Superman Trailer: 5 Awesome Things You Might Have Missed
The first trailer for Superman is full of superheroics, evil deeds, and a few awesome things you might have missed.
More importantly though, we get to see one of the most crucial parts of any Superman performance, the transformation between mild-mannered Clark Kent and the Man of Steel. That transition was pulled off beautifully by Christopher Reeve in the original movie where he became a totally different person within one unbroken shot. It is a favorite moment for many in that movie, including Gunn.
Cut to 2025 and Corenswet does the same thing here, albeit it’s much more subtle. He’s slouched and sitting back when Clark agrees to let Lois interview Superman. But when it’s time for the interview to begin, he sits up and squares his shoulders. He gives a confident, hopeful look and drops his voice by an octave to begin. While not as pronounced as Reeve’s changes, the subtly matters. As demonstrated by the emphasis on Smallville here, with Pa Kent (Pruitt Taylor Vince) giving an inspirational voiceover, a job usually reserved for Supes’s Kryptonian father Jor-El, this Superman is both a son of Krypton and a son of Kansas. Neither is a fake. Both are his real identity and thus the lines between them will blur.
Photo: DC Studios
The trailer underscores Lex Luthor’s role as the ultimate big bad. Driven by jealousy and refusing to respect an alien, Luthor thinks his mistrust has been proven correct when Superman stops a war. However, the well-groomed CEO has got a lot of other heavy hitters to help him out, including a woman in black leather whose hands turn into blades as they destroy the Fortress of Solitude.
That is the Engineer, played by María Gabriela de Faría, and she takes some explaining. The Engineer first debuted in 1999’s The Authority #1, written by Warren Ellis and penciled by Bryan Hitch. Part of the Wildstorm Universe, a comic book universe separate from the DC stable, the Authority were a collection of heroes who set themselves to making a better world by enforcing their will. Under the pen of Ellis and other writers, including Mark Millar and Grant Morrison, the Authority applied amoral realpolitik to superheroes, something antithetical to heroes such as the Justice League. In fact, the famed Superman story “What’s So Funny About Truth, Justice, and the American Way” saw Superman stand up to and rebuke a team modeled on the Authority. However, when DC took full control of the Wildstorm line, they integrated the Authority into the DC Universe where they are heroes with questionable tactics.
Judging by the trailer, Gunn plans to use the Engineer as more of a villain or at least antagonist. As in the comics, the Engineer has nano technology that allows her to change her body into a weapon, not unlike the T-1000 from Terminator 2. She’s clearly working alongside Lex here, but it’s hard to imagine that Gunn won’t have Supes teach the Engineer something about how to create a better world through inspiration instead of force.
Photo: DC Studios
Joining the Engineer in the fight against Superman is a hulking male figure in all leather. We’ve seen this figure before, duking it out with Superman in a stadium. But this is the best look that we’ve had at him so far, and the best look we’ve gotten at the emblem on his chest.