Warning: This article contains spoilers for Superman

Superman

is heading into cinemas this summer, and some people will be hoping they can get to see it without all of its secrets being revealed beforehand. However, if you are reading this, then we are going to accept that you are not one of those people – the spoilery aspects are clear from the title and the big warning above after all. With that in mind, it seems that one cameo appearance has been revealed on the back of some rest screenings, which have revealed that Superman’s father Jor-El will make an appearance in the movie and will be played by a very familiar face.

Almost like nepotism, Gunnism is a thing. Any actor who works with director James Gunn and makes the right impression will be generally set for life in the industry. For that reason, it is probably not too much of a surprise that Bradley Cooper

has been revealed as the actor who will be following in the footsteps of stars like Marlon Brando and Russell Crowe in the role of Jor-El.

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Shared by @ViewerAnon on X/Twitter, Cooper’s appearance is apparently “not a big spoiler,” although that is probably a matter of opinion, and seems to suggest that his role in the movie will be minimal. This also puts to an end those pretty ludicrous rumors of Tom Cruise playing the role this time around.
Bradley Cooper Is One of Many Gunn Collaborators to Enter the DCU

Disney

Of course, Bradley Cooper has become known for, among many other things, being the voice of Rocket Raccoon in the Guardians of the Galaxy franchise. This means that his interviews in the last few years have been littered with questions about if and when he could be making the shift to the DCU as one of Gunn’s “inner circle” of actors.
Everyone from Dave Bautista to Chris Pratt has been asked whether they would be happy to follow Gunn on his new venture, and it has been a resounding yes from all of them. Cooper’s casting comes after several other stars of Gunn’s Guardians movies have already joined the DCU in confirmed roles. Sean Gunn, James’ brother who also appeared in The Suicide Squad and Creature Commandos as Weasel, was cast as Lord Maxwell in the upcoming movie, Nathan Fillion, a Gunn veteran, plays Green Lantern Guy Gardner, and Mikaela Hoover, who played multiple roles in the Guardians films, is playing Cat Grant in Superman.
Obviously, there are many more roles to be cast in the future DCU movies coming down the line, and it would be foolish to believe we will not be seeing more Gunn favorites slipping into other characters as the franchise expands.
While reactions to Superman’s test screenings have reportedly ranged from those who love it to those who just want to see it burn. We are still a few months away from finding out just how well James Gunn’s first big DCU movie fares at the box office, and only then will we really see whether the DC Studios plan is going to come together as expected or whether it is all going to end in another mixed back of disappointment.
Source: X

Superman

Release Date

July 11, 2025

Director

James Gunn

Producers

Lars P. Winther, Peter Safran