James Gunn Superman Teaser Trailer Revealed with a Q&A from the launch event!

Look up! Into the sky! It’s a bird! It’s a plane! No, it’s Superman! With James Gunn continuing to restructure the DCCU, he presented some of his vision to dozens of journalists ready to be wowed this past Monday. And boy, we were utterly wowed. When the Superman teaser trailer was revealed, you could note the wave of awe, relief, and excitement that quickly filled the Steven J. Ross Theatre on the Warner Brothers lot. It was a beautiful experience, and it’s frankly one of the best previews I’ve seen in a long while. I cannot wait for this flick!

Yes, I’m very aware that we’ve been fooled before with positive reactions. It’s easy to fall into the thrill of the promise with a project of this magnitude. Yet, sitting with several fans of Clark, Lois, and the gang, it was clear that something truly special was about to happen. And now, you can all get a look at what a roomful of journos were in delight over. As someone who has grown more than a bit tired of the fantastical world of powerful superhumans, the early trailer has me beyond hopeful that this will be one of Gunn’s best.

To me, Christopher Reeve remains my favorite interpretation of Clark Kent and Superman. Yet, I’m convinced that David Corenswet is the red-caped hero I’ve been waiting for. And the inclusion of Rachel Brosnahan and Nicholas Hoult as Lois Lane and Lex Luthor brings a smile to my face. One of the treats of this particular presentation was a Q&A with Gunn and crew right after the Teaser reveal. Mind you, it’s a loaded “teaser,” but I get the feeling it isn’t giving away much at all.

After the screening, the talented Eric Davis from Rotten Tomatoes and Fandango moderated a lively conversation with Mr. Gunn, Mr. Corenswet, Ms. Brosnahan, and Mr. Hoult. Read on, as they do a terrific job of not spoiling the upcoming feature. And let us know what you think? Now that the trailer has been released, how do you feel thus far about James Gunn’s Superman?

James Gunn on bringing Superman to a new audience:

JG: The truth for me is I didn’t come in here to write a Superman movie and say, oh, I want to honor this and honor that, and also be new and open to the fans. Those are the kind of thoughts I had along the way of writing the script originally and along the path of making the movie. But for me, I wanted to tell a story that excited me, moved me, and felt authentic. And it really just started in that. And it took a while to get to the place where the movie was able to begin. Some of it was, and some of the stuff that you see in the trailer here, but I knew that I wanted to have a Superman who stayed true to his origins of being the ultimate good guy.

And I think that it was a movie about kindness. It was a movie about being good. I remember talking to these guys when we had our cast dinner the night before we started shooting or something like that. I’m like, at the end of the day, the world doesn’t always seem to have so much good in it, and this movie has to truly be that. For it to truly be that, we had to be good to each other. We had to be good to the crew, and then it had to be that authentically. And so, for me, the movie is about that more than anything else.

On casting David Corenswet:

JG: The thing I think that connects him so much in some ways to Christopher Reeve is he has a lot of deep training. I’ve never worked in my entire life with such a rigorous actor. He challenged me on a daily basis to really get the most out of his character and get the most out of the story. Everything he does in the movie is utterly true. You don’t ever have a moment even watching dailies where you go, ‘David did something that feels stupid, that doesn’t feel real, that feels like he’s faking it, he’s phoning it in,’ never. He’s always completely present. It was sort of miraculous that the funniest thing was that I got both Rachel’s and David’s self-tapes on our very first day of casting. So, the thing that I was the most worried about was casting Superman at the beginning of this process. And after the first day, I was like, I think that guy’s pretty good.

David Corenswet on what traits he relates to with Superman:

DC: I think I sometimes experience a mismatch with people where I don’t get what somebody means by something or something that happened in a room where some people knew that there was some conflict going on or that somebody said something inappropriate, and I sort of missed that. I was always cut out of the drama when I was in school. Nobody ever cared to update me about it, and I never felt like I knew the exciting juicy gossip that was going on. And for that reason, I always sort of saw people as the best versions of themselves and saw relationships as the best versions of themselves. I don’t think it was in a terribly naive way. I think a lot of people consider Superman to be a naive character, at least to have a naivete about him. I think there’s an element of that, but I think it really is just sort of a blindness to the little imperfections and the little conflicts, the silly little things that we get caught up with as people. I tend to miss those, and I think Superman misses those, and that’s what keeps him steadfastly and determinately looking at the good and the hopeful and the future and grounded in the fun and playfulness of the present.

Rachel Brosnahan on her Lois Lane:

RB: I’ve always been inspired by this character. She’s somebody who is ambitious, courageous, hungry, and determined to get the greatest story almost at any cost. I’ve always loved this character and was so excited by the opportunity to bring all of those things that have been true of her in every iteration. But also one of the things I love about this character is that almost more than any other character in these comics and in the movies, she evolves to fit what it would mean to be an intrepid journalist of each generation or each decade that she’s presented in. So I think our challenge, and James and I are talking about this, I think before the chemistry read about how she might fit into the canon of today. Today, we’re living in a world where print journalism, to some, is perhaps an endangered art form, and she’s somebody who dedicated her entire life to it. And then I think as far as what else is different, you’ll have to check out the movie to see, but I love that she’s somebody who doesn’t understand what the word no means, and it’s motivating for her. We definitely see that side of her in this film.

Nicholas Hoult on playing Lex Luther:

NH: The thing about this, Lex, I think that was most exciting for me was it being in a James Gunn universe, like you said, that is so emotionally raw and powerful but huge in the scope of the world and what he’s creating. And I think with this Lex, I mean obviously, he’s smart and ruthless, and he has to outmaneuver Superman on certain levels because he can’t match him in others. But there’s also something about this character, hopefully from my standpoint, where even though you perhaps don’t agree with his process, there’s an element where you can understand on some levels where he’s coming from and why, perhaps what he’s pushing as his ideology is perhaps better for humanity.

James Gunn on the opening of the trailer, and Krypto:

JG: I think that we are seeing that from the beginning. We’re seeing a little bit of a different side of Superman than what we’ve seen normally on screen, and this movie, at the end of the day, is not about power. This movie is about a loose term of the word, a human being, and who he is as a person and as a person who’s struggling with his day-to-day life. And we see a different aspect of him at the beginning. So I thought it was a cool place to start the trailer and the movie, frankly. His relationship with Krypto is complicated. He’s not nearly the best dog in scenes. There’s a lot more to Krypto than you see in this trailer.

But yeah, I also thought that it was a way to say that yes, we’re embracing all of the Superman mythology. There’s a way that superhero movies have taken these characters and said, okay, yeah, it’s Batman, but it’s not any of the other stuff. It’s Superman, but it’s not any of the other stuff. It’s boom, boom, boom, boom. But in our world, he lives in a world with superheroes. This is an alternative history fantasy world where superheroes exist, but it’s also incredibly grounded. It’s about real people having real lives. There just happens to be metahumans there, but Superman exists. He has friends who are other superheroes. He has people he doesn’t get along with, but who are other superheroes? He’s got a flying dog. He’s got a giant fortress that springs from the ground. He has giant monsters. He has a lot of the things that we love from the Superman comics and the Superman mythology that we haven’t been able to see as much of in filmed media. And definitely haven’t been able to see in a grounded way, which is what I hope we’ve created.

Rachel on the relationship between Superman and Lois Lane:

RB: They have been close, at least at moments. But what I love about their relationship, kind of through every iteration of the comic books and all the films and television series, is that they’re soulmates. They’re united in the fact that they are both in relentless pursuit of truth and justice, but they approach the world in totally different ways. She’s somebody who, because of her profession but also because of who she is, questions everything. She questions everyone she’s trying to see around every corner, and that’s the way that she faces the world. And Superman, as David said earlier, is just radically present in every moment. He solves every issue that’s directly in front of him. And I think the ways that they are opposite is something that is fun to watch. It’s fun to watch that and kind of bump up against each other sometimes. And then it’s fun to watch the ways in which they really are united. That’s a little bit of a nothing burger of an answer, but yeah, they both work hard and play hard and love hard.

David on wearing the suit:

DC: I think the first thing that comes to mind, I’m sure there are many things that I will remember as I think back on our time shooting, the first thing that comes to mind is the difference between the feeling of playing Superman, which is not that glamorous. It’s a lot of being tied up to cranes and pulleys and having your legs held up by stuntmen to get you in the right position.

And the suit, I think looks a lot cooler than it feels. Literally, on a hot day, I’m cooking inside of it, but the thing that took me off guard, there’s also the process of people asking about the first time you put on the suit, and when you have the amazing chance to build a suit from the ground up with an amazing costume department, you don’t put on the suit for the first time. You put on parts of it, and then it gets fitted, and more pieces get put in. So, for me, it was the first time that other people saw me on YouTube. It’s like when you get, I don’t know, a nice haircut, and you forget about it, but then you walk around, and everybody’s like, whoa, you look great. For once.

I walked on set, and I had other people who saw me in the suit for the first time, so I got to see other people see Superman. And I didn’t feel like Superman, but it was so amazing watching my castmates and the crew members who are also getting to work on this amazing historic piece of media. The moments when they saw it for the first time or when they saw Superman fly for the first time, not getting to be that particularly, but getting to witness them, witness it. And then the best thing is seeing kids see it when crew people would bring their kids to set or getting to see first person, a five, 6-year-old kid see Superman. There’s nothing like it. It’s amazing.

Nicolas Hoult on working with James Gunn, and seeing David in the suit for the first time:

NH: The script, to begin with, was so unique and fun. The world was vivid and just full of so many exciting characters and moments and emotions, and that was reading it. I felt giddy. I was like, this is exciting. This is new and a different take. And then, on set with all his collaborators, he’s inviting and warm. He knows exactly what he wants and is clear on that, but he is also open to ideas with everyone on set. So it’s a wonderful environment to work in because no matter who you are, if you bring a good idea and James likes it, then it’ll be incorporated.

I’ve got to add one more thing. When I saw David in the costume, I was in awe, and I hate to admit, it made me feel warm and fuzzy, made me feel like a kid again. There was one scene where he flies into the set, and I was watching, and I was like, I had a little grin, a little private grin on my face. I thought, this is amazing. Then I turned around and saw everyone else in the room with the same look on their face watching him. And that’s the effect that he’s talking about that it has on everyone. I think it’s really special.

James Gunn on the score:

JG: Yeah, I think that I knew from the beginning what I wanted to do with the music. I had thought about it a lot. Are we going to do something completely different? Are we going to use the Williams theme? Williams seems one of my [my favorites]. The soundtrack is one of my favorite soundtracks of all time.

When I was a kid, the thing that I loved the most about the movie was the music. That was the thing I took home with me more than anything else, but I knew we were doing something that was heartening back to the past. I was also looking forward to the future, and so it was about finding that balance.

John Murphy is a composer who I love working with, and he started working on the music before the script was even finished and was one of the first people I gave the script to, along with Peter Safran and a couple of others, so that he could start writing music for it. And I said, I want to use a version of the Williams team, but I want to do our own version of it. And so that’s what you hear.

What’s really amazing is how that leads into a lot of other pieces, some of which harken back to the Williams score, but some of which are purely John Murphy, and it’s used beautifully throughout the movie. John’s been working nonstop for almost two years, putting the score together. As a lot of people know, I write the score and the basic elements of the score beforehand. We play those on set while we’re shooting, and we did it with this, but it’s about finding with everything with this movie, it’s finding that balance between the novel and the traditional and where is that line, and it’s accepting both of those things.