Look! Up in an apartment building! Sitting on the bed! It's our first look at the man of steel in James Gunn's upcoming "Superman" film.
Category
🎥
Short filmTranscript
00:00 "Look!
00:01 Up in an apartment building!
00:03 Sitting on the bed!"
00:04 It's our first look at the Man of Steel in James Gunn's upcoming Superman film.
00:09 The wait is finally over.
00:11 Superhero fans just received their first look at the newest version of the titular character
00:14 in James Gunn's Superman.
00:16 And well, let's just put it this way.
00:18 The reaction was as inevitable as the old Boy Scout saving cats from trees, turning
00:22 green at the sight of Kryptonite, and suddenly becoming incognito after slipping on a pair
00:27 of glasses.
00:28 Believe it or not, fans wasted no time at all taking to social media to voice their
00:32 strong opinions on actor David Corinswet's new look as Clark Kent/Superman.
00:37 Deciding which faction is right is probably as much a fool's errand as bad guys putting
00:41 Lois Lane in danger while Metropolis' Man of Steel is on the lookout.
00:45 For over a year since the project's initial announcement, those following this reboot
00:48 closely have held their collective breath over all the aspects this fandom usually obsesses
00:52 about.
00:53 The casting, the logo, and the finer details of the super suit itself.
00:57 Can a younger and relatively unknown actor exude the same type of movie star charisma
01:01 that Christopher Reeves channeled to such great effect in his Superman movies?
01:05 Does the logo hint at which comic book Gunn is using for inspiration?
01:09 Are modern audiences ready to accept another live-action Superman who dares to wear the
01:13 red trunks again?
01:14 And, most importantly of all, will Superman ever finish putting on his boots so he can
01:19 deal with that purple eyeball wrecking the city in the background?
01:22 It only makes sense to start with the most obvious detail jumping out to most fans.
01:26 While Zack Snyder's Man of Steel, and the subsequent DC movies that followed in its
01:30 wake, swerved as hard as possible from the traditional Superman outfit, 2006's Superman
01:35 Returns represented a much more faithful take on the classic Richard Donner design.
01:39 What James Gunn and his creative team appear to have settled for in Superman can only be
01:43 described as a healthy middle ground between both extremes.
01:46 One that was established in another medium entirely, courtesy of 2011's New 52 overhaul.
01:52 This wouldn't be the first time that the live-action DC movies had taken their cues
01:55 from the same comics, as seen recently with Wonder Woman's origins as established in
02:00 Batman v Superman Dawn of Justice and onward.
02:03 So what makes this instance stand out so dramatically?
02:06 Consider that the fandom has always remained split on the New 52 Superman look, mostly
02:10 as a result of the belt, the noticeably high collar, the abundance of busy-looking seam
02:15 lines and the generally foreboding look and feel of the armor.
02:19 Gunn's reveal carries over many of these design elements, down to the awfully similar
02:23 logo, though the armored texture has been replaced with a less bulky fabric material.
02:27 Still, not everyone disapproves of the look.
02:30 Writer Joshua Yell, formerly of IGN, astutely pointed out the mix of visual and tonal influences
02:35 on display in an earlier tweet, "I see Jim Lee's New 52 design mixed with a chill vibe
02:40 of Grant Morrison's all-star Superman."
02:43 The latter has already been confirmed as a significant inspiration in the film, further
02:47 adding a feeling of method to Gunn's approach as he re-establishes DC's flagship superhero.
02:52 "You have places to go, people to save."
02:55 "Yes."
02:56 Increasingly perceived as a relic of a bygone era, the red trunks might just stand as the
03:00 most hotly debated issue in all of Superman fandom.
03:04 Director Zack Snyder previously put quite a bit of consideration into having Henry Cavill's
03:07 supes don the underwear on the outside, but ultimately pulled back in favor of a more
03:12 grounded look.
03:14 That doesn't appear to be an obstacle for the DC Universe as rebooted by James Gunn,
03:18 who has spoken on prior occasions about his intentions of having the titular character
03:21 embody kindness in a world that thinks of kindness as old-fashioned.
03:25 In other words, don't expect a brooding and self-serious Superman who struggles to
03:29 live up to the impossible standards of the superhero ideal this time around.
03:33 That doesn't necessarily mean fans should brace themselves for a campy, outdated tone.
03:37 Instead, the trunks imply this version of Superman will be a more earnest one.
03:41 The pose itself may leave a bit to be desired, along with the oddly poor lighting for such
03:46 a momentous reveal.
03:47 And even if this image was captured entirely in-camera, as Gunn claimed on Instagram threads,
03:52 it does little to dispel the first impression among many that this first look appeared to
03:56 be generated by AI.
03:58 Minor gripes aside, however, it seems to strike the correct tone for this Superman reboot.
04:03 Fans can reasonably look forward to a more traditional, hopeful, and optimistic take
04:07 on the world's most famous superhero.
04:09 Superman flies into theaters on July 11, 2025.
04:12 [music]
04:14 (upbeat music)