‘Man of Steel 2’: Geoff Johns on the Status of New Superman Movie

DC Comics’ New 52 architect and former DC Films president Geoff Johns says the Warner Bros.-owned company knows the importance of Superman, who has yet to headline a direct sequel to 2013’s Zack Snyder-directed Man of Steel.

“Look, working with [DC Films president] Walter Hamada and [Warner Bros. President and CCO] Toby [Emmerich] over there at [Warner Bros.], they feel the same way. Everyone loves Superman and knows how important Superman is,” Johns told Collider.

“It’s not in my wheelhouse now to really say anything beyond that but… I got into this business because of Superman: The Movie, because Dick Donner directed what I think is still an amazing superhero film but an amazing film — it’s an American film, it’s a classic.”

Johns, who co-wrote the in-the-works Wonder Woman 1984 with David Callaham and director Patty Jenkins, said the 1978 Christopher Reeve-starrer was used to spiritually guide the Wonder Woman sequel.

“We always go back to it. Patty Jenkins and I went back to it when we were writing Wonder Woman 2, you always go back to it and look at that movie,” Johns said. “[Donner] captured the spirit of Superman so well. It’s what got me into this.”

The famed comic book writer and screenwriter next receives a “story by” credit on James Wan’s Justice League spinoff Aquaman, and is now penning the screenplay for Green Lantern Corps, a DCEU-branded reboot of the 2011 critical and commercial misfire that starred Ryan Reynolds as the Green Lantern.

A Henry Cavill-led Superman sequel languishes in limbo: Warner Bros. has yet to officially announce a second Superman standalone following his involvement in critical underperformers Batman v Superman and Justice League. The red-and-blue-clad superhero has long been rumored to next resurface in Shazam!, firmly set in the shared DCEU as noted by the easter egg-filled trailer packed with Justice Leaguer t-shirts and action figures.

Cavill continues to campaign for another Superman movie of his own, telling Collider in April he’s had behind-the-scenes conversations in hopes of getting the ball rolling on another Man of Steel.

“It is very much in my desire to do a Man of Steel 2, a direct sequel to Man of Steel, and there is a whole bunch of Superman story that I want to tell,” Cavill said. “There is a whole style of Superman’s character that I’m very keen to tell and I’m looking forward to the opportunity.”

Mission: Impossible — Fallout, starring Cavill as CIA agent August Walker, is now playing.