From obscure supervillains to hints of unexpected tragedy, "Superman" promises to be a deep dive into comics lore, and the teaser gives away a whole lot more than you'd think.
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00:00From obscure supervillains to hints of unexpected tragedy, Superman promises to be a deep dive
00:06into comics lore, and the teaser gives away a whole lot more than you'd think.
00:11One of the most powerful shots in the entire two-minute trailer is the moment when Superman
00:15saves a young girl from a fire-breathing monster that's terrorizing Metropolis. Now, we don't
00:20know much about this monster, but what we did notice is that the street sign beside
00:24the Man of Steel reads something that only eagle-eyed comic fans would spot as a reference.
00:29All this action occurs on the corner of Ross Street, which is probably a direct reference
00:33to longtime comic book artist Alex Ross. Ross' work, especially his Superman material, is
00:39some of the very best in the business, and we can't help but note his influence on James
00:43Gunn's Superman in particular. Ross was the visual mastermind behind the look of the 1996
00:49DC miniseries Kingdom Come, a story about the nature of heroism in the DC universe and
00:54how vital Superman is to the next generation. In fact, David Cornsweat's Superman shares
00:59his costume's S-design with the Man of Steel from the alternate Kingdom Come universe,
01:04although the coloring is different. Gunn almost certainly made this creative choice as a nod
01:09to this famed comic book tale, and the Metropolis street sign appears to be another way to honor
01:13Ross' contributions to the greater DC mythos.
01:17In traditional Superman lore, Superman kept his secret identity as Clark Kent close to
01:22the chest. Nobody knew that the Man of Steel had taken on a human persona, and certainly
01:26not that of a mild-mannered, sometimes bumbling reporter from the Daily Planet.
01:30I gotta admit, you know, your disguise is nearly perfect. You had me fooled, and I am
01:35nobody's fool."
01:36Of course, Clark Kent eventually revealed the truth to Lois Lane back in the 90s. Movies
01:41like Man of Steel and shows like Smallville and Superman & Lois would likewise clue Lois
01:45in on Superman's dual identity, and from what we can tell, James Gunn may be following suit.
01:51Throughout the Superman trailer, we see Clark and Lois interact on a number of occasions,
01:55most notably when Lois sits with a seemingly disheartened Superman as Metropolis gets attacked
01:59by a flying purple people blaster. At the end of the trailer, the pair soar in the air
02:04mid-kiss, and in another brief clip, Lois kisses a glasses-free Clark Kent. It sure
02:09looks like Gunn may be skipping the Superman-Lois Lane-Clark Kent love triangle that plagued
02:14so much of the Man of Steel's early appearances.
02:17One thing that no Superman movie has taken the time to explore much over the years is
02:21the culture and history of Metropolis itself. The city has a rich DC Comics history with
02:27plenty of establishments, traditions, and notable stories. From what we've seen of the
02:31first Superman teaser trailer, it appears that James Gunn is hoping to honor that.
02:35Twice in the trailer, we see nods to one, or perhaps both, of Metropolis' premier baseball
02:41teams. In the Ross Street scene, a banner for one of the city's ball teams, the Metropolis
02:45Meteors, is shown. Later on, Superman fights a superpowered villain at the Meteor Stadium.
02:502024's DC's Spring Breakout No. 1 highlights Superman's own love of the sport, and we hope
02:56that 2025's Superman will do the same.
02:58According to 1990's Atlas of the DC Universe, the Metropolis Meteors are the longest-running
03:03National League baseball team in the city, while the Metropolis Monarchs play in the
03:07American League. The dual Metropolis baseball franchises have made a splash elsewhere in
03:12Superman media as well. The Meteors are mentioned in passing in Superman & Lois, while the Monarchs
03:18have existed within the greater DC Extended Universe and the Young Justice animated series.
03:24Speaking of greater Metropolis lore, one change that longtime Superman buffs will notice in
03:28James Gunn's film is the shift from LexCorp to LuthorCorp. In most DC Comics stories,
03:34Lex Luthor owns and operates his own multibillion-dollar conglomerate, LexCorp. While LexCorp didn't
03:40show up in the mythos until the mid-1980s, it's become a long-established staple of Metropolis
03:46in most incarnations.
03:47LuthorCorp, on the other hand, was originally crafted specifically for the prequel series
03:52Smallville. Smallville first aired in 2001, and it followed the Man of Steel in his teenage
03:57years as he evolved into a hero. Michael Rosenbaum played Lex Luthor, a man who grew up in the
04:02shadow of his father, Lionel Luthor, and aimed to make LuthorCorp his own. By making the
04:07Luthor business a family affair, Smallville tackled themes of generational wealth and
04:11legacy in a way previous stories hadn't.
04:13"...that I am back, fully committed to LuthorCorp and to you. And I'm delighted to hear it."
04:22While we don't know much about Nicholas Holt's Lex Luthor, we can only hope that the change
04:26from LexCorp to LuthorCorp will offer some unique narrative potential. And in case you
04:30didn't notice, another potential Superman antagonist, the Engineer, can be seen on top
04:35of the LuthorCorp building. If you look real closely, she appears to be stalking whoever
04:40is inside.
04:42Another DC Comics corporation that makes its way into the Superman trailer is Stagg Industries,
04:46and boy, does that have loads of potential. Stagg Industries is named after Simon Stagg,
04:51a supervillain who made his first appearance in The Brave and the Bold No. 57 back in 1965.
04:57While Stagg doesn't usually tussle with the Man of Steel, he maintains some pretty serious
05:01connections to another character set to appear in the film, Rex Mason, a.k.a. Metamorpho.
05:07In that issue of The Brave and the Bold, it's revealed that Stagg is directly responsible
05:11for Mason's transformation from man to monstrous hero, after Mason falls in love with Stagg's
05:16daughter.
05:17Given that Metamorpho also appears in the trailer, it's possible that Superman arrives
05:21at Stagg Industries as a result of Mason's transformation. Either way, given that LuthorCorp
05:25seems to be heavily involved in the film, it's unlikely that both Luthor and Stagg will
05:30be major antagonists. However, the addition of Stagg Industries could open a door to the
05:34greater DC Universe franchise, not unlike how Man of Steel snuck in an Easter egg for
05:39Wayne Enterprises, leading to the greater DCEU.
05:43The teaser trailer makes it clear that the Man of Steel is never truly alone up in the
05:47Arctic. Aside from the inclusion of Krypto the Superdog, this time around Kal-El also
05:52has his very own robotic companion in the Fortress of Solitude, at least for a while.
05:57Now, because there have been a few different robotic butlers in Superman's comic book history,
06:01it's hard to pinpoint exactly which this character may be, but we have some ideas. Since James
06:06Gunn has previously revealed that Grant Morrison's All-Star Superman series was a major influence
06:11on Superman, one might assume that this robot is simply one of the many Superman robots
06:15that Superman uses to maintain the Fortress and protect his identity.
06:19Even within the mainstream continuity, Superman had robotic companions to help him in his
06:24such as in the Silver Age story told in Action Comics No. 282. Of course, this android could
06:30also be an adaptation of the House of L's Kryptonian servant Kellex, who first appeared
06:35in the rebooted The Man of Steel origin story by John Byrne. Previously, Kellex appeared
06:40in live-action in 2013's Man of Steel and the CW series Supergirl.
06:46One tiny Easter egg that probably blew by even the most diehard of fans was the appearance
06:51of the war-torn nation of Bravia. If that name doesn't sound familiar, that's because
06:55the fictional DC Comics nation hasn't been featured in very many stories since the 1950s.
07:00As early as 1939's Superman No. 2, Bravia appeared as a European nation that had fallen
07:07into a deadly civil war. With Superman's involvement, the nation eventually reunited, but only after
07:12the Man of Steel forced leaders from both sides to cooperate. After that, Bravia was
07:16featured in Black Hawk, which narrowed its location down to somewhere in the Alps.
07:21This wouldn't be the first time that Superman has engaged in international affairs on the
07:24big screen. In Superman IV, Christopher Reeve's Superman convinced the United Nations to give
07:29up all nuclear weapons. It's likely that Superman will step into another international conflict
07:34here, too.
07:36If there's one thing that makes Superman really Superman, it's the example set by his adoptive
07:40parents Jonathan and Martha Kent, two Midwestern Kansas farmers who taught young Kel-El to
07:45seek truth and justice in all things. We only see Pa Kent in the teaser trailer during an
07:50emotionally vulnerable moment where he and Clark embrace sadly on a porch, which leaves
07:54us asking why? Could the Kents be losing the farm? Could Martha Kent have passed away?
07:59Perhaps the most obvious possibility is that Jonathan Kent himself is dying, and it wouldn't
08:04be the first time.
08:05In lots of Superman media, Pa Kent doesn't live to see his son put on the red cape. In
08:09Superman the movie, Pa Kent dies of a heart attack, just like he does on Smallville. In
08:14Man of Steel, Jonathan Kent made the controversial choice to stop his son from saving him and
08:19risk exposing his secret to the world. In this trailer, we could be seeing a flashback
08:23to some of Clark's last moments with his father, and we wouldn't be surprised if Gunn took
08:28this route. Considering that Richard Donner's Superman is among Gunn's favorite comic book
08:32movies, we wouldn't be surprised if this were the route his own film took.
08:36Do you miss him?
08:37Every day. But his spirit is always with us.
08:41When we saw that first official look at this new Superman, the Man of Steel was seated
08:46while Metropolis was being attacked behind him. While most folks focused on Superman's
08:50outfit, other die-hard comic fans noticed the giant, glowing, eye-like orb flying in
08:55the background. Many assumed that this was an interpretation of the DC Comics villain
08:59Solaris, and the new teaser only reinforces that idea.
09:03Solaris first appeared in 1998's DC One Million Number One by Grant Morrison and is an artificial,
09:09intelligent son. The character was also featured as an antagonist in Morrison's All-Star Superman.
09:14While we don't know why Superman wasn't rushing into battle against this strange force in
09:18the sky, we can only assume that the Man of Steel has his reasons. If the monster outside
09:22his window is actually Solaris, then it's possible that the living sun has sapped the
09:26Man of Tomorrow of his powers. Whatever this is, James Gunn's deep dive into DC Comics
09:30lore will probably pay off.
09:33One interesting complaint from some fans is that parts of the Superman teaser trailer
09:37look a bit too similar to 2023's major disappointment, The Flash. Although the movies couldn't appear
09:43to be more different in tone, we can see what people are talking about, especially
09:46when comparing Eddie Gathegi's Mr. Terrific battle scene against Michael Shannon's General
09:51Zod battle. Although The Flash wasn't a total box office failure, it's been widely considered
09:55one of the worst of the DCEU.
09:57That's bad, isn't it? That's not good.
10:00James Gunn praised the film at the time of its release, and the response to The Flash
10:04didn't keep him from hiring the same cinematographer, Henry Braham, to helm his Superman reboot.
10:10Braham and Gunn have worked together on a number of films, from Guardians of the Galaxy
10:14Vol. 2 and Vol. 3 to Gunn's first DC feature, The Suicide Squad, in 2021. Having been a
10:19part of Gunn's vision for the DC Universe since the beginning, it makes sense that Braham
10:23would be included in Superman. Even if we hated The Flash and the loads of cameos throughout
10:28the film, it appears that Superman is off to a better start.
10:32The teaser introduces the Man of Steel in the middle of a crisis. He rockets to Earth
10:37and lands, bloody, injured, and curled up in a snowy crater. Fans don't know what knocked
10:41him down, but they did note that the shot looks a whole lot like the one when Yamcha
10:45gets killed in the Dragon Ball Z episode, Cyberman Attack. The pose has become a meme
10:50over the past few years on the internet, but what might look like a small in-joke isn't
10:54the only thing that binds the Dragon Ball series to part of the Superman legacy.
10:58Dragon Ball and the Richard Donner series of Superman films actually have a long history
11:02together, if only in the annals of rumor. Fans have long wondered if the late Dragon
11:07Ball creator Akira Toriyama based Goku and his powers on Superman from those films. Since
11:13the two characters have origin stories that are somewhat similar, in which two super-powered
11:17beings rocket to Earth from a doomed alien race, it's no wonder audiences have speculated
11:21about the connection. Dragon Ball's Super Broly offers the most recent depiction of
11:25Goku's backstory, a close match to Clark Kent's, with both raised by caring older humans after
11:30landing.
11:31Mmm, oh, I know. I'll call you Goku."
11:37Toriyama claims that he had different inspirations for Goku's origin story, but the striking
11:41similarities between the two characters have bound them together in pop culture history
11:45regardless, and now it looks like the characters are even more deeply connected than before.