David Zaslav, who heads Warner Bros. Discovery, has hinted at the possibility of a new Superman title in the coming years. Zaslav did this during a recent investors call where he revealed that the entertainment behemoth can compete with others in the gaming industry.
Zaslav didn’t explicitly state that Warner has a Superman game on the way. However, his comments during the call hint that it is something in the company’s plans. The Warner Bros. Discovery head honcho stated, "When we launch a product on Max or HBO, and when we have a game, that game belongs to us, but now there's this in-betweener. It may be in the next couple of years that we launch a Superman movie and...people spend more time and there's more economics of people just hanging out in the Superman world and universe."
David Zaslav, the head of Warner Bros. Discovery, hinted at the possibility of a new Superman game during a recent investors call. He discussed the company's wealth of IP and numerous game development studios, suggesting that these resources could be utilized for a Superman title or other ventures in the gaming industry.
Zaslav pointed to the fact that the company has 11 different game development studios, a talented workforce, and a wealth of IP from its movie business to support a venture into the video game development business. He mentioned the Game of Thrones franchise, the DC Universe, and the Harry Potter franchise as examples of Warner’s vast IP.
The executive singled out the recent Hogwarts Legacy as a case study. He pointed to the title’s immersive experience as a big part of its success stating "a big piece of the success of that game is that you go into it. If you're a player, you go into that game and you're in that world." He also mentioned the metaverse seemingly suggesting that the recent invention provides opportunities that the entertainment behemoth can exploit.
Central to Zaslav’s speech is Warner’s wealth in IP. In his words, "The fact that we own all of that is something that I think is going to be really important as we look forward--as technology develops, and given the amount of time that people spend on gaming, we don't want to be in the motion picture and longform storytelling business and have somebody else in the business of hanging out in those worlds. Those worlds are going to be quite profitable in the years ahead."
Currently, the DC Studios arm of Warner Bros. Discovery headed by James Gunn and Peter Safran is working on a Superman film titled Superman: Legacy. The film, slated to debut in theaters on July 11, 2025, is currently in pre-production and has not cast any actors yet.
While there isn’t much detail about the project at this point, Warner Bros. Discovery revealed its plot synopsis in March. The film will follow a Superman that is "younger than in his forties" and chronicle his efforts to reconcile his Kryptonian heritage with his human upbringing.
Of course, Warner Bros. Discovery isn't in a hurry to find a profitable gaming franchise after Hogwarts Legacy joined an elite club by selling more than 15 million copies in over a month. It's expected that this number will balloon after the positive reception to the game's PS4 and Xbox One ports.
