Superman: Red Son Movie Announced

During the premiere panel for Batman: Hush at San Diego Comic-Con 2019, DC announced that the first DC Universe Movie of 2020 will be Superman: Red Son, an adaptation of the three-issue, 2003 miniseries by Mark Millar, Dave Johnson, and Killian Plunkett. The series is an Elseworlds tale that imagines a world where, instead of growing up in Kansas and fighting for “truth, justice, and the American Way,” Kal-El’s rocket lands in the USSR in the 1950s and Superman becomes a champion of Soviet values. The story also recasts Batman, Wonder Woman, Brainiac, Green Lantern, and Lex Luthor through the lens of the Cold War.

The CW’s Supergirl loosely adapted the Superman: Red Son storyline, with Lex Luthor training Supergirl’s clone in Kaznia. DC’s announcement suggests that the animated film will stick much closer to the source material than Supergirl‘s take did. Here’s the synopsis for the series, as found with the Superman: Red Son collected edition:

“Imagine a reality where the world’s most powerful super-being does not grow up in Smallville, Kansas—or even America, for that matter…

Superman: Red Son is a vivid tale of Cold War paranoia, that reveals how the ship carrying the infant who would later be known as Superman lands in the midst of the 1950s Soviet Union. Raised on a collective, the infant grows up and becomes a symbol to the Soviet people, and the world changes drastically from what we know – bringing Superman into conflict with Batman, Lex Luthor and many others.”

A Superman film also kicked off 2019’s DC Universe Original Movie slate. Reign of the Supermen was the second part of the two-part story that began with The Death of Superman in 2018. The two-parter was the first DC Universe Original Movie to have Superman as the solo headliner in years,. The film series had been alternating between Batman and Justice League movies. Past Superman-focused films include Superman: Doomsday, All-Star Superman, Superman vs. the Elite, and Superman: Unbound. Next year will see another Superman film, as Superman: Man of Tomorrow closes out the animated film slate for the year.

Are you excited about the Superman: Red Son movie? Let us know in the comments. The film does not have a release date. Previous DC Universe Original Movies can be streamed via the DC Universe streaming service.

Batman: Hush becomes available on Digital today, July 20th. The film will release on Blu-ray and DVD on August 6th.