Superman is coming, and I think we’re looking at the most anticipated movie of the summer. You can even see the enthusiasm coming from our very own Keith and Swara right here! However, there’s way more to the latest trailer than meets the eye — easter eggs, secrets, and DC references galore! And we’re here to break down every part of it for you!
Before we start, if you haven’t seen it yet, take a quick look at the trailer:
It starts out with Lois interviewing Clark as Superman. As you can see, she already knows his secret identity, and all signs point to them already being together. The other thing to note is that she’s absolutely putting the “intrepid” in “intrepid reporter,” asking some really hard-hitting questions.
One has to admire Gunn’s ability to make the character as relevant as possible by having the audience, through Lois, question whether or not doing the right thing now is as easy as it should be. Geopolitical conflicts being what they are, it cannot be easy to be the Man of Steel in today’s world, and this movie is already starting out by showing how aware it is of this fact.
There’s a glimpse of Metropolis from above. This will most likely be following a large-scale action sequence. You can see a large space craft parked right outside a partially destroyed building. Likely a regular Tuesday for this city.
We get a quick glimpse of who Lois refers to as the Secretary of Defense — aka Rick Flag Sr. played by MCU veteran, Frank Grillo, who is reprising his version of the character from the spectacular Creature Commandos. Clearly since the events of that series, in which Flag was a US Army General, he’s been promoted to the big leagues. How does Flag feel about Superman? We’ll have to find out. However, if he’s investigating Superman’s actions, I doubt he’s a fan.
You may remember Rick Flag Sr. is the father of Joel Kinnaman’s Rick Flag Jr. from The Suicide Squad. Junior was killed by Peacemaker in that film, and Senior led the Creature Commandos against the forces of Circe in Pokolistan in the Max Original animated series. It’ll be really cool to see these characters translating back and forth between animation and live-action!
The situation Lois is asking about appears to be one where Superman intervened in a foreign country’s potential conflict. Which country from the DC Universe? We’re not sure yet, but to Swara’s point, it’s nice to see Gunn addressing the relevance of geopolitical issues.
We see Superman in a brief scene being arrested by Ultraman and The Engineer. If you take a look at the street sign, he’s getting arrested on Waid St., clearly a nod to Mark Waid, the author of Kingdom Come, which was one of the inspirations for Gunn’s version of Superman. This is obvious given the symbol on Superman’s costume is taken from Alex Ross’ designs from that book.
We also get a better glimpse of Rick Flag Sr., Ultraman, and The Engineer.
For those who may be unaware, Ultraman in the comics is an alternate-universe counterpart to Superman, who debuted in Justice League of America #29 in 1964. The Engineer was a WildStorm character (an imprint of DC in the ’90s) who ended up becoming part of the DC Universe after The New 52 as a member of The Authority and StormWatch. This version of the character is based on the Angela Spica version, but using nanotechnology rather than liquid metal.
We see a situation in Metropolis causing a series of towers collapsing like dominoes. It looks like a job for Superman!
In another scene, Superman is getting wailed on by some sort of gold automaton. This could be the inciting incident that causes the collapse of those buildings. This city is really in trouble.
The fight clearly results in Superman getting beaten down to Earth; however, he’s helped by a local vendor. Clearly some of the public still loves Kal-El! I love that Gunn is highlighting POCs here helping the superheroes for a change, rather than the other way around.
We see Superman in front of a burning building. This is clearly from the fight against the gold robot, as earlier we see him using some form of heat vision on that building.
We cut to The Fortress of Solitude. It looks like Lex has taken his crew and invaded The Fortress, alongside the Engineer. She can use nanites to create any object she wants. And we see her creating a series of buzzsaws to mow down Superman’s robots (designs inspired by the Grant Morrison All Star Superman run).
Thankfully, Krypto is there to protect their home away from home! Good boy, Krypto! Good boy!
We then see a couple of quick shots — Superman escaping from a glass cell, saving a woman from a kaiju, and embracing Lois with a crazy monster in the background. Between robots, kaiju, and crazy monsters, you have to love Gunn’s commitment to The Silver Age through the fantastical feel of his version of the DC Universe. This is an exciting universe of heightened sci-fi fantasy, with grounded characters and themes. That’s what we need in comic book films today!
We then get a few glimpses of Clark’s Smallville life with Jonathan and Martha Kent, as Pa Kent gives him a very inspirational speech to rally his son up!
We next get a great looking glimpse of Mister Terrific and his T-Spheres just decimating bad guys left and right.
Mister Terrific is known as the third smartest man in the DC Universe — only behind Bruce Wayne and Lex Luthor (on a good day, given how reckless Lex can be). Originally a Golden Age hero from the 1940s, the Michael Holt iteration of Mister Terrific was created by John Ostrander (a favorite of Gunn’s) and Tom Mandrake. He first appeared in Spectre (vol. 3) #54 from 1997 and is known for his genius level intellect and amazing inventions, including the T-Sphere. You may have seen different interpretations of the character in Arrow or Justice League Unlimited.
I simply cannot wait to see that action sequence. We next get a glimpse of Superman unconscious in bed at Smallville with Lois, Martha, and Jonathan watching over him. Then we get a shot of him incarcerated in the previously shown glass cell, with guards beating the crap out of him. Look who his cellmate is: Metamorpho!
For those who don’t know, Metamorpho, aka Rex Mason, first debuted in The Brave and the Bold #57 in 1965. In the comics, he was an adventurer who worked for Simon Stagg, a CEO who double crossed Mason and exposed him to a radioactive element that turns him permanently into a metahuman who can transform his body into any element. I think he and Superman will likely team up to escape this crazy prison they’re trapped in.
If you look closely too, you’ll see there’s a lot of other prisoners all around. Maybe some of them may be familiar names and faces from the DC Universe? We’ll find out!
We then get a gorgeous silhouetted shot of Superman rising amidst a large cloud of dust, smoke, and ash. Most likely this is from a huge battle. What gorgeous cinematography, courtesy of James Gunn mainstay, Henry Braham.
We are then able to get a glimpse of the Maxwell Lord sponsored version of the Justice League, featuring Guy Gardner’s Green Lantern, Hawkgirl, and Terrific.
Guy Gardner’s version of the Green Lantern debuted in Green Lantern #59 in March 1968. Compared to other Lanterns — such as Hal Jordan, Kyle Rayner, and John Stewart — Guy was a lot more of a douche. Given it’s Nathan Fillion playing him, we can expect a terrific portrayal of a smartass jerk; something that happens to be a Fillion specialty! Hawkgirl, aka Kendra Saunders, here played by the amazing Isabella Merced (who is currently crushing it in The Last of Us), first debuted in JSA: Secret Files #1 from August 1999. You may be more familiar with the version of this character from the Arrowverse.
Looking forward to seeing what this trio does throughout the movie. Gunn himself has said that they will have significant roles but won’t be the main focus of the film. If nothing else, it further showcases the sort of world this movie will be set in.
We get a few brief glimpses of Superman fighting The Engineer and Ultraman in a baseball stadium. We also get a shot of the little boy we saw in the teaser calling out to Superman to save him, and a giant rift making its way towards Metropolis.
We also get a really sweet scene of Martha Kent telling Clark she cleaned his boots, signaling it’s time for him to get back into action.
We get a few quick glimpses of Superman taking out a kaiju and Guy Gardner and Hawkgirl taking out some bad guys quickly. We also get a good glimpse of Sara Sampaio’s Eve Teschmacher taking a quick selfie.
For those of you who might not be familiar with the character, Miss Teschmacher first debuted in the original 1978 Superman: The Movie. She works for Lex Luthor, but ends up being abused by him so much that she goes and saves Superman from certain death, foiling the evil genius’ plans. We’ll see if the same happens here.
We get a few very quick shots of Lex drinking coffee, Lois and Mister Terrific in front of a portal, Metamorpho in action, and Superman being healed by his robots. The trailer culminates with an iconic kiss and a shot of Superman taking off, up, up, and away!
The end of the trailer is followed by a small tag in which Lois learns about Krypto.
Overall, the feel of the trailer is fun, bright, and incredibly hopeful. I simply cannot wait for this epic film to hit our screens on July 11!
We’ll have more coverage of Superman to come! Be sure to check out details from our set visit and coverage from the first teaser trailer. For all things DC Studios, be sure to stay tuned to The Nerds of Color!