Breaking down the Superman trailer, from heroes to villains

James Gunnguardians of the galaxy) is now in charge of the DC film and television universe, and his direction is immediately clear: serious, colorful and super comical. The trailer for the studio's first major release, 2025 Supermanfell on Thursday to set the tone. There's a lot to unpack in the two-minute ad, so let's break it down. Here's a breakdown of everything that was shown ahead of the July 2025 release, to make sure you don't confuse any birds or planes with Superman.

The trailer starts off boldly for a superhero movie: its protagonist has apparently just had his ass kicked. Is this a stellar superman What are you becoming more vulnerable about? Or have you faced a truly twisted enemy? We know Gunn loves stellar superman (and you are right to do so).

Luckily, Superman's best friend is there to lend him a hand. Krypto the Superdog has been a recurring addition to Superman continuity since writer Otto Binder and artist Curt Swan introduced him in 1955. Adventure comics #210. He is a dog from the planet Krypton who, like all Kryptonians, gains amazing powers, such as flight and super strength, when exposed to the light of a yellow star.

How did an animal appear? exactly How do Earth dogs evolve on Krypton? How did Krypto survive the destruction of Superman's home planet? Comics creators have found various explanations for this over the 70 years of Krypto's publishing existence, so let this comics expert break it down for you: Don't worry about it.

Superman has a dog with laser vision. It's fun.

While Lex Luthor's conglomerate (I would say “evil conglomerate,” but that would be redundant) is classically known as Lexcorp, it has occasionally gone by other names, such as LexCo, Lex-Corp, L-Corp, and even Supercorp (because Lex likes it). likes to do things just because it will piss off Superman).

for his SupermanJame Gunn appears to have gone with the dark “Luthorcorp” option, used most prominently in the smallville TV series.

When there's a bald guy in a suit in a Superman comic, there's only one guy it could be. Here is Nicholas Hoult (Nosferatu) as Lex Luthor as Agent 47 from Hitman.

There are plenty of ethically compromised billionaires running tech companies in the DC Universe (ha ha, so superhero, so crazy, ha ha) and here's our indication that at least one of them exists in the new DC Films universe.

Stagg Industries is the company of unscrupulous CEO Simon Stagg. Stagg may not appear, he is not in SupermanCast list officially announced. But he is the enemy (and future father-in-law; it's complicated) of the superhero Metamorpho (more on him later). With Metamorpho also appearing in SupermanIt makes sense for Stagg Industries to be present in the environment, whether the company plays a major role or not.

That bowl cut is how you know a Green Lantern lives without fear

Nathan Fillion plays Green Lantern Guy Gardner in Supermanand his haircut is completely faithful to the comics and completely horrible.

Also completing the superheroic supporting cast is Isabela Merced as Hawkgirl. There are many different versions of Hawkgirl and Hawkwoman in DC Comics history, but let's see if this comics expert can narrow them down: either she's a warrior who perpetually reincarnates and retains the memories of all her past lives, or she's a police officer from a Planet of bird people. We'll find out!

A rampaging giant monster seems bad for Metropolis, but great for moviegoers. And one eagle-eyed Polygon writer posed a good question: Could it be Jimmy Olsen?

I know it sounds ridiculous, but that beast has strangely human eyes and things like that happened to Jimmy Olsen all the time in the Silver Age.

We've seen this ball of energy before, floating in the background of the first photo Gunn revealed of David Corenswet's Superman costume. It's unknown what it is, what it's doing, or who created it, but purple and green are classic Lex Luthor colors, just saying…

Often, as a comic book fan, you have the slightly out-of-body experience of seeing something that makes a lot of sense to you and knowing that it looks crazy from the outside. “Superman cradling a legless robot while deeply grieving” is one of those things.

Judging by the glowing crystalline environment here, we're in his Fortress of Solitude, and judging by Superman's apparent deep anguish over whatever happened to this robot, it's probably Kelex. Created by John Byrne for 1986. man of steel #1, Kelex is a robot who used to belong to Superman's Kryptonian family and often serves as the Fortress's caretaker.

Meet Rex Mason aka Metamorpho

This rocky-outdoor man is Rex Mason, the shape-shifting superhero known as Metamorpho, played by Anthony Carrigan (Barry). Due to some shenanigans on the part of Simon Stagg (see Stagg Industries, above), Rex Mason has the power to transform himself, or even just regions of itself: into any element or chemical compound, stretching, bouncing, dissipating into gas, or making its mass dense enough to survive and deliver powerful blows. The problem is that he just doesn't look like a human being anymore.

There's not much to say here except to acknowledge that Boravia is one of countless made-up European countries that have graced the pages of DC Comics over the place's nearly nine-decade history, and in Supermanthings are getting tense.

The trailer shows a couple of shots of SupermanThe mysterious villain, seen here fighting in the Metropolis Meteors' empty baseball stadium. This character's identity has been pretty much ruined by paparazzi taking photos from the set, so Google carefully! (If you In fact If you want to know who it seems to be, click here).

The third most intelligent man alive

Here, we get our first look at Michael Holt, the super-genius adventurer known as Mister Terrific, and his trademark T-spheres, which project that ingenious shield. For more information on him, we have a full article: Gunn has repeatedly said that Terrific has an “important role” in his Superman.

Just a couple of star reporters

The trailer is rounded out with some classically framed shots of the real heart of Superman's stories: Superman and Lois Lane. The best superhero stories are based on a combination of monsters, superheroes, and romance, but we'll have to wait until July to find out how Gunn is mixing those themes to Superman.