James Gunn’s Superman Trailer Explained: Cast, Plot, and Easter Eggs

Get ready, DC fans: starting fresh after a blockbuster first trailer and months of heavy anticipation, DC Studios is going bold with its reinvented Superman. Set for release July 11, the rebooted hero from writer-director James Gunn is a step into a brave new world for the caped Kryptonian. Balancing high stakes with heartfelt emotion, action with emotion, and DC heroes with villains (and one adorable superdog), the studio’s new Superman trailer has fans more than ready for the big blue boy scout to soar on the big screen.

Tis Not the Origin of a Kryptonian That You Know…

First things first: this Superman trailer is a departure from recent decades’ worth of screen versions of the world’s most famous superhero. In the weeks and months leading up to the film, Gunn and DC have made clear this is not your average “hero’s journey” or origin story. Instead, they’re framing Superman as Clark Kent’s internal, psychological quest to learn where he fits in between his Kryptonian royal roots, his nerdy glasses-wearing alter ego as Clark Kent, and his personal, down-to-earth upbringing on a farm in rural Kansas.

While those comics, cartoons, and cinematic heroes before him have usually zeroed in on finding his place in the wider universe and world, Clark (or Kal-El, to his family and, presumably, his parents) is on a very personal quest in the new movie. This sets the stage for a bold cinematic new start for Superman.

A New Superman for a New Age

David Corenswet (Pearl, Hollywood) stars as Superman. This early 30s actor with a dash of Owen Wilson is stepping into the role fresh off the success of his role as Wendell in Netflix’s limited series Hollywood. As the title character, he’s a 25-year-old Superman who looks like he’s seen a few more world-saving battles than previous versions, from the caped and costumed Kent’s mailroom workday uniform to Clark’s wire-framed glasses. Balancing the two personae of Superman/Clark Kent feels to be a key part of the character’s narrative in this Superman movie, particularly in his connection with Lois Lane.

Rachel Brosnahan (best known for playing Miriam “Midge” Maisel in The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel) is Lois Lane, and as the trailer opens, she is the one in charge. The camera zooms in on her working her way through a mock interview with “Superman” as played, of course, by Clark Kent. Sparks (literally and figuratively, given Lois’s interrogation of a superpowered Clark during a citywide blackout) fly. She teases Clark/Kent, but does she know his secret yet? Is he struggling to be two different people in public, or has Lois Lane already figured him out? Fans are divided on the question, with some fully in the Lois-knows camp. This writer is not in that crowd, taking a wait-and-see approach that leans heavily on what the two actors do (or do not) do with their faces to keep fans guessing. I mean, we do know Lex Luthor is out to get him. One way or the other, a love story/obsession-turned-alliance with Lois Lane is at the heart of this Clark Kent’s story in Superman.

Nicholas Hoult (The Great, X-Men, Mad Max: Fury Road) has been recruited to play Lex Luthor. And based on the glimpses seen here in the trailer, you can almost hear his trademark mad scientist cackle as he sits in his LuthorCorp office, flexing. It’s the kind of supervillain we know and love, or despise, or both, depending on how Luthor’s onscreen story goes. It helps that Nicholas Hoult is a natural as the egotistical Luthor. For now, though, he’s not alone. Pearly Sara Sampaio (Spyke from the X-Men movies, set to appear in the upcoming Blade reboot) is Eve Teschmacher, his plucky starlet turned second-in-command. And Terence Rosemore (Windfall) is Otis, another LuthorCorp lackey.

Is There a Kaiju in Your Pocket? Yes, Yes There Is

Wait, who’s that dog? Yes, that’s Superman’s trusty white canine, Krypto. He (she? it?) first showed up at the end of last December’s teaser trailer and has more than made up for a rather short time on screen by instantly becoming the audience favorite. While last year’s teaser saw Superman’s faithful mutt in one big action sequence (dragging a semi-conscious, bullet-ridden, bleeding Clark to safety in his underground Fortress of Solitude), the first full trailer for Superman features one big sequence after another for Krypto. Those include a delightful paw-to-toe action sequence with Lex Luthor (the high-tech lizardman super-villain Angela Spica/The Engineer, played by Maria Gabriela de Faria) along with some eye-opening visual effects as the four-legged superhero takes on villains LuthorCorp, led by Luthor himself, in a kind of naked, panting fury.

As well as high-tech threats, the trailer also gives fans a quick and varied peek at the action that hints at the kaiju cameos to come. For now, the blend of superhero-meets-kaiju action just showcases one final familiar name on the character roster. Captain Atom is in the mix, and he is Nathan Fillion (Castle, Firefly, the Serenity movie) in Green Lantern Guy Gardner makeup and signature bowl-cut hairstyle. In terms of visual effects, mysterious hand-waving magic, and elemental world-building, Anthony Carrigan (The Harlem Shuffle, True Detective) is Rex Mason/Metamorpho, a hero who can control the elements through his bodily alchemy. Isabela Merced (Instant Family) plays the winged, formidable warrior Hawkgirl, while Edi Gathegi (Munich) is Michael Holt/Mister Terrific, a former billionaire technology CEO who uses his vast intellect to become a costumed, gadget-armed hero.

Of course, on the female side of the roster, Kryptonian Kara Zor-El, aka Supergirl, is also in the mix. Played by Milly Alcock, Superman’s cousin makes a key connection that feels emblematic of this new story. Pruitt Taylor Vince (Friday Night Lights, Lovecraft Country) and Neva Howell (Descendants, A Beautiful Day) round out Superman’s family with roles as his adopted parents, Jonathan and Martha Kent.

DC Superfriends for DC Fans

The list of cameo credits also gets a little crazy, starting with a shoutout to DC’s animated shared universe in the form of Frank Grillo (Captain America: Civil War, War Machine) reprising his role as Rick Flag Sr. from the Netflix animated series Creature Commandos. Also making a small appearance is actor Sean Gunn (Toy Story 3, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2) as Maxwell Lord.

Say What You Will, But There’s Some Heart in Here

As if that early information dump, recent reports that the teaser included actual footage from the kaiju blockbuster The Monsters Are Coming, and Easter eggs a mile long didn’t fill hardcore fans with enough hype to get here. The Superman trailer boasts plenty of big-screen high-stakes action and great superhero-meets-supervillain fight scenes, a callback to the climax of Christopher Reeve’s 1978 Superman: The Movie. There’s rooftop parkour with a supercharge, fists of fury fights, some armor-clad spaceships taking each other out at the end of a mile-high building, and superheroes with laser eyes. One battle scene, like so many in these trailers, is rendered almost unrecognizable through advanced visual effects as Clark flies through a simulation of a Kryptonian city literally exploding.

As a reminder, though, this is a superhero movie where a reporter challenges Superman’s good intentions by asking how the average person views his superpowered battle against city-destroying aliens in terms of public relations. More specifically, she asks him why none of this civil defense effort has made it into the newspaper, implying he was able to hide the damage to the city skyline from his civilian, Kryptonite-camera-shooting vigilante alter ego, Clark Kent. After a stunned Superman can only ask her to “Listen,” Lois presses him as to what the hero is getting at, and he delivers the emotional core that grounds so many of his most famous adventures as Superman in his most well-known comic book stories:

People were going to die!

Which leads us back to, well, dogs. That is because, after action, humor, and heart, this trailer ends with one of the quietest moments of all, a final frame of Superman flat on his back on his bed, body spent, exhausted, and not moving…while Krypto settles contentedly on top of his chest.