TAGGED AS: DC Universe, movies, Superheroes, superman
In the mid-1970s, producers Alexander and Ilya Salkind embarked on one of the most ambitious film concepts: a live action film based around DC Comics’ Superman. After a number of false starts and filmmakers like Goldfinger’s Guy Hamilton trying to bring a European sensibility to the proceedings, The Omen’s Richard Donner signed on to direct with two major objectives. The first was to play things absolutely straight so the character felt real. The second, as given to his effects team: make the world believe a man could fly.
Subsequent Superman films have been chasing Donner’s core principles ever since. But as tends to happen with the Last Son of Krypton, victories turn to defeat in the never-ending battle to bring him to the screen — see Donner’s dismissal from Superman II after shooting more than half of it, or the history of Superman Lives in the 1990s. This has been doubly true in the 21st century, where Superman’s status with filmgoers either leads to a reverential attempt to recreate Donner’s film (Superman Returns) or a re-appraisal of what the character is meant to be (the Justice League cycle). As every director has learned, Superman is not easy. The common understanding is that the truest take on the character is boring to a studio more comfortable with Batman, so the Man of Tomorrow seems stuck in the past.
But next summer, director James Gunn intends to change that perception with Superman, a film not only primed to give the Metropolis Marvel a new lease on cinematic life, but intended to launch DC Studios’ plans for a new interconnected DC film universe. Will the director, known for long-shots like Guardians of the Galaxy and The Suicide Squad, find a way to make Superman fly into the hearts of theater patrons worldwide? We might be able to get near the answer to that billion-dollar question as we examine everything we know about the new Superman.
[Updated 12/19/24]
(Photo by Warner Bros. Pictures)
While the exact plot of the film is being held under strict security, Gunn has been forward about a few things. It is not an origin story, so don’t expect to see an extended preamble with Superman’s father, Jor-El, trying to convince his world that it is about to explode, or much of a young Clark Kent growing up in Smallville, Kansas. Instead, the film will center on the early days of Superman in Metropolis, when he is still looking for the right way to use his powers for the good of the Earth and establishing himself as one of the premiere reporters at The Daily Planet. He will also face reconciling his Kryptonian heritage with the life he knows on Earth. And if the first photo of the new Superman is any indication, he will take on an external threat from space. That same threat is also glimpsed in the teaser released on December 19, 2024. The preview also confirms we will see Clark establishing himself in Metropolis even as Superman becomes a symbol of hope across the world.
And, perhaps disconcertingly, the film will also see Superman facing his first legitimate physical threat. Or, at the very least, he will be seriously hurt as the teaser is framed via Supes falling onto a snowy expanse and calling to Krypto the Superdog for aid. Of course, the question remains: who can push Clark out of the sky? Also, we couldn’t help but notice the reds on his supersuit are more muted in the teaser than in some of the previously released promotional material, suggesting the uniform will go through its own arc as it gets muddy and dirty throughout the story. We imagine that links up to the moments in the teaser suggesting the people will turn on the Man of Tomorrow. Well, at least momentarily.
(Photo by Warner Bros. Pictures)
At a press event for the preview (per The Hollywood Reporter), Gunn said the film’s themes are “hope” and “kindness,” which we imagine Superman will inspired in the jaded Metropolis citizens before the film ends. He also added, via Deadline, that the movie is about “who [Clark] is as a person and virtually struggling in his day-to-day life, and we see a different aspect of him in the beginning.”
Also, taking inspiration from more modern DC Comics tales, like Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely’s All-Star Superman, this Strange Visitor will enter a world already familiar with costumed characters flying across city skylines and at least one supergroup — the Authority — making people doubt if they even want the heroes around. Will it be Superman’s task to create trust with the populace? Will there finally be a place for his boy scout persona?
Meanwhile, we expect the relationship between Clark and ace reporter Lois Lane to be re-framed once again. The teaser makes it clear there will be a romantic connection between them pretty quickly, but it remains to be seen how swiftly she will discover the truth about Superman. We also hope she gets to do some investigative reporting of her own along the way.
(Photo by Warner Bros. Pictures)
Naturally enough, the film will be set in Metropolis as Clark gets his bearings, Superman makes himself known, and others react to the new stranger in town. Of course, the look of Metropolis can vary greatly from project to project. The 1950s Adventures of Superman series used Los Angeles area locations and studio backlots. Donner’s Superman transposed the city into New York (complete with a Rex Reed cameo and The New York Daily News building doubling for the Planet) while Superman Lives tried for a more stylized approach loosely based on Cleveland, Ohio and Toronto, Ontario, Canada — the hometowns of Superman creators Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster.
With such varied representations, Gunn appears to have chosen a mix-and-match approach with Cleveland as an anchor. One thing, though, comes directly from the comics: The Daily Planet building and its art deco globe adorning the top. The video released in anticipation of the teaser confirmed the building will retain its most distinctive feature while the preview itself revealed a Planet newsroom seemingly inspired by the old Los Angeles Herald Examiner building, which doubled for the San Francisco Chronicle newsroom in David Fincher’s Zodiac and played the San Francisco Police Department squad room in the short-lived television series Journeyman.
The teaser also offered a fleeting look at the LuthorCorp tower, which seems to have doubled into the Luthor take on Kuala Lumpur’s Petronas Towers, but nonetheless leaves the company’s CEO as the only person who will not look up to see Superman.
Other locations include the Kent Farm in Smallville, Stagg Industries — a key part of another character’s origin story — and we imagine the “home” Clark wants Krypto to take him to is the Fortress of Solitude. That Kryptonian domicile seems to appear at 1:50 of the teaser, which sees Superman mourning a robot who may be Kelex, the Fortress’s automaton caretaker in the comics. Additionally, other elements of the DC Universe making their way to Superman include GBS News — the TV network introduced to the comics in the ’70s — and Boravia, a fictional nation Clark first visited in a 1939 issue of Superman. Subsequently depicted as a European nation in a Blackhawk story, its initially ambiguous locale means Gunn can place it just about anywhere on Earth.
(Photo by @jamesgunn)
After an exhaustive search, David Corenswet dons the cape as Superman/Kal-El/Clark Kent. The actor, who resembles several of the previous Superman performers, rose to the top after the customary exhaustive search for a person who looks like the comic book character and yet also possesses the chops to handle the part’s emotional and physical challenges. As mentioned above, Clark is at the beginning of his career, but he operates with the sort of kindness people find old fashioned. Curiously, though, the first photo of Corenswet in costume suggests an amalgam of approaches to the character as the costume takes ideas from the classic suit, the more textured variant of recent eras, and even the S-shield from Mark Waid and Alex Ross’s Kingdom Come.
The teaser, meanwhile, makes it clear the goofier Clark returns in this iteration. Thanks to the work of John Byrne in the ’80s and projects like Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman, Clark is generally hipper than he was portrayed in the 1978 film or in earlier interpretations — an extension of Clark being described as “mild mannered” in the 1940s. Here, though, it appears Clark will once again be an awkward fish out of water who inspires Lois Lane to ask if there are any more like him at home.
More on that in a moment.
Joining Corenswet as Lois Lane in journalistic pursuits is Rachel Brosnahan. When asked about the character, she told Entertainment Tonight that her Lois is “fiercely intelligent” and feisty. “Dare I say marvelous?” she added. For those of us looking from the outside, she also possesses an uncanny resemblance to some of the characters most classic interpretations, from co-creator Joe Shuster’s original vision right to Gary Frank’s Margot Kidder-inspired take.
(Photo by Eric Charbonneau, Steve Granitz, Gotham/Getty Images)
Normally, the cast list would move on to stalwart supporting characters like Jimmy Olsen, Daily Planet editor Perry White, and Clark’s adoptive parents, Jonathan and Martha Kent. But this Superman is different. It will feature other superheroes. For All Mankind star Edi Gathegi appears as Mister Terrific, an inventor with a brilliant mind, free-floating “T-Spheres,” and a sense of fair play. He is typically allied with the Justice Society of America — the oldest superhero team — as is Isabela Merced’s Hawkgirl. In fact, the winged warrior and Gathegi’s characters take their visual cues from the JSA comics of the late ’90s. It remains to be seen if they will represent the group, last seen on screen in Black Adam, or claim membership with another team. Both can be seen in the teaser using their abilities in dynamic moments.
Frequent Gunn collaborator Nathan Fillion takes on the role of Guy Gardner, a sometimes Green Lantern who is a fan favorite despite his regressive attitudes and extreme ego. As seen in the teaser, the actor sports Guy’s classic bowl cut, but his more militaristic Lantern costume has been revamped and features a surprising amount of white. But we wonder how Guy could make his first appearance in a feature film without the infamous “one punch” moment? (Granted, Batman landed that blow in 1987’s Justice League #1.)
Anthony Carrigan, known to Gotham fans as Victor Zsasz, plays Metamorpho, a wilder DC Comics character from the 1960s who can transmute into various elements and has been portrayed as both goofy and intensely serious depending on the circumstances. In an interview with Rolling Stone, Carrigan, who has alopecia, said he relates to the character’s unusual appearance. He also mentioned it is “refreshing” to play a hero. He can be seen at 1:52 of the teaser in an extreme closeup detailing the texture of his unusual visage. Additionally, the Stagg Industries building seen in the teaser is part of his origin tale, suggesting the creation of Metamorpho is a plot point in the film.
(Photo by Axelle/Bauer-Griffin, Angela Weiss/Getty Images)
Of course, it remains to be seen just how heroic any of these characters will be and whether or not they will be part of the Authority, a super team known for adopting violent preemptive strikes as part of their efforts against villains and crime. While the comic book Superman (or a version of him, at least) has allied with the Authority in the past, he also took on a parody version known as The Elite in Action Comics #775. So far, though, the only member of the team confirmed to appear in the film is The Engineer, played by María Gabriela de Faría. It is possible the heroes listed above will also be on her team or, maybe, oppose their methods and champion Superman’s style of heroics. The teaser features most of these characters in various states, but only a brief moment of Guy using his ring on the Stagg Industries lobby windows (and Mr. Terrific walking just behind him) connects any of these character with Superman directly.
Although, it is possible Metamorpho is Superman’s opponent in the shots within the Metropolis Meteors stadium. And, come to think of it, the character may also be the giant monster glimpsed half-way through the teaser.
No matter how things pan out with the other super-powered people, Superman’s number one foe, Lex Luthor, will also appear in the film. This time, he’s played by Nicholas Hoult, an actor quite familiar with superhero worlds. He will, of course, be the businessman version of Lex (as opposed to the rogue mad scientist of the 1940s through to the early ’80s), and we imagine his resources will test the Strange Visitor in Metropolis. Or, perhaps, Lois will spend her time trying to prove he is not the city’s benefactor. His few moments in the teaser see him, naturally enough, annoyed that things are not going his way. But maybe that gun in his hand has a Kryptonite bullet and the key to pulling Superman down to Earth.
(Photo by Warner Bros. Pictures)
At the press event for the teaser launch, Hoult said, “Even though you perhaps don’t agree with his process, there’s an element where you can understand on some levels where he’s coming from and why perhaps what he’s pushing as his ideology is perhaps better for humanity.” To be honest, anyone who plays Lex must see his point of view, but we’re skeptical. Despite all the finery and money, Lex is still an evil genius.
Other members of the cast include Pruitt Taylor Vince and Neva Howell as Jonathan and Martha Kent, respectively (although the one moment with Jonathan in the teaser suggests Martha may have passed); Wendell Pierce as Perry White; Skyler Gisondo as Jimmy Olsen (who has a blink-and-you’ll-miss-him moment in the teaser); and the double act of Terence Rosemore and Sara Sampaio as Lex’s loyal goon Otis and assistant Eve Teschmacher, who both first appeared in Donner’s Superman. Additionally, Sean Gunn takes over as Maxwell Lord, the rich industrialist played by Pedro Pascal in Wonder Woman 1984, and Milly Alcock, cast as Supergirl in her own film — Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow — will reportedly make an appearance as Superman’s cousin, Kara Zor-El.
One more member of the Superman Family will be part of the cast: Krypto! As revealed in Fall 2024 and featured in the teaser, this version of the Superdog is scrappier than his classic interpretation — inspired by Gunn’s own canine companion, Ozu — with the director claiming at the press event that there is more to him than revealed in the preview.
(Photo by @jamesgunn)
DC Studios co-CEO James Gunn serves as director and writer. When the film was first announced in January of 2023, it was unclear if he would take the reins himself. But by that March, Gunn was ready to direct, saying, “Just because I write something doesn’t mean I feel it in my bones, visually and emotionally, enough to spend over two years directing it, especially not something of this magnitude… But, the long and the short of it is, I love this script, and I’m incredibly excited as we begin this journey.” His fellow DC CEO, Peter Safran, joins him as producer.
Other crew include director of photography Henry Braham; editors Jason Ballantine, Craig Alpert, and William Hoy; production designer Beth Mickle; costume designer Judianna Makovsky; and composer John Murphy.
We assume the latter is intimately involved in a key element of the films musical landscape: John Williams’ Superman theme returns! We’re already heard two interesting variations of it — a slower, choral version in a tease of the teaser and the guitar driven arrangement featured in the teaser itself — and considering Williams’ composition is definitive, we’re glad to hear it is part of Gunn’s world, too.
Superman is currently set for release on July 11, 2025. At that point, we will know if Gunn’s latest gamble works out. For longtime Superman fans, he is saying all the right things, and the inclusion of other heroes will offset some of Clark’s boyishness. Superman is not as surefire a character as Batman, but Gunn plans for anyone cast in one of his DC productions to carry on playing the character in other projects, including upcoming animated series, so he, at least, expects Corenswet to be around for awhile. All that said, it’s unclear if Gunn already envisions a Superman 2, but that may work in his favor: it may be that not having an announced sequel plan already in place will lead to a great standalone film worthy of the name Superman.
Superman
(2025)
opens in theaters on July 11, 2025.
