I don’t know that much about Superman. During my life I’ve seen the 1978 classic film and its first sequel, a few of the animated efforts, and played a handful of pretty bad video games. The Man of Steel has plenty of depth in his comic book origins, but very little of his modern-day adaptations have made me care. That is, until now.
This week saw DC release the long-awaited first trailer for James Gunn’s Superman. The DCEU died when Black Adam and Aquaman crashed and burned two years ago, and this upcoming film is intended as the first entry into an all-new world. All the heroes and villains it’s set to feature will be distanced from Zack Snyder’s grimdark slate of theatrical war crimes to capitalise on something more wholesome and appealing.
James Gunn Is One Of Few Directors I Trust With Superman
It also has the responsibility of establishing a new universe and where it intends to go in the coming years within a single film. As we expected, the teaser trailer is absolutely packed with familiar characters, big-bads, and aparticularly comic book take on Superman that isn’t afraid of being a little bit silly.
It begins with him bloody and battered amidst a snowy tundra, and after calling for help, a superpowered dog appears to get him home. It’s the first time we’ve seen Krypto in a live-action movie, a bold move considering it’ll be the first and only impression this version of Superman will make on the public.
But it works, and I love how the trailer depicts Clark Kent, Lois Lane, The Daily Planet, along with countless other staples from the Superman universe. It is unlike anything we’ve seen in modern comic book movies, unabashedly silly yet still filled with heart and hope. It wants to give us a hero that we will find impossible not to believe in, who is also unmistakably flawed in his own ways.
I’ve always struggled to connect with Superman because, aside from baddies using kryptonite to put a stop to his powers, he has frequently lacked a semblance of humanity that you need to feel attached to superheroes. Not to say these qualities don’t exist in the superhero universe, but the past decade of Zack Snyder’s efforts have failed again and again to express this potential. As a consequence, I don’t care. But with this teaser trailer alone, I feel closer to the character than I ever have.
And To Make Me Care About This Iconic Character
Yet it is also being pitched as an origin story, one intended to introduce us to this version of Superman, Lois Lane, Krypto, Lex Luthor, Hawk Girl, Green Lantern, and several more of its big players while still trying to carve out a central narrative worth caring about. Superman is also seen to be a global symbol of hope in the trailer, with a small child on the other side of the world holding up a makeshift version of his insignia on a flag as a sign of resistance. We also see a giant alien kaiju tearing down buildings and doing battle with Superman. There is a lot going on, and right now I’m curious how the film is going to approach everything without faltering under the weight of its ambition.
It will be a statement of intent, and so it appears we will be stepping into a world that already has plenty of moving parts that existed long before Superman came along. I’d rather be overwhelmed than underwhelmed, even if it means leaving viewers having to piece a lot of things together themselves once the credits roll. It speaks to a lot of confidence that Gunn is willing to kickstart an origin story within a cinematic universe that already knows precisely what it wants to be. Better yet, it makes me want to care about Superman for the first time.