Marking the relaunch of the DC Universe (DCU), the release of the teaser trailer for James Gunn’s Superman, starring David Corenswet as Clark Kent, has (finally) made us interested in superhero movies again. While the teaser trailer gives us the first look at Superman himself, along with Nicholas Hoult as Lex Luthor, Nathan Fillion as Green Lantern, Isabela Merced as Hawkgirl and Edi Gathegi as Mister Terrific, it’s Rachel Brosnahan as Lois Lane, and the character’s relationship with Clark Kent, that’s particularly piqued our interest.
In a Q&A with reporters ahead of the release of the teaser trailer, Gunn revealed that the relationship between Lois and Clark in this film is “unlike anything we’ve ever seen in any media for Lois and Superman.” He added that there was “electricity” between Brosnahan and Corenswet from the time they were brought together in the audition process for Superman.
“I’ve worked with other on-screen romantic couples who don’t have much chemistry, you kind of have to build it up with Elmer’s glue and popsicle sticks, and try to make it seem like there’s chemistry there,” Gunn said. “I wanted actors who had chemistry together and you never know, chemistry is a weird thing because it’s not always actors who get along or like each other even, but sometimes actors have chemistry on screen and sometimes they don’t.”
“When we auditioned our finalists for the roles of both Superman and Lois, we had three actors for Superman, three actors for Lois, and we put them all together. And David and Rachel were incredible individually, but when we brought them together there was an electricity in the room that was palpable. Yeah, part of it’s the steaminess, the sexiness of it, but part of it’s just the way they bounce off of each other in the way that old ’40s movie stars do. … When they’re together you go, OK I get it, he’s the Man of Steel, he’s the most powerful man in the world, perhaps, but man she’s a force to be reckoned with. And you can see there’s a way in which she can mow him down.”
‘Lois Lane is someone who is going to be admired’
As the teaser trailer shows, Lois and Clark are both journalists at the newspaper The Daily Planet. Fun fact for Canadians, in the comics Clark worked for the Daily Star, with co-creator Joe Shuster giving a nod to the Toronto Star.
Gunn implied that journalism is going to play a significant role in this film, particularly for Lois.
“I think you’re going to be freaked out by how much journalism takes a part of this movie and how important it is to the story,’ Gunn said. “The fact that they are both journalists and the fact that Lois is as good as journalism as Superman is at protecting the world is an important part of the film.”
“I think that Lois Lane is someone who is going to be admired by boys and girls around the world for her pursuit of the truth.”
Aside from Lois, Gunn also specifically called out Holt for his transformation into Lex Luther, who we see as the gun wielding villain at LuthorCorp in the teaser trailer.
“I have these picture of him on my phone, when Nick Holt is Lex Luthor every woman in my life was like, ‘Oh my god, I love me a bald man,'” Gunn said. “He’s intimidating. He’s a badass, but he’s got his reasons. … And I think Nick is just a fantastic actor to work with.”
‘Everyone has their idea of what he should be like’
Having come from his work on Guardians of the Galaxy specifically, for Superman Gunn was striving to find the balance between the more “traditional” elements of Superman that he grew up with, but still creating something new and exciting.
“It ended up being, in some ways, more easy than I thought, both with the movie and the trailer to some degree, but because just the traditional aspects of Superman, the hope and the honesty and the goodness, … in this day and age end up being pretty wild and alternative, almost,” Gunn said.
“When I … started doing Guardians of the Galaxy nobody knew who they were, so there were 12 people in the world that were upset because Yondu didn’t have a fin in the first movie, that was the extent of the outrage that happened. … Superman is one of the most popular characters, famous characters in the world, and everyone has their idea of what he should be like, what his costume to look like, what his morals should be, what his power set is. So finding something that was as true and as authentic as I could possibly make it, because at the end of the day, if I can make something that’s authentic then I think it works. And so I think that balancing was just something that was trial and error.”
The filmmaker added what he thinks sets Superman apart from other superhero films is the emphasis on his “obstacles,” which pushes against the Superman Silver Age comics plot construct, while Gunn said much of the imagery is Silver Age-inspired. But the title character’s struggle is very clear in the teaser trailer, which begins with Superman laying face down on the snowy ground, with a bloody face, eventually calling for his dog Krypto to help.
“I think that’s a really big difference from not only other Superman movies, but other superhero films, … this is a story about a man, and both his external and his internal obstacles, and what he’s facing in life,” Gunn said. So although some of the imagery is very Silver Age, I don’t think that’s a very Silver Age kind of plot.”
“I would hope that Superman does unify us a little bit, because he is just about those core values that I think … most everyone believes. I do think that if we can focus on our humanity, which is what Superman is about as a character and as a movie, and focus on doing the best we can from day-to-day, then that is a little bit healing, if not a lot.”
When is the ‘Superman’ release date
The release date for Superman is currently set for July 11, 2025 in theatres.
Full ‘Superman’ cast and characters
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David Corenswet, Clark Kent/Superman
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Rachel Brosnahan, Lois Lane
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Nicholas Hoult, Lex Luthor
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Nathan Fillion, Guy Gardner/Green Lantern
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Isabela Merced, Kendra Saunders/Hawkgirl
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Skyler Gisondo, Jimmy Olsen
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Edi Gathegi, Michael Holt/Mister Terrific
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Anthony Carrigan, Rex Mason/Metamorpho
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Milly Alcock, Kara Zor-El/Supergirl
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Frank Grillo, Rick Flag Sr.
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Wendell Pierce, Perry White
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Sean Gunn, Maxwell Lord
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Mikaela Hoover, Cat Grant
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Pruitt Taylor Vince, Jonathan Kent/Pa Kent
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Beck Bennett, Steve Lombard