dropped. And yesh, I think the script changes were they did not want to open that can fo worms rathern then going after a specific actor.

I don't blame Gunn and Warners;;  no way they had a Mideast subplot and not make one side or the other mad.

Edited February 16 by dudalb

[dudalb]

3 hours ago, Porthos said:

 

I'm confused.  Should James Gunn be responding to every report/point of discussion among the Nerd Community or should he be ignoring all the noise and just make his damn movie(s).

 

(obligatory reminder: Movie making is very very very messy with even basic plot points potentially changing as things are worked on)

Right now anything you say about the Middle east will amkes lots of people mad at you.

Me, I have pretty much a 'Plagu on both your houses" atittude. Both sides have done really really ugly things.

[dudalb]

1 hour ago, ChipDerby said:

Reminder: Nobody knows the plot of the film, nor the setting.

Yes, but we had enough reports from reliable sources that there was a MidEast subplot, and now frm the fuss it has been dropped.

[Spidey Freak]

7 hours ago, WittyUsername said:

When has Gunn shown support for Palestine? 

 

Apparently he liked Viola Davis's post doing the same.

 

6 hours ago, dudalb said:

Right now anything you say about the Middle east will amkes lots of people mad at you.

Me, I have pretty much a 'Plagu on both your houses" atittude. Both sides have done really really ugly things.

 

Off-topic but this is such a reductive, ignorant take. Hamas is NOT Palestine and Netanyahu has been committing atrocities even before Oct 7 and in regions like the West Bank where Hamas is not even present. The Palestinian people have to bear the brunt by literally being sandwiched between a warmonger and a terrorist group funded by international forces.

[WittyUsername]

Sounds like the script most likely was changed because of October 7th. Still, it looks like there isn’t any bad blood between him and Gunn. 

[Speedorito]

Yeah he wasn’t even bitter about losing the role. But it’s gross how the whole thing got twisted around. Variety claimed the role was cut before the strikes even began. And a bunch of people online have been saying that he was trying to use the role for clout or to prop up the pro-Palestinian movement.