Fans of the DC Universe movies have been waiting patiently, with said patience being rewarded as new creative lead James Gunn has revealed the film slate for the revamped/rebooted universe's "Chapter 1." This includes a new version of Superman, with Henry Cavill's take having been jettisoned. From what's been revealed concerning the movie's plot, it seems that it might be heading in the complete opposite direction -- for better or worse.
Whereas the Snyderverse's Superman had been criticized as being too dark compared to previous iterations, it seems the new one will double down on a more positive, hopeful nature. While this will negate the issues seen in Zack Snyder's films, it also runs the risk of making the hero too much like older, outdated characterizations. If that's the case, the new DCU may end up being dead on arrival.
James Gunn's New Superman Represents Kindness
The description of the newly titled Superman: Legacy states that this new Superman has issues balancing his nature as a Kryptonian amid the human world he was raised in. This is actually a very easy and fitting way to ground and deepen the character, as it gives him internal struggle that past versions might have lacked. Not only does it reflect certain parts of the Superman seen in the Richard Donner films, but arguably even that of the Snyderverse. The description beyond that, however, sounds far more like the former and barely anything like the latter.
Described as representing kindness in a world that finds the concept outdated, it's clear that the more brooding characterization from the Snyderverse is gone. Still, there were some slight elements of this concept seen in those movies, namely Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice. There, Superman constantly helped humanity, despite the growing antagonism toward him. Still, these ideas were weighed down by the movie as a whole being fairly bleak and dark, and the supposed ideas for bringing Henry Cavill back to the role included emulating the 1978 Richard Donner/Christopher Reeve Superman film. It's all well and good to back away from the controversy surrounding the Snyderverse, and doing so may well have required Cavill's abandonment. Still, the description sounds like the new movie is making the same mistake in a different direction, and it could be disastrous.
Superman: Legacy Runs the Risk of Making Superman Too 'Boring'
The above description, along with James Gunn's reiteration of the classic "Truth, Justice, and the American Way" tagline suggests an incredibly classic version of Superman. Said take on the character was the same one that many audiences found "unrelatable, outdated and boring" beforehand, and there's a definite balance that needs to be done in bringing this to life. Sure, Superman is most certainly not outdated, but there are elements to his character, many of which are directly influenced by older movies and comics, that could be seen as such if applied in a wholly traditional way. That risk is made stronger by the fact that those currently running the show at the burgeoning DC Studios are trying to do away with the Snyderverse image, so doing the exact opposite would seem to be the right choice.
That sort of kneejerk contrarianism is part of why Zack Snyder's take on Superman was so dark to begin with, though that situation was admittedly understandable. The character was at the time still haunted by the Donner movies, with Donner throwback Superman Returns disappointing many. Thus, it made sense to throw anything resembling that away. Now, the pendulum is swinging back toward a more wholesome direction, but stopping somewhere in the middle might be for the best. If things are too cheesy and old-school, DC's movies could lose the viewing audience of those usually disinterested in Superman and the angry Snyder fans. Such a catastrophe would doom Kal-El's cinematic prospects for quite a while, meaning that James Gunn and company need to walk a tightrope and knock this next film out of the park. Needless to say, simply making audiences believe that a man can fly is no longer enough to make the Last Son of Krypton the first name in superheroes again.