James Gunn’s HBO Max Superman Series Officially Returns With New Episode In 2 Weeks Despite DC Exit

Published Nov 12, 2026, 2:22 PM EST Felipe Rangel is a Movie and TV Journalist ScreenRant. He has been writing about movies and TV since 2021. Felipe joined ScreenRant in 2022, working across different teams, covering everything from breaking news to features to reviews and more. Felipe is a writer who is an avid film and TV fan, with superhero movies and series being his biggest passion. He graduated from college in 2019, having studied Journalism. Before college, he spent a month studying at the Oxford English Centre. His superhero knowledge expands to the comics, with his undergraduate thesis being "Politics Reflected In American Comics." A Superman spin-off series executive produced by James Gunn will return soon with a new episode on HBO Max, and while its release comes after a tragic DC shake-up, that also makes the project more exciting. Gunn and Peter Safran are out as DC Studios co-CEOs, as Skydance leadership has replaced them with Jeremy Latcham, a former Marvel Studios executive who worked on Guardians of the Galaxy. The news came as a hard blow for fans of the ongoing DC Universe, as Gunn had rebooted the franchise with actors like David Corenswet as Superman, Nathan Fillion as the Green Lantern Guy Gardner, and other fan-favorites. It seemed like the DCU was only getting started, with movies for major heroes like Batman and Wonder Woman in development — the latter is reportedly debuting in 2027's Man of Tomorrow. As such, firing Gunn and Safran has not been a popular move on Skydance's behalf, and it remains to be seen just how much of the DCU's long-term plans, with reports claiming Gunn would be directly involved in Justice League and Batman movies, are going to be kept of scrapped by Latcham. Before any of those decisions are announced, a DC series is set to return. 2026 has been a big year for the DCU, as it finally brought new franchise releases that did not have Gunn's direct artistic vision attached to them. While the Supergirl movie was a major box office bomb, HBO's Lanterns has broken viewership records and become one of the best live-action DC TV shows. Now, it is time for an animated DC series, Krypto Saves the Day!, to return. Krypto Saves The Day! Season 2 Rages On Despite James Gunn's DC Exit Krypto Saves The Day! Season 2 has been releasing new episodes throughout 2026 with a sporadic release schedule, and the animated DC series will be back with another episode on November 27, the very same day that another animated superhero show, Ethan Hawke's Batman series Batwheels, also comes to HBO Max with season 4. Choose the movie with the higher Rotten Tomatoes score. However, what separates them is that despite the fact that both DC series are not part of the canon of Gunn's DCU, Krypto Saves The Day! bases its character designs, dynamics, and even certain events on DCU heroes, villains, and stories. As such, even though Gunn is no longer the creative chief of DC Studios, fans will not have to wait until 2027, when the Superman movie sequel Man of Tomorrow will be released in theaters, to have something to look forward to amid the shocking DC shake-up. Why The HBO Max Superman Spin-Off Series' Return Is Even More Exciting After Gunn's DC Exit Yes, Krypto Saves The Day! is not DCU canon, but for those fans who are feeling disappointed about the latest change at DC Studios, the new season 2 episode on HBO Max will come as a heartwarming release. After all, the DC animated series has been leaning heavier into its tangential connections to the DCU than it did in season 1. For instance, Krypto Saves The Day! Season 2's "Robo-Pal" episode featured several heroes and villains who have appeared either in the 2025 Superman movie written and directed by Gunn or in the larger DCU. Among the DC characters were Superman, Krypto, Supergirl, Lex Luthor, The Engineer, Metamorpho, Baby Joey, Lobo, and more. So, as the future of the DCU hangs in the balance while Latcham evaluates what has worked so far for the franchise and takes into account Skydance's reported mandate to get major characters like Batman, Wonder Woman, and Aquaman back on the big screen as soon as possible, DCU fans at least have the exciting chance to watch a slightly different, lighter take on characters they have come to love over the past few years through Krypto Saves The Day! this month. Gunn's DC exit boosts the importance of the upcoming episode. Release Date August 13, 2025 Network YouTube, HBO Max Directors Ryan Kramer Writers David Gemmill