Happy new year’s stinkers! What’s a better way to start off 2025 with none other than, a late late LATE review of the Superman Teaser trailer. We’re not going to talk about that… Of course, James Gunn’s Superman comes out July this year, and until then this channel is going to have a bit of a focus on Superman content. Of course, I will follow through with my videos on Creature Commandos and Skeleton Crew, as well as other shows and movies along the way.
Right Into the Action
We start the Superman Teaser trailer off, in the middle of the action. When filming, Gunn explained that this film picks up right in the action, and that is our first impression of Superman. Now I’ve got to say that starting off the trailer, with him down on his luck is brilliant. This trailer had so many jobs to do, and it does an amazing job. One of those jobs was to address the critiques from the Superman films past. One of those certain critiques is the fact that Superman is a god. How could you in a way make him more connected with the people? How do you make him not totally feel like a god? You show him knocked out, bloody, on the ground. It’s just about brilliant.
Superman and the People
And going back to what I said about Superman wanting to feel more connected to the people. That’s something that works on different levels. Us as an audience can’t relate to this god, but we could more so relate to him trying to fit in with everyone else. And it also works on a cinematic level, with Superman of course wanting to fit in with everyone else. Superman is this symbol of hope to the people of earth, but really, he wants to be like everyone else, he wants to be more so Clark Kent. That might just be a subplot to the overall film, and we could see Clark try to balance between his Superman life and Kent life, and he might break under that pressure of being Superman. More on that in a bit.
David Corenswet
Superman is played by David Corenswet, who is a classically trained actor from Julliard, just like the original Superman, Christopher Reeves. That training goes to show the way Corenswet moves and flows as nerd, Clark Kent. Corenswet isn’t the only actor here, for Clark has had to learn how to put up such a facade, that can differentiate the jittery Clark Kent, from the confident Kal-El.
Gorilla Grodd?
Now thanks to the keen eye of viewers, fans have been fixated on this one newspaper, which can be seen throughout the trailer. “Hammer of Boravia Creates Havoc Downtown.” Now most people were thinking that this picture features Gorilla Grodd. From a world building stand point, I would absolutely love for it to be Grodd. Grodd was introduced sooner than I thought he would be, being in Creature Commandos in a post apocalyptic future. Now I didn’t initially think of it, but in the current state of the DCU, Chapter 1: Gods and Monsters, he’s an obvious, yet amazing character to include.
Super Powered Mystery Man
But thanks to some close ups of this newspaper, the answer might not be Grodd. The newspaper includes a sub title that reads, “Superpowered mystery man damages Metropolis.” Now I am still holding hope for this mystery man to be Grodd. That mostly just comes from my love of the character. I mean it’s not out of the realm of possibility, he might not want to go public yet. That could tie in with this private society of apes.
GBS News
Now a fun detail that kind of ties this universe together a bit, is that there’s a consistency with the news outlet, GBS, otherwise known as Galaxy Broadcasting System news. Its first appearance was Creature Commandos reporting on the Sons of the Themyscira and Circe’s arrest in Metropolis. So, that really makes me think that GBS news is really going to have a focus on Metropolis. Similar to how Gotham has GNN, the Gotham News Network. You know, Metropolis is the city that gets all the Kaijus and aliens, that would call for a “Galaxy Broadcasting System”, that isn’t only based in Metropolis but could maybe communicate across the galaxy.
What led to me pulling this together is the fact that GBS is what plays on the Tvs inside the Daily Planet. With the times of course having changed since the Reeves movies, they can’t only be a newspaper company. That’s what makes me believe that GBS and the Daily Planet work in tandem with each other. Maybe it was a merger, or maybe GBS is a branch of The Daily Planet.
Does Lois Know?
Now a question going into the movie is, Does Lois know if Clark Kent is Superman? I think that the only people that are going to know that Clark Kent is Superman is Ma and Pa Kent. I mean there’s really two roads that this could go in. Lois learns that Clark is Superman in the film, or she falls in love with two different people. Based on what James has said, and what has been shown so far, Clark Kent and Superman are two completely different people. I think there could be a chance that Lois falls in love with both, without knowing who is who.
All Star Superman
Since day one, All Star Superman has had an influence on the tone of the film. Now this film isn’t an adaptation of the story of All Star Superman, however, in an episode in the novel, it shows Superman taking Lois out for her birthday. And no matter what Clark would do, Lois would still think that Superman was pretending to be Clark, believing that they’re two separate people. And guess what the last panel of the episode was. So, it’s really not impossible for this to happen.
Rachel Brosnahan
Lois Lane is played by the Marvelous Mrs. Masel, Rachel Brosnahan. She has been an amazing pick since day one. I truly believe that she can embody the character beautifully. I’ve actually heard that instead of talking to experienced actors, I’m sure she did, Brosnahan actually spoke to actual news reporters when preparing for Superman. So far, I think that each and every casting in the DCU is brilliant. Rachel Brosnahan as Lois Lane is just one of many that goes to show that.
Ma and Pa Kent
Something that has been a topic of conversation with this Superman trailer, is this shot of Clark and Pa Kent. It is very clearly an emotional scene from the film, but it leads to two questions. Is this about Ma Kent? Or is this about Pa Kent? Those can lead to some pretty good narrative possibilities. In adaptations past, Jonathan Kent was the one to pass away. That’s actually a big issue among many from Man of Steel, when Jonathan Kent sacrificed himself like an idiot.
Jonathan and Martha
However, one of the possibilities you have to consider is that maybe this is Pa Kent telling Clark that he is dying. Yes, Jonathan Kent would be dying once again, however, he’s not going to die abruptly in this film. If that’s the case, it’s just going to add on to the pressure that Superman has, and that can tie into what I think is the bigger plot of the film.
The other direction is that maybe Ma Kent is the one who dies. We already know that Neva Howell is Martha Kent, so it’s not like she’s already going to be dead. Or maybe she can make her debut in a flashback or two. But what I wanted to talk about is the fact that Ma Kent being the one to pass away could change the narrative for a bit. Martha and Jonathan Kent are both going to have their different strengths and weaknesses that they bring to the table. How Clark deals with the grief of his mother, is going to be different then how he deals with the death of his father.
John Murphy’s Score
The electric guitar riff of John Williams’ original score sets the mood, as it gets to a more climactic point of the trailer. James Gunn opted for a score driven film, less of a sound track driven one, compared to the rest of his projects. When working with his music partner, John Murphy, he basically told him to implement the DNA of John Williams, while making it your own. And so far, the score is just perfect.
Krypto
Superman calls Krypto with a whistle, and like the sandworms of Arrakis, he emerges! The idea of Krypto first came when Gunn started writing Superman, and shortly after he adopted a dog, Ozu, who came from a quite unfortunate hoarding situation. “He immediately came in & destroyed our home, our shoes, our furniture – he even ate my laptop. I remember thinking ‘Gosh, how difficult would life be if Ozu had superpowers?’ – and thus Krypto came into the script & changed the shape of the story as Ozu was changing my life.” He then ends the statement with, “Btw, Ozu today, is, fairly, often, a very good boy.”
If that doesn’t warm your heart. There has to be something wrong with you. Everything, all the way to behind the scenes has been quite brilliant and beautiful. Having that at the back of your mind when watching Krypto on screen is all the sweeter, and it really warms my heart. This not-so-good-good-boy is going to warm the hearts of America come July. “Home. Take me home”.
Classic Superman
That’s when things kick into action, and this shot alone wins the majority over. Superman simply just saves a little girl from the foot of the Kaiju. This shot alone gives me the impression that this movie might be the Spider-Man of DC. This shot alone explicits a sense of hope, and it is simply the most Superman Superman that I’ve seen yet. I think without a doubt; this is going to be the best Superman. Now that can always change. The film could come out and it may not be so good. But I am not getting that from the trailers at all.
Lex Luthor
Bam! Lex Luthor! Nicholas Hoult makes his DCU debut in Superman, and based off of the three shots we get, I think he might easily be the best Lex Luthor yet. That first shot of Superman flying by, and pretty much ruining Lex’s day, is gold. James Gunn knows his comics, and he so far has gotten Luthor down to a tee. This is a man that just hates Superman more than anything, and he can really show that based on just two shots alone.
Shifting focus back to Luthorcorp, it makes me think that Lex is only starting to take action on Superman. Lex must’ve just recently been handed his dad’s company, and he might not have full trust to take reigns on it yet. That’s why I believe that it will be a progression across films, seeing Lex grow more and more as a villain, and I think Luthorcorp eventually changing to Lexcorp will play a role in that.
The Engineer
The camera then pans out on the Luthorcorp building, where you can see The Engineer climb down a ladder. María Gabriela de Faría plays the Engineer, who is a member of the team, The Authority. The Authority is a team of anti-heroes that genuinely do good things, but in morally questionable ways. Ways that Superman would think are wrong. The Authority is set to get a feature film in the DCU. I actually believe that this could be James Gunn’s next film after Superman. It is directly in his wheelhouse, and he even says himself that it’s a passion project of his.
Ultraman
The next shot of Lex is the one with the glass boxes stacked behind him. What the heck are they? You’re guess is as good as mine. What I can say is that the key fact to take away from these two shots of Lex and Superman, is that Lex is out of the boxes, Superman is breaking out of them. A really good theory that I saw online is that maybe once Superman was taken away by Flag and the army, he was locked away in these boxes. That’s when Luthor unleashes Ultraman and cause trouble in his name.
If you don’t know who Ultraman is, in the comics, he is an alternate universe version of Superman. I think it’s way too early for James Gunn to implement multiversal elements in the DCU, so he would have to change the character a bit. So, the next closest thing is a clone of Superman. So, maybe while the real Clark is locked away, Ultraman is fitted to look like Superman, and he does some evil things, ruining the reputation of Superman. There are also other people in the boxes next to him so that might not be the case.
Superman Saves Boravia
As the people are yelling for Superman, this young boy in the middle of war raises a Superman flag, for help. That’s when the boy is calling for Superman himself. Tying back to my plot theory of Superman learning to deal with the pressure of being Superman. He is a worldwide symbol of hope, and he has to learn that he can’t do it all. In another shot from the trailer, that same boy can be seen on the news, and that’s when I think Superman sees it, and flies over to help. However, this war is in another country. In fact this is the fictional country of Boravia, which lives on the border of Pokolistan.
My theory is no matter how long it takes; the people of Metropolis are going to be pissed off at Superman for helping another country and not them. Because maybe while he’s gone, irreversible damage is caused back in Metropolis. That’s where we see Superman walking through that angry crowd of people, into the Stagg Industries building.
Stagg and Corrupted Heroes
Now if you don’t know, in the comics, Stagg Industries is run by Simon Stagg, the creator of Metamorpho, who we see in a later shot. As Superman stands there being induced by stress and anxiety, Guy Gardner, Hawkgirl, and Mr. Terrific walk out to seemingly comfort him.
Now speaking on these characters for a bit, I believe that these guys are going to have a mutual respect for each other, but there could be a bit of conflict between Superman and them. In the movie, these three, more likely others too, take on different brand deals, and it really just looks like they are in the superhero business for fame. That’s what explains the Lordtech logos on their suits. Superman of course isn’t going to believe in their methods, and what he does in this film might affect these three in a way, where they learn more of what being a hero is about, and that’s what can evolve these guys into their eventual comic accurate suits.
Mother Kaiju
Now what’s the deal with this Kaiju? Well, looking at toy leaks from the film, there is Kaiju, and then there is baby Kaiju. So, my theory is that the one Superman is fighting is a mother, and Lex Luthor is holding her baby captive. That could create this sort of dilemma that Superman has to face, because all this Kaiju is, is a worried mother, just wanting to get to her baby. That’s why Superman might want to hold back on her, ultimately leading into more destruction. And that may be another reason why the people of Metropolis are mad, and that maybe causes conflict between Superman and the other heroes in this film.
Circe V.S. Guy or Brainiac
Another quite questionable shot, goes all the way back to our first look at the Superman suit. Bringing our attention to the background, what is that giant ball? James Gunn has said that most of the trailer footage was from the first part of the film, so that makes me think that this could either start the film or transition us from one part to another. But what exactly is that giant ball? People have thrown out Circe, fighting Guy Gardner. There were people throwing out Brainiac. I think the answer is neither. I think it’s just going to remain a mystery, until we see the film.
Fortress of Solitude
Home. Take Me Home. He took us home! Yes, we get our first look at the Fortress of Solitude. The two shots we get is Superman holding this robot in what looks like its dying minutes. And then the Fortress of Solitude rises from the ground. I think that’s what we see when Krypto takes Superman home. In the theatrical version of the trailer, it actually features new, different shots. One of them is Lex Luthor, Ultraman, and The Engineer, invading the Fortress. So, once Krypto and Superman open the fortress, Lex sneaks his way in there, and that’s when they destroy the place. That would then flow into Superman on his knees, sobbing over this robot.
Kelex
I believe this Robot is Kelex, the Kryptonian robot. It definitely looks like Kelex will have more of a role to play in here. Kelex was a robot from Krypton sent with Kal to earth. And I think that shot shows many things. More specifically two. Superman has a deep care for all life, including robots. And it really does make sense that Superman would be sobbing, because Kelex is probably the closest thing he knows from Krypton. It’s the closest he is to his roots, and now it is gone.
Superman Teaser Trailer Wrap Up
And that is going to do it for my breakdown and review of the Superman teaser trailer. This is going to be the start of a bit of a Superman marathon! Here is a look at the calendar for the month, Superman television videos will premier soon, along with Superman movie reviews and breakdowns. Thank you so much for taking the time out of your day to watch yet another one of my videos! And visit The Big Stinker on YouTube for more video content. So, until next time stinkers! Bye bye.