Wendell Pierce to Play ‘Superman’s Perry White

Writer/director Gunn has found the person he wants to play the editor of the Daily Planet in his new superhero outing, which will be out in July next year.

(Left) Wendell Pierce at the 'Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan' Season 1 World Premiere Event. Credit: Jordan Strauss. Copyright: Amazon Studios. (Right) Perry White. Photo: DC Comics.

Preview:

Wendell Pierce has joined ‘Superman’.
He’ll play Perry White for writer/director James Gunn.
The movie has started shooting.

The cameras are now rolling on James Gunn’s next superhero outing, his first as boss of the DC Comics-based movie universe alongside Peter Safran.

Once titled ‘Superman: Legacy’, the now simply-called ‘Superman’ represents his vision for the crown jewel character of the DC world. So of course, that has led to some new casting decisions.

David Corenswet is playing the title character (as well as his alter ego, reporter Clark Kent), with Rachel Brosnahan as colleague and love interest Lois Lane.

Now we know who will be playing their boss, Daily Planet editor Perry White –– ‘The Wire’ and ‘Jack Ryan’s Wendell Pierce has won the role.

Superman

Not Yet RatedJul 11th, 2025

Superman, a cub reporter in Metropolis, embarks on a journey to reconcile his Kryptonian heritage with his human upbringing as Clark Kent. Read the Plot

What’s the story of ‘Superman’?

New 'Superman' logo. Photo: James Gunn's Instagram Account.

Little is truly known about the plotline at this point, but Gunn has been clear that he’s eschewing the usual exploding home planet Krypton/arrival in Smallville origin story (though those will likely be referenced) in favor of more of a workplace film with Clark showing up to work at the Planet, where Lois will already be an established reporting star.

Perry White: History

(Left) Perry White. Photo: DC Comics.

White first appeared as a character in the 1940s radio serials based on Joe Shuster and Jerry Siegel’s comics and has been a fixture in Superman-related stories ever since.

On movie screens, he has previously been played by Jackie Cooper (in the Christopher Reeves-starring films), Frank Langella (in Bryan Singer’s ‘Superman Returns’) and Laurence Fishburne (in Zack Snyder’s ‘Man of Steel’ and other DC titles).

Every director or other creator has their own take on the character, so it’ll be interesting to see where Gunn takes him.

(Left) Laurence Fishburne as Perry White in 'Man of Steel.' Photo: Warner Bros.

Who else is appearing in ‘Superman’?

(Center) James Gunn and the cast of 'Superman.' Photo: James Gunn's Instagram Account.

Alongside Corenswet, Brosnahan and now Pierce, the cast also includes Nicholas Hoult (Lex Luthor), Skyler Gisondo (Jimmy Olsen), Nathan Fillion (Guy Gardener), Isabela Mercad (Hawkgirl), Anthony Carrigan (Metamorpho), Terence Rosemore (Otis), Edi Gathegi (Mister Terrific), Sara Sampaio (Eve Teschmacher) and María Gabriela de Faría (Angela Spica/The Engineer).

We can also expect an appearance from Gunn’s brother Sean (a regular in his movies, who has played the likes of Kraglin and provided the on-set reference performance and voice for Rocket Raccoon in the ‘Guardians’ franchise) as the villainous Maxwell Lord.

And then there is ‘House of the Dragon’ veteran Milly Alcock, who has been anointed as the new Supergirl (AKA Kara Zor-El, Supes’ cousin), who will make a cameo ahead of her own movie.