James Gunn’s Superman released its first trailer today, showing off a brighter more hopeful look at the Man of Steel than we’ve seen in some time on the big screen. The trailer can be viewed in its entirety below:
On July 11, It Begins. Superman – Only in Theaters 2025 #Superman #FilmedForIMAX @IMAX
Watch the teaser trailer now and ❤️ this post to get updates from @Superman before it hits theaters this July. pic.twitter.com/ZaUfo1ekRn— Superman (@Superman) December 19, 2024
Superman is a vitally important movie for Gunn, Warner Bros. Discovery, and DC as a whole. It’s the first film out the gate for the new DC cinematic universe as the studio tries to pick up the pieces of the atrociously mishandled dour, sour, and exceedingly un-heroic Snyderverse.
(If you can’t tell, this is gonna be an opinion piece)
So, did the Superman trailer hit the mark?
Honestly, it’s hard to say. It was very much a teaser trailer, which means we didn’t get a whole lot of anything. But there were some elements of the trailer that gave me hope, other’s that made me facepalm, and some that just made me laugh out loud.
We start off with our titular hero crashing to earth in a bloody heap, presumably somewhere in the arctic near the Fortress of Solitude. It’s not a fantastic first look at the guy who’s supposed to be the unshakable hero we’re all supposed to believe in. But I also understand the decision to show him in a moment of vulnerability.
Superman wounded in the snow in the trailer for James Gunn’s Superman – YouTube, DC
Part of the problem many writers have with Superman is making him vulnerable or relatable. I’ll take seeing him crumpled in the snow over Bryan Singer making him a deadbeat dad who’s also a peeping Tom.
So you haven’t lost me yet James Gunn. I just hope that you follow this up with…
Clark Kent in Hames Gunn’s Superman – YouTube, DC
Ugh, WHY!? Why does he look like this!? Why does he look like Tony Khan!?
For those of you who don’t know, Tony Khan is the owner of All Elite Wrestling (AEW), and he’s the Melvin-esque awkward son of Jacksonville Jaguars owner Shahid Khan. Ugh, I’m gonna have to include an image of him here to make you all understand my pain…
AEW and Jacksonville Jaguars owner Tony Khan – YouTube, Bell to Bell Wrestling Forum
This also brings me to another negative point. David Corenswet is too small to be Superman. Henry Cavill was the perfect Superman. He was just trapped in movies that had terrible scripts. But he had the size and the presence to be the Man of Tomorrow. I don’t think David Corenswet has that. He looks downright puny in some shots.
Onto another good note as I try to forget that I just used a photo of Tony Khan in a news article about Superman… The movie is very colorful. That’s certainly a welcomed change to the colorless lifeless vision of Zack Snyder.
Rachel Brosnahan seems like a decent Lois Lane. I really enjoyed The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, so I have high hopes for her as my favorite super hero love interest character. No complaints with that casting.
Rachel Brosnahan as Lois Lane in James Gunn’s Superman – YouTube, DC
Speaking of excellent casting, Nicholas Holt looks fantastic as Lex Luthor. The scene in the trailer where he’s watching Superman fly by the Luthorcorp building and gives this look of utter hatred just screamed Lex to me. So I think we’re definitely going to have a better time with Holt than we did with Jesse Eisenberg’s career ending performance in Batman vs. Superman: Dawn of Justice.
Nicholas Holt as Lex Luthor in Superman – YouTube, DC
So far I’m digging the way the characters look outside of Clark.
Lois and Lex seem accurate. We even get a look at Pa Kent and he actually looks like a real farmer instead of an aged Hollywood heartthrob.
I dare say I’m starting to…
Nathan Fillion as Guy Gardner in Superman – YouTube, DC
Oh no… Oh no no no. Oh, Nathan Fillion, who let you walk in front of a camera looking like THAT!?
This is one of those moments in the trailer where I busted out laughing. They made Guy Gardner look like Stuart from Mad TV, and I’m not the only one to notice!
Nathan Fillion is playing Stuart from MADtv in Superman. pic.twitter.com/qwtaPXLQuf
— Mike Beauvais (@MikeBeauvais) December 19, 2024
However, I will say Hawk Girl and Mr. Terrific looked really good. I just… people wanted Nathan Fillion to play Hal Jordan as Green Lantern for years. And we finally get him as a Green Lantern and he looks like THAT!?
I dunno, movie, you might have lost me with…
Krypto the Super Dog in Superman – YouTube, DC
KRYPTO!!!
Okay, yes, we all knew he was in this, but they made him look adorable and I have a soft spot for dogs.
“Just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in!”
There were some other things I liked as well. For example, we actually see Superman save someone in this trailer!
Yes, the world’s greatest super hero actually saves a little girl right there in the trailer! That’s something we saw very little of in the Snyder movies. Those movies preferred to claim that entire sections of cities happened to be abandoned while these huge super hero fights were going down, as if it’s Angel Grove from Power Rangers.
Superman saves a little girl in the Superman teaser trailer – YouTube, DC
Right away we know that we have a Superman who actually cares about the people of the world and actively works to protect them. That’s a welcomed departure from the Snyderverse where he was viewed as some Messianic figure by the masses. But I also never got the sense in those movies that the people of the world liked Superman or that Superman liked the people of the world.
Again, I love Henry Cavill and I think he should still be playing Superman. My criticisms for those movies always come down to writing and direction.
Superman fighting a giant Kaiju monster in Superman – YouTube, Superman
We also got this epic shot of Superman fighting a giant Kaiju monster in Metropolis. I geeked out more than a little bit for that! Is it hokey and comic booky? Yes. Is that why I love it? Also, yes!
But the real star of the trailer was the music. I gushed (perhaps a bit too much for some) about the music released with the movie’s poster in a previous article. But I really love the original Superman theme by John Williams. It transcends the original Richard Donner Christopher Reeve movie.
It’s the Superman theme and it should always be used in some capacity in all Superman related media.
The guitar riff remixed version of it we got here did its job in getting my blood pumping.
Lois Lane and Superman in the Superman trailer – YouTube, DC
Then they got me confused yet again by the purple sky beam thing. He’s sitting there talking to Lois while something is decimating the city? The movie is gonna have to work really hard to justify that one to me.
So, all in all I wasn’t unhappy with the teaser trailer, but it didn’t really do much to calm my anxieties surrounding this movie.
Superman is my all time favorite fictional character. To me, this movie represents a last chance, a last hope if you will, that we might finally see a big screen adaptation of the world’s greatest hero that equals the glory of Dean Cain in Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman and Tyler Hoechlin in Superman and Lois (if you haven’t watched it, go out of your way to binge it. I was wary of it at first too, but it’s really good!)
Tyler Hoechlin as Superman in Superman & Lois (2021), The CW
Please remember, these are just my subjective opinions and should be taken as such. If you hated this trailer or loved how Guy Gardner looked, that’s just as valid. Subjective opinions are just that.
Objective truth will hit when the movie comes out and we see what it does at the box office…
What did you think of the Superman teaser trailer? Sound off in the comment section below and let me know!
I’m fine with Tim Daly, George Newbern, and Henry Cavill as Superman. I don’t need a new one.
As someone just entering into the superhero genre I liked this trailer and I did not. The movie looks great it’s super bright and everything’s really sharp. I like the doggo but not knowing Superman’s story I don’t know how the cute puppy fits into that lore at all, but it’s a cute puppy I’m taking it. I agree Henry should be in this the actor they got for this just looks a bit too small. Maybe on screen he’ll look better but he probably should’ve hit the gym more before filming. The hug at the end kinda felt cheap like they’re holding out all the kissing and stuff to make you buy a ticket to see that. If they would’ve kissed in the trailer that would’ve been better. I’m still on the fence of do I spend the $10 on a theatre ticket or wait to watch it on the ole pirate ship. I’ll have to see more of how this movie is shaping up to make that decision. You wrote a really good article about this movie keep grinding at what your doing it’s only up from here.
I believe they do kiss in the trailer, a few scenes before the hug scene.
I wasn’t impressed. It all looks mediocre and pedestrian and Rachel Brosnahan looks terrible with that long, straight hair. How is that even possible? She might be the least attractive Lois Lane so far. The comparison of Filion to Stuart from MadTV is priceless!!! Overall, I can see myself watching this on Max, but can’t imagine wasting my time going to a theater to see it. Maybe if Nuclear Man was in it…
Serious question, did they ever incorporate Nuclear Man into the DC universe proper?
Ha ha ha, I have no idea. I was more of a Marvel guy back then.
I think you meant most attractive lois yet? She looks great. Obviously a Snyder fan.
No, she’s a 6 at best. Teri Hatcher remains the hottest Lois Lane thus far.
Absolutely. Still the most stunning version yet and, as it seems, for the future.
I’m fine with it, except Nathan Fillion’s hair. GOOD. LORD.
I saw Hawkgirl for about five seconds. Is this going to be another movie where the female character gets barely shown in the trailer but ends up taking over the whole movie despite being insufferable?
Probably.
The big issue: even though I don’t see any issues in the trailer, that doesn’t mean anything. They know better than to show the wokeness in the trailer.
If it looks like a turd and smells like a turd it’s a turd, no matter how much polishing they give it.
Wow, what an intelligent and Insightful comment.
Hey mike smith, how long before you start copy/pasting our comments when replying to them?
Puny? Cavil is 6’1 Corswent is 6’5!
From your comments it seems you lean a lot more towards optimism. Ask for David’s Superman versus henry. David is a lot taller than Henry Cavill and my understanding is he had worked out but the suits aren’t skin tight. His office suit is obviously huge on purpose to make him look geeky.
And my understanding is that this Lantern looks like that in the comics.
All in all I’m excited. The trailer was almost perfect.
Nah.
It was trash, as predicted. It’s Gunn, what did anyone really expect?