They say if it bleeds, it leads . . . and James Gunn chose to show a bloodied and battered Kal-El at the start of the trailer for the upcoming "Superman" reboot. It took some fans by surprise, but Gunn explained his reasoning at a press conference ahead of the reveal.
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00:00They say if it bleeds, it leads, and James Gunn chose to show a bloodied and battered
00:05Kal-El at the start of the trailer for the upcoming Superman reboot.
00:08It took some fans by surprise, but Gunn explained his reasoning at a press conference ahead
00:13of the reveal.
00:14According to Deadline, Gunn stuck to his guns, explaining that the choice to show a mysteriously
00:19broken Man of Steel at the start of the trailer, as unconventional as it might be, is packed
00:23with symbolism.
00:24Gunn said David Coren Sweat's Superman represents the American people and, more specifically,
00:34their inherent kindness, especially at a time of great political division.
00:38Gunn said,
00:39"'We do have a battered Superman in the beginning.
00:41That is our country.
00:42I believe in the goodness of human beings, and I believe that most people in this country,
00:47despite their ideological beliefs or politics, are doing their best to get by and are trying
00:51to be good people, despite what it may seem like to the other side."
00:55The co-CEO of DC Studios also stressed that his Superman is about kindness and being good,
01:01as square as that might sound.
01:02Gunn added,
01:03"'It's about the basic kindness of human beings, in that it can be seen as uncool, and it can
01:08be seen as under siege when some of the darker voices are some of the louder voices.'"
01:13Later speaking exclusively to Variety, Gunn clarified that the focus of the reboot is
01:17less on Superman's otherworldly physicality and more on his morality.
01:21"'We all felt like we were doing something good, both in terms of quality and in terms
01:26of actually something that's not a fascistic power fantasy.
01:29I'm not saying that about other hero movies in general, but it felt good to be doing something
01:33that was about a person's kindness.'"
01:35This tracks with comments Gunn made at a Warner Bros. event earlier in the hype cycle when
01:39he revealed he, quote, "'didn't want to make a Superman that could punch planets.'"
01:43Ultimately, Gunn says, the movie is instead about the basic, fundamental decency of human
01:48beings, with Superman as a shining symbol of that decency.
01:52Fans aren't just talking about the bold choice to show Superman all crumpled up and defeated
01:56to help sell the upcoming DCU tentpole.
01:58They also can't help but notice how the shot resembles Yamcha's iconic death pose from
02:02Dragon Ball Z.
02:04And on a much lighter note, fans are also losing it over Clark Kent's Gen Z-coded haircut
02:09as he makes his way to work at the Daily Planet.
02:12Call it the broccoli cuts, the zoomer perm, or the alpaca, it's clear that, high-minded
02:16morality stuff aside, Gunn also wanted Clark to get an age-appropriate glow-up, and actually
02:22look substantially different than his superhero counterpart.
02:24"'Bro, it looks so good.'"
02:26Superman soars into theaters on July 11th, 2025.