The DCEU is finally history this summer. James Gunn is preparing with his Superman reboot not just renewing one of the most important superheroes of all time. His film is also the starting signal for a completely new film universe. Gunn seems to be the right man with the right feeling for this task.
But it wasn’t all bad that Zack Snyder performed with his Superman (Henry Cavill) in Man of Steel. Therefore I hope that Gunn is at his restart this Three approaches from Snyder takes over.
1. Superman is a visual figure
Zack Snyder had understood that a god -like outdoor survey must be staged accordingly. The action in Man of Steel stipulated what it can look like. Clark Kents first Heroic deeds were spectacularly staged And were able to impressively display the pure power of the superhero. Clark is against half oil platforms to save the workers from the danger zone. His first flight attempt in the new superhero costume was fast and so powerful that the camera hardly came after. In between he crashed into the huge icebergs at the North Pole.
Although he cannot feel pain himself, the film conveys us with sound and pictures of how tremendously the impact is. James Gunn also picks up this moment in his first trailer and shows how his Superman (David Corenswet) smashes into eternal ice just similarly powerfully.
Look here the trailer for James Gunns Superman:
Superman – teaser trailer (English) HD
However, it is much more important to capture the action enormously. Zack Snyder showed what happens when two or more cryptonians literally clash on earth. The destruction orgies in Man of Steel both in Smallville and in the grand finale in Metropolis leave no doubt about the forces of MAN of Tomorrow. Unfortunately, Snyder did not know any quieter tones in the action, so that his Superman optically as well as dramaturgical the traumatic events of September 11, 2001 in New York City.
Hopefully Gunn will let his Superman selected and cleared in the right places and display his strength.
2. Krypton is a strange place
Superman is an alien from the planet Krypton. As a baby, he was placed in a space capsule by his parents and was able to escape the destruction of his homeland. An undisputed highlight in Man of Steel is that Design of Superman’s home planet. The Zack Snyder design team has made enormous effort to present it as a completely strange world. In Man of Steel we see a combination of fantasy setting and high-tech world that connects flying dragon creatures with analog crystal hologram screens.
Snyder had understood that Krypton not only has to look strange, but also had to feel alien. If James Gunn Superman’s history tell again, deliver short flashbacks or even want to work with objects such as the space capsule in the basement of his adoptive parents, then I hope very much for another world.
With Man of Steel, Snyder demonstrated that this form of WorldBuilding not only creates optical stimuli, but also tells the content. The scenes on cryptone and the later use of cryptonic technology have underlined Superman’s origin as alien and thus its differentness without many words. Gunn should take this effective narrative mechanism to heart.
3. Superman is a complex figure
Zack Snyder had great ideas for Man of Steel. Instead of showing a finished superhero at the height of his time, he initially sent his Clark Kent on a great search for meaning. He wanted to question Superman in a similar way to Christopher Nolan previously demonstrated with Batman in Batman Begins. This is no coincidence, after all, David S. Goyer was involved in both scripts. The central questions are therefore also at Man of Steel: Who is this superman? Where does he get his moral values from, which he carries into the world as a symbol? And how does the world react to these superheroes?
Unfortunately, one is constantly failing to answer these questions. The answers are often banal, not available or just stupid. Clark Kent’s secrecy about his identity has something to do with his earthly father and a tornado. I have not understood this scene to this day.
Nevertheless: Snyder (and Goyer) took Superman seriously. They tried to fill out the figure with multi -layered character traits, asked questions about the background of the hero and wanted to throw it into a complex world that may only be convinced by superheroes in super costumes. Exactly such an approach can make Superman interesting for a wider audience. Behind the hopeful symbol, which is immersed in bright colors with a panties over his pants and his cute dog companion Krypto, is much more than you think at first.
Hopefully James Gunn with his Superman can answer the questions raised by Zack Snyder and ultimately deliver more than just colorful pop music and stylish action.
James Gunns Superman will come to German cinemas on July 10, 2025.