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There may be few options for new DC movies in 2024, but there’s a big one on the horizon. James Gunn’s Superman is scheduled for release in 2025 and will usher in a new cinematic DC Universe. To celebrate the start of filming, Gunn has just released a photo of actor David Corenswet’s Superman costume.
It may not seem like much, but this lone close-up of the costume actually reveals a surprising amount about the influences behind and direction of Gunn’s Superman. Let’s take a look at what we can take away from this image and why the film seems to draw inspiration from one of the most iconic DC Comics stories of all time.
Superman from Kingdom Come
Corenswet’s Superman costume is a major departure from the previous cinematic Superman in at least one sense. The emblem of this suit is much more stylized than the rest and has an angular and minimalist S shape. This version of the S emblem should be immediately familiar to anyone who has read the graphic novel Kingdom Come by Mark Waid and Alex Ross.
Kingdom Come is among the most famous and influential stories in DC’s Elseworlds. It is set in a future where a new generation of heroes has emerged to forcibly replace the previous one. These younger heroes lack the restraint and firm moral code of their predecessors, and Superman and the Justice League are forced to retreat after a cybernetic vigilante named Magog executes the Joker in broad daylight. Superman reluctantly returns to the outside world in Kingdom Come, emerging as a rare voice of reason in a world hurtling toward apocalyptic self-destruction.
The S emblem design is a clear sign that Gunn is taking inspiration from Kingdom Come for his version of Superman. That’s not to say that the new movie is going to be a direct adaptation of Kingdom Come. On the one hand, we know that Corenswet is playing a fairly young version of Kal-El. He’s established as Superman when the movie begins, but he’s not the bitter, gray-tempered Superman seen in Kingdom Come.
But this Kingdom Come influence speaks to one of the most important themes of the new Superman movie. The film will focus heavily on the philosophical divide between Supes and his fellow heroes. As producer Peter Safran voiced it“He is kindness in a world that thinks kindness is old-fashioned.” As in Kingdom Come, this version of Superman will be a testament to a nobler, gentler way of doing business in a world of increasing violence and conflict. The S may look different, but it definitely still represents “hope.”
With that in mind, some of Gunn’s more eclectic supporting cast choices start to make more sense. Superman features heroes like Hawkgirl by Isabela Merced and Guy Gardner by Nathan Fillion, who could easily clash with the kinder Superman. Hawkgirl is known for being one of DC’s most violent heroes. Her entire modus operandi is basically hitting things with a fancy mace. And Guy Gardner is famous for being one of DC’s most distant heroes. Arguably the most iconic Guy scene of all time comes when Batman knocks out his fellow Justice League member with a single blow. This isn’t to say that these characters will be treated as outright antagonists in the film, but they have the potential to be more jaded and violence-prone alternatives to Superman’s style of truth and justice.
Brandon Routh’s Superman
Superman’s new emblem may evoke the shape of the Kingdom Come costume, but not the color. Superman’s costume from Kingdom Come is notable for being one of the few to omit the traditional yellow background. Instead, it consists of a red S on a stark black background. Black has effectively become shorthand for an older, slightly disillusioned Superman with the world around him.
As we’ve already established, that’s not the angle Gunn is trying to take with his Man of Steel. It makes sense that while the film adopts the Kingdom Come logo, it sticks to a more traditional (and less intimidating) color palette.
This emblem is actually reminiscent of another previous live-action Superman actor. Brandon Routh reprized the role of Superman for 2019 Arrowverse Crossover Crisis on Infinite Earths. In Crisis, Routh plays the Superman of Earth-96 (a nod to Kingdom Come’s release year, 1996). It’s possible that Routh could have been playing the same incarnation of the Man of Steel seen in 2006’s Superman Returns, depending on how he chooses to interpret DC’s live-action multiverse. But in this last stage of his life, the character is largely based on the one from Kingdom Come, right down to the costume and the red and black emblem. He is depicted as an older, world-weary Man of Steel who retired to run the Daily Planet after Lois Lane’s death.
However, Routh makes one final appearance at the end of Crisis, where his Kingdom Come costume was updated to replace the black emblem background with yellow. This visual rearrangement tells us that Clark has regained his sense of hope and faith in humanity and is ready to once again become the world’s greatest protector. A little color change makes a big difference in this particular Superman costume.
Golden Age Superman
The S shape isn’t the only element that sets this Superman costume apart from its predecessors. It is also unique because it features a yellow border around the red diamond. It’s a bit of added complexity in a very iconic super suit design.
But again, that seemingly minor detail could tell us a lot about the way Superman is portrayed in the new film. Threads user jdarwinauthor noted that the yellow border is reminiscent of Superman’s appearances in the ’30s and ’40s, both in DC’s early Superman comics and in Fleischer’s iconic animated shorts. Gunn himself seemed to confirm that interpretation.
This suggests that as much as the new film takes inspiration from Kingdom Come’s futuristic Superman, it also returns to the character’s roots. The Golden Age Superman stands out as being quite different from more modern interpretations of the character, and not just because he didn’t fly at first.
Golden Ages Supes spent less time fighting supervillains and more time dealing with mad scientists and common criminals. Some of Superman’s early comics see him lashing out at a woman’s abusive husband and dealing with a corrupt slumlord. Creators Jerry Siegel and Joe Schuster deliberately portrayed him as a crusading hero of the common man, perfectly suited to the final days of the Great Depression.
Could we see something similar in Gunn’s Superman? Perhaps this time the focus will be less on a powerful supervillain like General Zod or Doomsday and more on Superman defending the people from relatively common villains. The only major Superman villain confirmed to appear at this time is Lex Luthor by Nicholas Hoult. This time, Superman may have to face an enemy he can’t simply beat with his fists, but conquer on the ideological battlefield.
The strength of solitude
The first image of Corenswet’s Superman offers one last clue about the plot of the new film. The suit is covered in snow, which can only mean one thing when Superman is involved. We head to the Fortress of Solitude.
The Fortress of Solitude is a crucial link to Superman’s Kryptonian heritage. It’s equal parts secret base and museum filled with memorabilia from the lost world of Krypton. The Fortress of Solitude has appeared in Richard Donner and Zack Snyder’s Superman films, and it’s clear that it will be a major focus of Gunn’s Superman series from the beginning.
That’s good. The last thing the movie world needs is another Superman origin story. Gunn’s Superman is not that. Once again, it’s a movie that picks up after Superman has become a recognizable public hero. But it’s important to have that link to his Kryptonian heritage. In a film about Clark trying to find the balance between being Kal-El and Superman, the Fortress of Solitude becomes a necessary reminder of his lost homeworld.
And, with a little luck, the Fortress can be used to scatter all kinds of fun DC Easter eggs. Superman is just the beginning of a whole new cinematic universe, so why not give fans a fun preview of what’s to come in the years to come?
For more on DC’s cinematic future, see what to expect from DC in 2024 and review all the DC movies and series in development.
Jesse is an affable editor at IGN. Let him lend a machete to your intellectual thicket following @jschedeen on Twitter.