In our cynical timeline, hype is no longer something that’s generated organically on the basis of mass enthusiasm but rather something, we are instructed, that we already feel. So it is that tomorrow’s teaser trailer for the upcoming James Gunn-led relaunch of the DC cinematic universe, Superman, has just received its own teaser trailer.
Given the premise—a piece of marketing material designed to have you intrigued to watch a forthcoming piece of marketing material that’s designed to have you intrigued to watch a film—the resulting diminishing returns are a collection of shots that tell us almost nothing whatsoever about the film it’s all intended to promote. We see reaction shots of people’s astonishment at seeing—presumably—a man who can fly, stop bullets, and leap tall buildings in a single bound. We also see less than a second of the super man himself.
Well shit, it worked, didn’t it? We posted it.
Let’s insist we’re doing it as a cultural observation of the sheer audacity of hype, of the fever pitch Warner Bros. and DC Studios are informing us we’ve reached, over finally seeing a tangible glimpse of this movie. They likely wanted that, too.
What strikes me as most interesting about what is shown here is how defiantly generic it is when it comes to Superman-based media. Forgetting the shots of crowds looking agog that makes up the bulk of the footage, we’ve got a glimpse of a generic Daily Planet office (including Rachel Brosnahan’s Lois Lane and Skyler Gisondo’s Jimmy Olsen), a split-picosecond moment of Superman flying through the ice inevitably surrounding his Fortress of Solitude, and a tiny dot of Superman disappearing up into the clouds. Each could be lifted from just about any adaptation of the character, from the early ‘90s Lois & Clark to the grey slop of 2006’s Superman Returns—hell, we only know it’s not from 1948’s Superman serial or 2013’s Man of Steel because it’s in color.
However, it’s also arguable that all of this is an act of boldness, a real statement from Gunn (although who knows how involved he is in the marketing), and that’s backed up by two other factors: the title and the score.
Calling your movie Superman, with no subtitle, is a statement. There already was a Superman, in 1978, and Richard Donner’s version has never been improved upon in any of the six films across three relaunches since (let alone the character’s repeated flogging in Snyder’s DCU). It was originally to be called Superman: Legacy, and dropping the suffix is ballsy. Gunn invites direct comparison with the Christopher Reeve classic—a beautifully shot movie that holds up almost 50 years later.
Then there’s the theme. It’s right there, subtle at first, then—amid the obligatory bassy “thommmm”s that all superhero movie trailers must feature by law—out emerges a faint rendition of John Williams’ classic tune. Again, it’s an unflinching declaration that this film is operating at the same level and evoking the same tonal reverence as the classic that, arguably, both ushered in the era of the modern superhero film, and defined it.
Gunn’s a fun movie maker, and has had well-deserved success via funny, schlocky films like Slither and Super, followed by the cartoon-like jubilance and hilarity of the Guardians of the Galaxy trilogy and The Suicide Squad. I’m genuinely excited that he’s trying to make something un-terrible from DC properties, ending the era of Snyder’s well-intentioned but grimly dreary attempts, and he’s an obvious fit for the sillier, more subversive side of the comic franchise. But playing Superman this straight, this on-the-nose? I’m fascinated to see what comes of it. Even if I doubt tomorrow’s “teaser” will tell us anything useful.
My desperate hope is that this could be, finally, finally, the moment someone writes a Superman script that doesn’t depend on unSupermanning him in order to introduce any peril or plot. My “time to Kryptonite” stopwatch will be running, and god, I hope it never has to stop. It’s the great flaw of the great American hero, that the only way anyone can find for an invincible, all-powerful god-like to be interesting on film is to incessantly make him incapable and all-vulnerable, and rely on enemy hubris to save the day.
(Massive shout-out to CW’s recently finished Superman & Lois, which despite featuring some hoary old cliches and a miserable over-reliance on all shades of Kryptonite, managed to make Clark Kent vulnerable in far more interesting ways, not least in its extraordinary third-season arc following Lois’s cancer story.)
So, are you hyped for the teaser trailer to hype the six months of trailer-trailers, to hype the movie, ahead of its July 11, 2025 release date? I really hope we’re not exhausted by its simple existence by then.
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