Superman: Legacy is now just called Superman, and James Gunn teases a familiar logo

Principal photography has begun on Superman: Legacy, the flagship film for James Gunn and Peter Safran’s new DC movie universe, and Gunn—who is also directing—marked the occasion with some news and little teaser image. The news is that the movie is no longer called Superman: Legacy at all, as it is now, simply, Superman. (There is already a movie with that name, but this one is unrelated to that one beyond the basic concept of a “super man” and a bunch of the main characters.)

Gunn said on Instagram that Superman: Legacy was the name on his first draft of the script, but by the time he finished the final draft “it was clear the title was Superman.” He also noted that today, Leap Day, is coincidentally Superman’s birthday (the perfect birthday for someone who can leap tall buildings in a single bound) and that the movie will be released in July of next year.

The other thing about his Instagram post is that it features a snow-dusted glimpse of the Superman uniform, which specifically has a version of the “S” logo from Mark Waid and Alex Ross’ phenomenal 1996 Kingdom Come miniseries—which involved a depressed and vengeful near-future Superman coming out retirement to beat the shit out of a new generation of reckless, violent superheroes. It seems unlikely that Gunn would jump straight into a new universe with that premise as the first movie, so we would wager that the logo is just an Easter egg, but we don’t know.

Last week, Gunn posted a photo of the Superman cast (out of costume, naturally). David Corenswet is playing Superman, Rachel Brosnahan is playing Lois Lane, Isabela Merced is playing Hawkgirl, Edi Gathegi is playing Mr. Terrific, Nathan Fillion is playing the Guy Gardner Green Lantern, Anthony Carrigan is playing Metamorpho, Skyler Gisondo is playing Jimmy Olsen, and Nicholas Hoult is playing Lex Luthor.