The Big Picture

Wendell Pierce joins star-studded cast in James Gunn’s
Superman
film as Perry White.
Pierce plays the hard-charging editor at the Daily Planet who guides Clark Kent and staff.
The
Superman
film also includes David Corenswet, Rachel Brosnahan, and Nicholas Hoult.

Don’t call him “chief”, but Wendell Pierce is the latest addition to the cast of James Gunn’s Superman. The veteran star of The Wire will be playing Perry White, editor of Metropolis’ finest newspaper, the Daily Planet. The Hollywood Reporter has the news of Pierce’s casting in the new superhero film, which began filming in Atlanta yesterday, even as more casting announcements for the movie continue to trickle out.

Pierce joins a massive, star-studded cast for the flagship film, which will launch a new cinematic universe of DC Comics-based films. Perry White’s Daily Planet staff will include David Corenswet and Rachel Brosnahan as Clark Kent and Lois Lane, as well as Skyler Gisondo as Jimmy Olsen. The film (which was previously entitled Superman Legacy, but is now simply Superman) also features Nicholas Hoult as Lex Luthor, Isabela Merced as Hawkgirl, Nathan Filion as Guy Gardner, Anthony Carrigan as Metamorpho, María Gabriela de Faría as the Engineer, and Milly Alcock as Supergirl. Gunn will both write and direct the film, which is slated for release on July 11, 2025.

Who is Perry White?
First introduced on The Adventures of Superman radio show in 1940, Perry White is the hard-charging but kind-hearted editor of the Daily Planet. He has been a mainstay of Superman’s comics adventures ever since, and typically takes a paternal attitude towards his staff, including Clark Kent, whose secret identity as Superman he is occasionally implied to have figured out. As a key part of Superman’s supporting cast, he is frequently featured in the Man of Steel’s big and small-screen adaptations. He has been played by a variety of actors, including Jackie Cooper (in Superman: The Movie and its sequels), Lane Smith (on The New Adventures of Lois and Clark, where his trademark exclamation of “Great Caesar’s Ghost!” was modernized to “Great Shades of Elvis!”), Frank Langella (in Superman Returns), Michael McKean (on Smallville), and Laurence Fishburne (in Zach Snyder’s DC films).

First introduced on The Adventures of Superman radio show in 1940, Perry White is the hard-charging but kind-hearted editor of the Daily Planet. He has been a mainstay of Superman’s comics adventures ever since, and typically takes a paternal attitude towards his staff, including Clark Kent, whose secret identity as Superman he is occasionally implied to have figured out. As a key part of Superman’s supporting cast, he is frequently featured in the Man of Steel’s big and small-screen adaptations. He has been played by a variety of actors, including Jackie Cooper (in Superman: The Movie and its sequels), Lane Smith (on The New Adventures of Lois and Clark, where his trademark exclamation of “Great Caesar’s Ghost!” was modernized to “Great Shades of Elvis!”), Frank Langella (in Superman Returns), Michael McKean (on Smallville), and Laurence Fishburne (in Zach Snyder’s DC films).

Superman, which will now feature Wendell Pierce as Perry White, will fly into theaters July 11, 2025. Stay tuned to Collider for future updates.