J.J. Abrams reveals he hasn't had official talks about a new Superman movie with Warner Bros. yet. Over the course of his career, Abrams has spent much time serving as a franchise whisperer, helping revive the Mission: Impossible, Star Trek, and Star Wars properties. In fact, of the six feature films he's directed, only one (Super 8) is an original work. Though Abrams has gone on record multiple times in the past to say he's done with reboots and focusing on new stories, his track record shows he's more than capable of relaunching major tentpole brands, making him an appealing target for studios looking to revive a series.
Abrams' production company Bad Robot recently closed a mega deal with WarnerMedia, which of course is home to DC Comics. So, it didn't take long for rumors to start that Abrams could be in the running to oversee a superhero film for WB - one about Superman in particular. Henry Cavill maintains he's still the cinematic Superman, but there's been little progress made on a Man of Steel 2 and WB reportedly has no further plans for Cavill's take on the character. It looks like they're laying the groundwork for a reboot, which could only add fuel to the Abrams speculation. But the filmmaker says those talks haven't taken place.
In an interview with Screen Rant to promote Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, we asked Abrams about his potential involvement in the Worlds of DC. Abrams had this to say:
I have not had one official conversation with Warners at all about this, but people have asked me this question and I know that we, Bad Robot, we recently signed a deal with WarnerMedia, we will begin in earnest all discussions about what’s coming next. But, I know no more than you do about what’s next, certainly in terms of DC.
Bad Robot reached their agreement with WarnerMedia while Abrams was in the midst of post-production on The Rise of Skywalker. It was only about a week ago Abrams confirmed he locked final cut on the picture, and he's since been making the rounds on the press tour, ahead of Star Wars 9's world premiere. All that's to say, Abrams has been extremely busy these past few months, and probably hasn't had the time to really sit down with WB brass and formulate a plan for future projects. Once the dust settles on The Rise of Skywalker and things calm down, then Abrams can schedule some meetings to plot his next course. Surely, DC is a subject that will come up whenever talks happen.
Abrams' filmmaking sensibilities seem like they'd be a good fit for the Superman franchise. He'd likely craft something fast-paced and exciting, but doesn't shortchange the heart and emotion. But just because something sounds smart on-paper doesn't mean it'll actually happen. If Abrams truly wants to move on from reboots and franchise installments, he could end up passing on Superman altogether so he can focus on something original. There's also the chance WB is blown away by a different Superman pitch (Michael B. Jordan met with the studio earlier), so it remains to be seen what'll happen. The only thing we can say with some certainty right now is a new Superman movie is still a ways away - regardless of who's directing it.
