Bradley Cooper Ditches James Gunn, Reportedly Not Interested In Iconic DCU Role

in Entertainment, Movies & TV

James Gunn at SDCC

Credit: Gage Skidmore / Flickr

Bradley Cooper may have turned down a role in Superman: Legacy (2025) that could’ve made him even more famous.

bradley cooper on the red carpet
Credit: ABC

After Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (2023), fans are eager to see what James Gunn does with the DC universe as the Co-CEO is starting to work on Superman: Legacy, the first big project to happen after the DC reboot. Ezra Miller’s The Flash (2023) will kick things with an emotional story set to reset Zack Snyder’s DCEU as Warner Bros. Discovery wants to find a new direction forward which is why Gunn and Peter Safran run DC now.

Even though Henry Cavill and Ben Affleck might not return for another movie, their characters will return with new actors. Other stars like Jason Momoa and Gal Gadot might end up returning to reprise their role in the DCU, but nothing is set in stone.

ben affleck
Credit: Warner Bros. / DC

Related: Director of ‘The Flash’ May Have Just Ruined the Film’s Secret Villain

Rumors for Superman: Legacy have started to appear everywhere as THR and other sources have started to point out that certain actors and actresses are in final talks to land a role in the highly anticipated movie. Superman hasn’t starred in a solo movie for over a decade, as Man of Steel (2013) was the last time Superman had his own movie.

One rumor in particular shares that Bradley Cooper was the actor who talked to Gunn about starring as Lex Luthor in the upcoming movie. Gunn shared that one of his stars from Guardians 3 did talk to him about a certain role in the movie, and fans speculated who would play who in the movie.

(L-R) Chris Pratt, Dave Bautista, Bradley Cooper, Zoe Saldana, Vin Diesel, Karen Gillan, and Pom Klementieff as the Guardians of the Galaxy
Credit: Marvel Studios

Related: James Gunn Beefs With Twitter Users, Defends Gender-Swap Decision Amid ‘Guardians 3’ Backlash

According to one insider, Bradley Cooper talked to James Gunn about taking on the role of Lex Luthor and decided to turn it down:

It was Bradley Cooper and he’s not doing it

Related: Potential ‘Superman: Legacy’ Cast Revealed For James Gunn’s New DCU

It’s hard to know who Lex Luthor will be and even if James Gunn plans to have the iconic villain return. Since Gunn focuses on a more traditional story about Superman and his Kryptonian heritage, it will be fun to see what the DCU does with Superman.

Fans are excited about Gunn’s approach to the character and know that other heroes like Batman will have a different role in the DCU than in previous iterations. These are all good because it allows new actors to share a brand new perspective on the heroes without doing what other actors have done in the past. Bradley Cooper as Lex Luthor isn’t everyone’s first pick, but if he did take the role, it would’ve been a huge deal, but the actor may have chosen a different career path away from the super hero genre as the actor still has ties to Marvel Studios.

Henry Cavill Revealing the Superman logo
Credit: DC/Warner Bros.

Related: James Gunn Shuts Down Any ‘Superman: Legacy’ Speculations

It would’ve been hard to both super hero franchises and find time in between to do other movies at the same time. Cooper has mentioned he wants to direct and star in more of his work going forward unless James Gunn does it, so it makes sense why he may have wanted to step away from the DCU for the moment. It doesn’t mean another role won’t come along for the star later.

Who do you want to star as Lex Luthor in Superman: Legacy? Let Inside the Magic know!

Comments Off on Bradley Cooper Ditches James Gunn, Reportedly Not Interested In Iconic DCU Role