Superman

After nearly three decades of 30 plus Marvel films, the biggest battle James Gunn’s Superman faces may be whether the last son of Krypton can defeat superhero movie fatigue. As someone who also thoroughly enjoyed Zack Snyder's much grittier and stoic story in Man of Steel, when I first heard of a new installment in the Superman franchise, I had my doubts. However, after viewing the trailer, I began to get quite excited by the prospect of a new caped-hero film. This feeling was propelled further after digging into the trailer’s YouTube comments, where the general consensus amongst fans was “we’re so back”. And, after watching the film, I can confidently agree with them. But how did the Superman trailer manage to inspire so much hope in me and fans alike? Let’s dive in.

I think the best thing about the trailer is that it immediately and wholeheartedly dumps viewers into the familiar world of Superman. Kicking right off with that iconic Superman orchestral theme, led by an energising electric guitar, that song will always give me goosebumps. It's a song that is sure to quickly remind you of who Superman really is - a Big Blue Boy Scout who can do no wrong.  Only a select few superhero theme songs have the same aura and familiarity - Batman, Spiderman, and possibly the X-Men if you watched the 90s cartoons. And it's that familiarity audiences have with Superman that Gunn expertly uses to his advantage to evoke a sense of hope. Hope that this will be the same Superman we all know and love.

Continuing that optimism is the noticeably bright visuals of the trailer. The colours are rich and highly saturated, as if you’re reading a Superman comic or watching one of his many animated series. This escape from the dark, muted tones of Snyder’s DCU does feel quite exciting and refreshing. 

Beside David Corenswet as the titular character, the trailer boasts a spectacle of fantastic heroes and villains. Amongst the slew of superheroes shown are Edi Gathegi as Michael Holt (Mister Terrific), Nathan Fillion as Guy Gardner (Green Lantern), Isabela Merced as Kendra Saunders (Hawkgirl), and even the fluffy rascal, Krypto the dog. I might add all of these characters are non-mainstream players/variations of DC comic heroes, so that feels fun. Before I had watched the film, I was nervous that this amount of good guys would be chaotic. Fans will be pleased to know that this is only partially true of the film. The trailer also teases Nicholas Hoult as Lex Luthor. I thought this was a great casting choice, but had the added worry that perhaps we had seen too many Lex Luthor’s onscreen (this time the film completely proved me wrong). 

Something I personally really loved about the trailer was just how action-packed it was. I feel as though a big criticism of Superman is that he is unbeatable and therefore boring. This trailer literally shows the man in red and blue get beaten black and blue - though he at leasts gets up and saves a few innocent bystanders in the process. This all felt exciting as it seemed Gunn was promising a Superman story where the hero would be truly tested physically and emotionally. It also hints to another great strength of the film itself - there is a necessity for Superman. This is very much a world where giant kaiju monsters and laser beam powered baddies roam the streets and skies.

Small point to add before I move onto the negatives, I really liked the balance between Superman saving lives and kicking ass in the action snippets. Once you watch the film, you’ll understand why. 

My biggest and perhaps only real gripe with the trailer is that it reveals too much. And I mean way too much. Many ‘big’ moments were spoiled for me - action sequences, jokes, and dialogue, to the point where it felt like I’d basically seen the first half of the film. This is true not only for the trailer, but the film’s whole marketing in all; teaser trailer, and over-abundance of sneak-peak scenes. A recurring thought everytime a Superman clip popped up on my feed was “what more can possibly be in this film”.

Further to the point, I do feel modern trailers have a tendency to show too much. Especially blockbusters that Hollywood clearly wants to be successful. Which is also a part of a wider problem and view that attention spans are getting shorter. So to combat this, studios make the trailer as action-packed as possible. And the cycle continues. I know a few people who don’t like watching trailers because of this reason, as it spoils the film for them. With a runtime of three minutes, the Superman trailer felt like an overshare. I thought it might be trying to compensate for something.

It's of course hard to tease a superhero film at this point, when we all know what to expect. And it feels mean to take points off of a trailer because it is for a franchise. But, I do feel a lot of “like” for this trailer stems from it being a teaser for Superman - a franchise I will probably always have interest in.

To end, the Superman trailer did get me very hyped for the film. It seemed grand, fun, filled with action, and most importantly, true to character (and film). It was reminiscent of Sam Raimi’s Spiderman trilogy - a dream come true for any Millennial. Even without dialogue, listening to that dramatic Superman theme as he defeats monsters and saves lives, under the dubious gaze of Lex Luthor, feels like a manifesto for the character. But if this all comes at the cost of a worse cinema experience, I’d rather something more diluted.

Overall rating - 3/5