12 Superman Easter eggs and references you may have missed

After years of underwhelming releases and an overall lack of cohesion in storytelling, DC bounced back with a bang on July 11 with James Gunn’s reliable, comic book-loving direction. 

Superman, starring David Corenswet as the Man of Steel, Rachel Brosnahan as Lois Lane, and Nicholas Hoult as Lex Luthor, was loved by fans and critics alike. From incredibly positive early reviews to a $125 million domestic opening weekend, Gunn’s film soared to a summer blockbuster status while delivering a promising revival of the DCU.

In the movie, Gunn drops us into an existing universe where metahumans are already established. Instead of seeing Kal-El land on Earth in his Kryptonian spaceship, we catch him on just another day in Metropolis—a nod to Gunn’s experience of reading Superman comic books.

However, what the movie does not say out loud in as many words, it makes up for with Easter eggs. The just over two-hour runtime is chock-full of references to the comics, past iterations, and other DC connections. Many of them are easy to spot, but many are not. Let’s dive into some of the less obvious Easter eggs in Superman that you may have missed.

“Gods and Monsters”

The movie's opening crawl reflects what James Gunn and Peter Safran (DC Co-CEO) had announced about the DC universe they would create. “We’re coming into a world where superheroes exist and have existed for some time in one form or another, and that’s the universe,” Gunn shared in January 2023. This first act is called "Gods and Monsters," which is also the name of an alternate Justice League storyline where Superman is Hernan Guerra/Lor-Zod, son of General Zod. 

Familiar voices as Superman Robots

Superman Robot #4, aka Gary, is voiced by Alan Tudyk. He also played Doctor Phosphorus, Will Magnus, and reprised his Harley Quinn animated series role of Clayface in Gunn’s DCU’s Creature Commandos. Michael Rooker and Pom Klementieff, who played Yondu and Mantis in Gunn’s Guardians of the Galaxy franchise, voice two other robots. Jennifer Holland, Gunn’s wife, who also plays Emilia Harcourt from Peacemaker, voices another.

Favorite snacks and junk foods

Superman makes quick nods to several food brands mentioned (and loved) by other DC superheroes. In the first fight scene, the Hammer of Boravia almost destroys a conference room full of Chocos cookie executives. Chocos are Martian Manhunter’s favorite in the comics. Lex’s kaiju is first spotted at Jitters Coffee Shop, a cafe chain often spotted in The Flash TV series. During the kaiju fight scene, we can spot billboards of Big Belly Burger, a popular fast food company in the Arrowverse, and Zesti Cola, a beverage loved by Dick Grayson’s Nightwing.

Smallville nods

In the movie, Lex Luthor’s company is called LuthorCorp, whereas in most comics, it is named LexCorp. This is a reference to Smallville, starring Tom Welling as Superman and Michael Rosenbaum as Lex. Rosenbaum, Gunn’s friend, made a voice acting cameo in the new movie as one of Luthor’s Raptor soldiers who attack Superman in Lex’s pocket universe. The CW series also explored the concept of Jor-El sending his son to Earth with evil intentions—a plot point that generated quite a buzz after the release of the new film.

Lex’s employees and the Otisburg joke

Several people we see working for Lex are credited as small-time comic book characters in the credits. Amanda McCoy, Cheryl Kimble, Larry Chin, Sydney Happerson, Dean Farr, and Desmond Farr have all appeared in various volumes of DC comics. Lex’s associate Otis is given the last name Berg, a running joke that originated in a hilarious exchange in the 1978 film Superman: The Movie by Richard Donner.

Lois Lane’s recorder and Maxwell Lord

The recorder Lois uses to record Clark during the 12-minute interview scene is a LordTech product. The company is owned by the well-known Metropolis business mogul Maxwell Lord, who is also the corporate sponsor of the Justice Gang. His portrait hangs inside the building. The LordTech Field is the home ground of the Metropolis Meteors, where Superman goes 1v2 with the Ultraman and the Engineer. 

Played by James Gunn’s brother Sean Gunn, he finally appears onscreen at the movie's end. He is seen declaring “Lex Luthor sucks” after his shenanigans are revealed by Lois’ Daily Planet report, thanks to Eve Teschmacher and her selfies.

Another Suicide Squad character revealed as canon

There has been much speculation regarding how much of Gunn’s Suicide Squad is canon in the new DCU since he made that movie before he was in charge of DC’s creative control. Several characters from Suicide Squad and Peacemaker are making the jump.

Viola Davis’ Amanda Waller returned in Creature Commandos, which is part of the DCU canon. Frank Grillo’s Rick Flag Sr. appeared as the father of Joel Kinnaman’s Suicide Squad Rick Flag and confirmed his son’s death, making it canon. Gunn told Collider last year that Peacemaker season 1 was “basically canon outside of the appearance of the Justice League at the end,” which will be explained in season 2.

In Superman, Tinashe Kajese-Bolden reprises her role as Flo Crawley, who is now a high-ranking U.S. Defense official. In Suicide Squad, she hit Amanda Waller unconscious before she could flip the kill switch on Task Force X. Her actions seem to have brought her a promotion, although it turned out differently for Emilia Harcourt (Jennifer Holland) and John Economos (Steve Agee). In the first episode of Peacemaker: The Official Podcast with James Gunn, he confirmed that Idris Elba’s Bloodsport is also canon.

Tribute to Christopher Reeve

Historically credited for making Superman a household name with his 1978 portrayal, Christopher Reeve was subtly honored in Gunn’s film. The actor’s son, Will Reeve, a real-life journalist, played one of the TV reporters on the news channels covering the aftermath of the kaiju attack. Gunn personally asked him to be a part of the movie.

The Hall of Justice Mural

Inside the Hall of Justice, the home of the Justice Gang, we see a mural that further builds on the movie’s opening crawl about the 300-year history of metahumans on Earth. Despite a blink-and-you-miss-it look in the film, fans have managed to single out Wildcat, Spectre, Sandman, Jay Garrick’s Flash, Zatara, Atomic Knight, Phantom Girl, Liberty Belle, Silent Knight, Black Pirate, and many more. Gunn recently revealed the complete mural on social media.

Several of these characters are members of the Justice Society of America, widely considered the world’s first superhero team. A version of it debuted in Dwayne Johnson’s Black Adam, which is no longer part of the canon. 

Cleveland as Metropolis

Although it was not intended as an Easter egg, Cleveland serving as the filming location and visual inspiration for Metropolis became a touching homage to Superman’s creators, Jerry Siegel and Joe Schuster. Gunn originally picked the city for its Art Deco architecture, but later found out that Siegel and Schuster were born in Cleveland, and found it a “moving” detail.

Metropolis road signs as homage to artists

Gunn uses the streets of Metropolis to pay tribute to several DC actors, artists, and creators. Road signs and shop mastheads honoring names like Mark Waid, Alex Ross, Curt Swan, Dan Jurgens, Alan Moore, and others can be seen at a glance.

Gotham City

We know nothing about Gunn’s future Batman except that a movie titled The Brave and the Bold will explore the character in this universe. However, a few cars take a road that leads to Gotham City during the evacuation of Metropolis in Superman, according to a highway sign. This mirrors the comic-book depiction of Batman and Superman’s cities being located close to each other. Josh Horowitz recently asked Gunn if the movie would be the first time fans see the new Batman, but the writer-director refused to comment.

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