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

[WittyUsername]

2 minutes ago, Speedorito said:

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.

I don’t even understand why they’d need to claim that his character was removed before the strikes. If they simply said that they rewrote the script to avoid real world comparisons, I’m pretty sure most people would understand. The writer’s strike ended on September 27th, so they would’ve been free to do so. 

[Dominic Draper]

 

Really dumb WB keeps doing this.

[Eric the Minion]

I mean...do you guys want Gunn tackling real-world issues going on in the Middle East? That just sounded like a potential disaster.

[WittyUsername]

1 minute ago, Eric Web said:

I mean...do you guys want Gunn tackling real-world issues going on in the Middle East? That just sounded like a potential disaster.

Nah, not really. That always sounded like a bad idea, even before October 7th. It also seemed oddly derivative of Black Adam.
 

With that said, it’s pretty funny to think that Grace Randolph was actually right, but people kept calling her a liar for months, even though a bunch of other scoopers corroborated the Middle East storyline. 

[dallas]

4 hours ago, WittyUsername said:

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. 

What? That's not what it sounds like at all. They literally confirmed that the script was changed before but it wasn't communicated to him until after. Literacy is dead I swear

[WittyUsername]

3 minutes ago, dallas said:

What? That's not what it sounds like at all. They literally confirmed that the script was changed before but it wasn't communicated to him until after. Literacy is dead I swear

He specifically said he auditioned for the role in June, shortly before the SAG strike. The WGA strike began at the start of May, so if his role had already been removed before that point, why the hell would he be auditioning in June? Last time I checked, June comes after May, though feel free to correct me if I’m wrong. 

Edited February 18 by WittyUsername

[dallas]

1 minute ago, WittyUsername said:

He specifically said he auditioned for the role in June, shortly before the SAG strike. The WGA strike began at the start of May, so if his role had already been removed before that point, why the hell would he be auditioning in June? Last time I checked, June comes after May, though feel free to correct me if I’m wrong. 

What are you even talking about? You said that the script was most likely changed because of October 7th when Bassem himself communicated that wasn't the case. And you're allowed to remove a role in your mind during a strike where you aren't allowed to write. After the writers' strike ended, that's when Gunn actually removed the character from the script. Unfortunately though, they couldn't communicate that to Bassem due to the actors strike being ongoing and thus communication of roles being forbidden. Bassem himself admitted the timing was terrible which was where the confusion stemmed. 

[WittyUsername]

22 minutes ago, dallas said:

What are you even talking about? You said that the script was most likely changed because of October 7th when Bassem himself communicated that wasn't the case. And you're allowed to remove a role in your mind during a strike where you aren't allowed to write. After the writers' strike ended, that's when Gunn actually removed the character from the script. Unfortunately though, they couldn't communicate that to Bassem due to the actors strike being ongoing and thus communication of roles being forbidden. Bassem himself admitted the timing was terrible which was where the confusion stemmed. 

That doesn’t contradict the idea that the rewrite happened after October 7th.

[Speedorito]

20 minutes ago, dallas said:

What are you even talking about? You said that the script was most likely changed because of October 7th when Bassem himself communicated that wasn't the case. And you're allowed to remove a role in your mind during a strike where you aren't allowed to write. After the writers' strike ended, that's when Gunn actually removed the character from the script. Unfortunately though, they couldn't communicate that to Bassem due to the actors strike being ongoing and thus communication of roles being forbidden. Bassem himself admitted the timing was terrible which was where the confusion stemmed. 

The problem is that Variety claims that the character was removed before the strikes even started, and the story changes were made before October 7th. Which contradicts what he said and what other sources said.

 

So someone’s not being truthful. And I’m not really inclined to believe “sources close to the production” over Youssef.

[dallas]

42 minutes ago, WittyUsername said:

That doesn’t contradict the idea that the rewrite happened after October 7th.

Yes it does.

[WittyUsername]

1 minute ago, dallas said:

Yes it does.

It really doesn’t. There was a full month between October 7th and the end of the SAG strike. That would’ve been plenty of time to make the necessary alterations to the script. 

[dallas]

4 minutes ago, WittyUsername said:

It really doesn’t. There was a full month between October 7th and the end of the SAG strike. That would’ve been plenty of time to make the necessary alterations to the script. 

"We hear that Youssef taped an audition pre-actors strike for the role of Rumaan Harjadi. However, by the time Gunn turned in his final shooting script post writers’ strike ending in late September, that role was cut. This was all before the tragic events of Oct. 7, 2023. Hence per the Superman Legacy production source — no official ask was made to Youssef. Given that the actors strike was still ongoing in late September, and didn’t end until early November, no communication about Youssef obtaining or not obtaining the role would have been communicated to him."

 

Per Deadline. Final script submitted late September, which is before Oct 7, not communicated until November, after the Piers Morgan interview. 

[WittyUsername]

20 minutes ago, dallas said:

"We hear that Youssef taped an audition pre-actors strike for the role of Rumaan Harjadi. However, by the time Gunn turned in his final shooting script post writers’ strike ending in late September, that role was cut. This was all before the tragic events of Oct. 7, 2023. Hence per the Superman Legacy production source — no official ask was made to Youssef. Given that the actors strike was still ongoing in late September, and didn’t end until early November, no communication about Youssef obtaining or not obtaining the role would have been communicated to him."

 

Per Deadline. Final script submitted late September, which is before Oct 7, not communicated until November, after the Piers Morgan interview. 

That doesn’t actually seem to specify that the final script was submitted in September. They pointed out that the writer’s strike ended in late September. Besides, it’s not difficult to imagine that WB wouldn’t want people to know that they had to change the script in response to an ongoing foreign catastrophe. 

 

In any case, nothing about Youseff’s statement “communicates” that these changes happened before October 7th. He obviously wouldn’t be privy to that, given that he didn’t write the script. 

[Speedorito]

I think the most charitable way to read between the lines is that it had nothing to do with his comments, but Gunn was working on the film outside of his directorial roles during the writers strike and WB doesn’t want people to know because that would violate union rules and draw negative press for a film that definitely does not need that. Which is why the studio mouthpieces (aka trades) can’t agree on when exactly the character and storyline were cut.

 

At least that’s the most optimistic theory that didn’t require people to ignore what’s in front of them or make damaging accusations (damaging if you’re not pro-Israel in Hollywood).

Edited February 18 by Speedorito

[dallas]

31 minutes ago, WittyUsername said:

That doesn’t actually seem to specify that the final script was submitted in September. They pointed out that the writer’s strike ended in late September. Besides, it’s not difficult to imagine that WB wouldn’t want people to know that they had to change the script in response to an ongoing foreign catastrophe. 

 

In any case, nothing about Youseff’s statement “communicates” that these changes happened before October 7th. He obviously wouldn’t be privy to that, given that he didn’t write the script. 

"By the time Gunn turned in his final shooting script post writers’ strike ending in late September, that role was cut. This was all before the tragic events of Oct. 7, 2023."

 

 

Edited February 18 by dallas

[dallas]

23 minutes ago, Speedorito said:

I think the most charitable way to read between the lines is that it had nothing to do with his comments, but Gunn was working on the film outside of his directorial roles during the writers strike and WB doesn’t want people to know because that would violate union rules and draw negative press for a film that definitely does not need that. Which is why the studio mouthpieces (aka trades) can’t agree on when exactly the character and storyline were cut.

 

At least that’s the most optimistic theory that didn’t require people to ignore what’s in front of them or make damaging accusations (damaging if you’re not pro-Israel in Hollywood).

What? How is that your conclusion??? Gunn absolutely did not edit the script mid-strike, though that does not prohibit him from having ideas for where he wanted to take the movie. 

[Speedorito]

12 minutes ago, dallas said:

What? How is that your conclusion??? Gunn absolutely did not edit the script mid-strike, though that does not prohibit him from having ideas for where he wanted to take the movie. 

From what I said before about the trades having conflicting info about what was changed and when, and certain things lining up. I said it was a possibility, not a definitive conclusion.

 

Also you don’t know James Gunn or what actually happened lmao. You don’t know what he absolutely did or did not do more than anyone else. Let’s curb the defensiveness and parasocial behavior please.

[WittyUsername]

23 minutes ago, dallas said:

"By the time Gunn turned in his final shooting script post writers’ strike ending in late September, that role was cut. This was all before the tragic events of Oct. 7, 2023."

 

 

I read the quote. I’d have to assume that “post writer’s strike ending in late September” is referring to the fact that the strike ended in late September. Also, as I already pointed out, it’s not difficult to imagine that “sources close to the movie” wouldn’t want people to know that the script was changed to avoid parallels to Gaza. 
 

Perhaps Gunn did conveniently remove the Middle East storyline before October 7th, but that sure would be a massive stroke of luck. 

Edited February 18 by WittyUsername

[grim22]

7 minutes ago, WittyUsername said:

I read the quote. I’d have to assume that “post writer’s strike ending in late September” is referring to the fact that the strike ended in late September. Also, as I already pointed out, it’s not difficult to imagine that “sources close to the movie” wouldn’t want people to know that the script was changed to avoid parallels to Gaza. 
 

Perhaps Gunn did conveniently remove the Middle East storyline before October 7th, but that sure would be a massive stroke of luck. 

 

Maybe he should have made a person fall in love with Joker because that's the only other thing that seems to get you angry more than this. At least we could skip discussions in that case.

[excel1]

sorry but who the fuck cares ? the guy isn't in the movie, move on with life, he was beyond irresponsible for openly speculating it was political when he had zero indication of this. Maybe his audition sucked? The amount of well off middle aged "adults" in Hollywood who are mental midgets is pathetic.