Superman Animated Poster Teases Hope and Heroism
Do birds and planes fly around on the internet? No, but Superman does. Today, Warner Bros. and DC Studios released an animated poster for Superman, the upcoming debut of the new DCU (the movie side of it, anyway) from James Gunn and Peter Safran. Written and directed by Gunn, Superman stars David Corenswet as the Man of Steel, with Rachel Brosnahan as Lois Lane and Nicholas Hoult as Lex Luthor. The film also features a host of other DC Comics superheroes, such as Nathan Fillion as the Guy Gardner version of the Green Lantern, Isabela Merced as Hawkgirl, Edi Gathegi as Mr. Terrific, and María Gabriela de Faría as the Engineer. Superman will arrive in theaters on July 11, 2025, and you can see the new animated poster below:
Look Up. #Superman #FilmedForIMAX @IMAX
Sign up to get Fan First updates on all things DC Studios at https://t.co/VMn1ge8cnG pic.twitter.com/S0XosfdIiT— Superman (@Superman) December 16, 2024
At first, I didn’t think much of this Superman poster. It didn’t turn me off of the movie, but it didn’t do anything to entice me, either. Then, I watched it again and noticed the music very subtly suggests the classic John Williams theme from Richard Donner’s Superman. I love this, and not just because of how much I adore that theme music; I like how the film is being marketed so far. James Gunn and Warner Bros. have revealed very little about the plot; we know it will be about Superman reconciling his Kryptonian and Earthbound identities, per Peter Safran, and that it will find Superman in a world populated with many other superheroes. Instead, they’ve been building anticipation by communicating the movie’s tone: one of optimism, heroism, old-fashioned morality, and Superman acting like Superman. This works not just because it triggers everyone’s memories of and fondness for Superman but because it’s a marked shift from the Superman we’ve seen in the most recent movies.
That air of classic Superman is what the animated Superman poster conveys. The image is of Superman flying upward, ascending to the heavens as the background blurs in the wake of his super speed. The tagline, “Look up,” invokes the classic “Look up in the sky!” quote, the amazed reaction of ordinary people watching the world’s greatest hero do the impossible and knowing that, no matter how bad things are, everything will be okay because Superman is here. Finally, there’s the music, the faint tones of the John Williams theme, the suggestion that something big is coming. Dare I dream? Is the score for this movie – and, if so, every DCU film that features Superman – going to use the classic theme? Will Superman eschew some new theme that will inevitably pale in comparison to the one we all instinctually hum when we see the red, blue, and yellow shoot through the sky? Previously, I assumed not, but now, I think that may be the case, and if it is, my hopes for this movie will reach the stratosphere. That may be silly, but using that theme is an indication that James Gunn gets it. Sure, it could end up being a mask to cover a weak film, but at this point, I’d rather hope for the best.
That doesn’t mean I’ve dispensed with all my reservations about Superman. I still think it would have been better to make the first Superman movie in the DCU more standalone, with no other heroes taking the spotlight away from the lead. I’m still not completely sold on Nicholas Hoult as Lex Luthor. I don’t like that they’re not using the classic S on Superman’s suit. And, finally, I’ve seen the first two episodes of Creature Commandos, the actual start of the DCU, which is currently airing on HBO; the show is turgid, unbelievably bad, and it’s hard not to doubt Gunn’s vision for this universe having watched it. But I’m still hopeful, and I’m looking forward to the trailer that’s supposed to go live on Thursday, which should give us our best look at the film yet. A million things could go wrong, but I want to believe in Superman.
Let us know what you think of the Superman animated poster in the comments!
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