The other day, DC Studios dropped the trailer for Superman, a new movie about the Man of Steel from Guardians of the Galaxy director James Gunn. Have a watch:
In contrast to Zach Snyder's take on Superman — his movie Man of Steel starring Henry Cavill came out back in 2013 — Gunn's Superman looks a little more bright and optimistic. There are goofy elements like Krypto the Superdog, but also a lot of intense scenes like Superman walking through an angry mob. It looks like an intriguing mix of the sort I'd expect from James Gunn.
Speaking to press after the trailer dropped, Gunn explained how he tried to keep everything as grounded as possible, including the outlandish elements. “This is an alternative history, fantasy world where superheroes exist, but it’s also incredibly grounded. It’s about real people having real lives," he said, per TheWrap. "There just happens to be metahumans there. But Superman exists. He has friends who are other superheroes. He has people he doesn’t get along as well with who are other superheroes.”
"He’s got a flying dog. He’s got a giant fortress that springs from the ground. He fights giant monsters. He has a lot of the things that we love from the Superman comics and the Superman mythology that we haven’t been able to see as much of in filmed media, and definitely haven’t been able to see in a grounded way, which is what I hope we’ve created."
Gunn went so far as to compare the movie to Game of Thrones, HBO's epic fantasy series that was as grounded in real, gritty life as it was possible for an epic fantasy series to be. “That’s my primary thing I’m trying to do when I’m marching forward from step to step, in writing the script, in building the movie, in cutting it together, it’s to keep this fantastic building that, in a lot of ways, shares as many elements with Game of Thrones as it does with, say, the Marvel universe that is another world where metahumans happen to exist, people do put on costumes and fight crimes for all very different reasons, which you’ll see in the movie,” he said.
It is hard for me to look at Krypto the Superdog in his little cape — an idea I love, by the way — and imagine a reality where this movie feels grounded, but Gunn has made a specialty of mixing and matching elements like this, so I'm hopeful. You might not think that a talking space raccoon could feel grounded either, but he pulled it off with Rocket Raccoon in the Guardians of the Galaxy movies.
One thing that Superman likely won't share with Game of Thrones is that show's pessimism about human nature. Typical for him, Gunn is going in the opposite direction: “I believe in the goodness of human beings, and I believe that most people in this country, despite their ideological beliefs or their politics, are doing their best to get by and trying to be good people," he said. "And I think this movie is about that, it’s about the basic kindness of human beings.”
That does feel like a good tone for a Superman movie, especially after Zach Snyder gave us such a grim take on the character. David Corenswet, who will play the Man of Steel, weighed in on this element: “I think a lot of people consider Superman to be a naive character, at least to have a naiveté about him,” he said. “I think there’s an element of that, but I think it really is just sort of a blindness to the little imperfections and the little conflicts, the silly little things that we get caught up with as people, I tend to miss those, and I think Superman misses those, and that’s what keeps him steadfastly and determinatively looking at the good and the hopeful and the future and grounded in the fun and playfulness of the present.”
Superman comes out in theaters on July 11, 2025. It's the first step towards Gunn and Peter Safran creating a new DC Cinematic Universe. While Superman's colleague Batman has never had any trouble packing them in at the theaters, Superman himself has a more mixed history on the big screen. Here's hoping his new adventure takes flight.
To stay up to date on everything fantasy, science fiction, and WiC, follow our all-encompassing Facebook page and Twitter account, sign up for our exclusive newsletter and check out our YouTube channel.