Superman: Legacy Will Reportedly Introduce The Authority Superhero Team

Superman: Legacy will reportedly introduce certain members of The Authority, a superhero team that is also set to get its own standalone film.

As reported by THR, Superman: Legacy, the film that is set to kick off James Gunn and Peter Safran’s new DCU, is gearing up for some screen tests in the near future. Alongside expected roles like Clark Kent, Lois Lane, and Lex Luthor part of the tests, THR also notes “members of supergroup The Authority, which are to be introduced in the movie, will be cast after.”

For those unfamiliar, The Authority was one of the films announced to be part of DCU’s Chapter One: Gods and Monsters. While not much is known about the film, it looks to bring Wildstorm characters into the DCU who believe the only way to fix the broken world is to take things into their own hands. Gunn also previously said The Authority film would be a “very different kind of superhero story.”

In the comics world, The Authority came onto the scene in 1999 and played a big part in changing the industry and Hollywood itself. Why is that? Because The Authority was a brutal group of superheroes that valued a successful mission above all else, and that was different than much of what we’d seen before then as the norm was heroes who were paragons of good and didn’t like to get their hands dirty to save the day.

The Authority also had a great impact on Marvel Comics and what would become the MCU as Mark Millar, the author of the second volume, and The Authority co-creator Bryan Hitch would switch from DC to Marvel to create a similar series called The Ultimates. This grounded and grittier version of the Avengers played a part in defining the tone and feel of the MCU.

We still have a bit of time to wait until we see exactly how or if The Authority will make it into Superman: Legacy, as the much-anticipated film currently has a release date of July 11, 2025.

For more, check out all the other big announcements from Gunn and Safran’s DCU reveal, why The Authority Vol. 1 is one of the nine graphic novels you should read to understand the DCU, and our full explainer on The Authority.

Have a tip for us? Want to discuss a possible story? Please send an email to [email protected].

Adam Bankhurst is a news writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @AdamBankhurst and on Twitch.