“Must there be a Superman?”
Zack Snyder had Charlie Rose pose that question in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. We can assume that Snyder would have gotten around to the answer after 15 more hours of darkly lit storytelling. It took James Gunn 2 minutes to make the case. Superman doesn’t need a crucible to show him who he needs to be. He already is.
As was sung in the not terrific Broadway musical “It’s a Bird, It’s a Plane, It’s Superman!”, we need him. Not as a savior. As an exemplar.
In the trailer for 2025’s Superman, we see David Corenswet’s Man of Steel fall to Earth almost immediately. That’s because he isn’t perfect; he isn’t truly invulnerable. We need to be reminded of that. Superman still needs others — Krypto, obviously, because look, we do not deserve dogs but they love us anyway.
He still needs to connect with his adoptive parents, the Kents. He needs to be helpful through his identity of Clark Kent, serving at the Daily Planet.
Though the trailer also shows people turning on him, he’s still going to fight for us. Let’s not speculate yet as to why they do, and whether or not Guy Gardner (Nathan Fillion) is holding the crowd back or pushing them back so he can take a crack at Superman. Obviously, Lex Luthor (Nicholas Hoult) would like to take a swing.
That scene shows where his real vulnerability lies. Not in kryptonite, not in magic, but in the magic that is his humanity. He doesn’t want to be the best of us; he’d really like everyone to join him. If people turn on him, he’s still going to fight for them. When written right, he has no ego. His parents just raised him right to be good.
Gunn’s casting choices reflect that. With Pruitt Taylor Vince and Neva Howell as the Kents, we have actors better representing common people, raising their son to be uncommon but humble. Vince contrasts with previous Jonathan Kents such as Glenn Ford, John Schneider, and Kevin Costner. This Jonathan isn’t just someone you’d meet in a small town; you probably have. (As I want to avoid plot speculation, I’ll just say that whatever he and Clark are talking about in this trailer will likely make me cry.)
Superman also needs the Daily Planet to ground him, most importantly Rachel Brosnahan as Lois Lane. She doesn’t “need” Superman, but of course a woman with an unflappable sense of right would connect with him, a journalist from a time we expected that as a professional standard.
The other heroes appearing here also play counterpoint. Though eventually we’ll see the larger Green Lantern Corps, here we get the most troubled of Lanterns with Guy Gardner. Michael Holt aka Mr. Terrific (Edi Gathegi) may be the smartest man in the DCU, though both Lex Luthor and Bruce Wayne would argue. He’s still not Superman, who may not actually be the smartest hero of them all; he just thinks at super speed. Hawkgirl (Isabela Merced) has traditionally been portrayed as a powerful hero whose rage often gets in her own way.
Then there’s Rex Mason (Anthony Carrigan). Forced by circumstances to be a corporate hero, as Metamorpho he also really can’t pass as human the way Superman can. Though the trailer shows Stagg Industries, Mason’s employer, none of Metamorpho’s supporting cast are listed. With the example of Superman, we may see Metamorpho rise above his payroll.
Through Creature Commandos on HBO Max, we do see that Superman has already established himself. Wonder Woman, too, though Gunn has not revealed who may one day play her. Even with the shining example of Superman, people don’t automatically use their powers for good. And obviously with Luthor’s ego, we have the counterexample of a man who simply cannot imagine using his abilities without somehow elevating himself.
Any resemblance to the real world is strictly coincidental and inevitable.
In DC Comics, a writer established that the “S” symbol stands for hope in Kryptonese. As cool as that sounds, it’s also a bit too on the nose. It’s up to us to make it mean that — which the trailer also suggests with the young Boravian boy raising the “S” flag. Whether we’re being attacked by kaiju or political ambition, we can hold out hope. We can be better.
Even Snyder did understand that; he just didn’t believe Superman didn’t have to learn all that before becoming Superman. Recent television also gets that — if you can’t wait for Superman in July, catch up on Superman and Lois (with the first two minutes really summing it up beautifully) or My Adventures with Superman. Retold with an anime influence, the basic truth remains the same. There must be a Superman because he reminds us who we can be.
