David Corenswet is suiting up as the Man of Steel in the highly anticipated first teaser trailer for Superman. It starts with a battered Superman landing in the Arctic seeking Krypto’s help getting home. Important characters are introduced, starting with Superman’s mild mannered identity as Clark Kent. We see Lois Lane (Rachel Brosnahan) at the Daily Planet, Pa Kent (Pruitt Taylor Vince) at the family farm, and Lex Luthor (Nicholas Hoult) at Luthorcorp.
There’s a shot of Superman saving a little girl, a boy asking for help, and a mob of people who clearly don’t appreciate Superman. The trailer also teases Hawkgirl/Kendra Saunders (Isabela Merced), Green Lantern/Guy Gardner (Nathan Fillion), and Mr. Terrific/Michael Holt (Edi Gathegi), the romance between Superman and Lois, and multiple threats against Metropolis. There’s very little dialogue in the trailer, instead we hear an updated version of the Superman theme by John Williams.
The new movie will tell the story of Superman’s attempts to reconcile living the regular human life of Clark Kent with his alien heritage as a Kryptonian. The movie won’t tell an origin story, instead it will be set when Superman was already a superhero in Metropolis and he was working as Clark at the Daily Planet.
The movie is directed by James Gunn and stars Wendell Pierce as Perry White, Skyler Gisondo as Jimmy Olsen, Milly Alcock as Kara Zor-El/Supergirl, Frank Grillo as Rick Flag Sr., María Gabriela de Faría as Angela Spica/The Engineer, and Anthony Carrigan as Rex Mason/Metamorpho.
Superman is the opening act of DC Studios’ “Gods and Monsters” film series led by Gunn and Peter Safran. It will also include the movies Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow, Clayface, The Brave and the Bold, The Authority, and Swamp Thing, and the HBO Max an animated Creature Commandos series, and live-action shows Peacemaker, Lanterns, Waller, Paradise Lost, Booster Gold, and Blue Beetle.
Corenswet is the ninth actor to star as Superman in live-action. Kirk Alyn was the first actor to portray the Man of Steel in the 1948 serial, Superman. George Reeves played him in the 1950s on the character’s first TV series, Adventures of Superman. Christopher Reeve starred in his first of four Superman movies in 1978. Dean Cain suited up in the 1990s on the TV series, Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman. Tom Welling portrayed the pre-Superman Clark Kent in Smallville during the 2000s. Brandon Routh was the next movie actor in 2006’s Superman Returns. Henry Cavill played him in Zack Snyder’s DC Universe, starting in 2013’s Man of Steel. Tyler Hoechlin starred in Superman & Lois as part of The CW’s Arrowverse, beginning in 2021.
Superman flies into theaters on July 11, 2025.
