DC Studios has dropped the first trailer for Superman, a new movie about the iconic superhero. Watch it above!
Superman stars David Corenswet as the Man of Steel, Rachel Brosnahan as ace reporter Lois Lane, and Nicholas Hoult as Superman's arch enemy Lex Luthor. We also get glimpses of Nathan Fillion as the Green Lantern and Isabela Merced as Hawkgirl, a couple other DC superheroes writer-director James Gunn is roping into the movie. Gunn and Peter Safran are building out a new DC Cinematic Universe, and they look like they intend to hit the ground running with Superman.
Studios can seem over-eager to build cinematic universes in a way that comes off as soulless and grasping, but I think this trailer gets away with it. I like how bright and campy and earnest it is. It's useful to compare this to the last solo Superman outing: director Zach Snyder's Man of Steel, which came out in 2013.
In that movie, Henry Cavill played Superman as a tortured soul willing to do great violence to carry out his mission of protecting humanity. It was a grim and gritty take on the hero, as anyone familiar with Snyder's work could have expected.
But James Gunn isn't Zach Snyder. This is the guy behind the Guardians of the Galaxy movies; he's quirky, has a fondness for outcasts, and laces his movies with humor. Accordingly, the trailer for his Superman is pretty fun. I think I was truly sold the moment Krypto the Superdog showed up to help his wounded master get home. Including the campy idea of a super-powered dog in a tentpole action movie tells you everything you need to know about the tone the movie is going for.
That's not to say Superman won't have epic conflict or deal with serious themes; in this trailer, we see a bloodied Superman crash into the snow as well as walk through an angry mob. But Gunn seems to be approaching it with a light touch. I think that marks an interesting change for the series; grim and gritty has always worked for a character like Batman, but Superman has a different texture. He's long been depicted as more optimistic, and this movie looks like it taps into that tradition.
Superman will be out in theaters on July 11, 2025.
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