Superman is the most important movie of 2025 — or at least the movie with the highest stakes riding on it. As the first film from James Gunn and Peter Safran‘s new DC Studios regime, it’s a hard relaunch of an entire franchise that will serve as a referendum on the superhero genre as a whole. In success, it will kick off a decade of movies and shows that will finally make DC a viable Marvel competitor. If it fails… well, it can’t fail.
A new behind-the-scenes look at the film (watch above) released on Superman Day on April 18 — the 87th anniversary of the publication of the Man of Steel’s debut in Action Comics No. 1 — makes a compelling case for being excited for Superman, which premieres this summer.
In the clip, writer-director Gunn, producer Safran, and cast members including David Corenswet (Superman/Clark Kent), Rachel Brosnahan (Lois Lane), and Nathan Fillion (Guy Gardner/Green Lantern) discuss the making of the film, and what it means for truth, justice, and the American way.
Gunn talks about trying to crack the story for years before finding a way into the character that resonated with him. “This character is noble, and he’s beautiful,” Gunn says, over footage of a camera on a massive jib swooping down to shoot Corenswet as he lays in the snow at the start of the scene that premiered at CinemaCon, where Krypto the Super Dog rescues Superman and drags him to the Fortress of Solitude.
“We love the opportunity to play with the incredible library of DC characters and stories, and we really want to do justice for them,” Safran says, over of the clearest looks at Hawkgirl (Isabela Merced) and Metamorpho (Anthony Carrigan) released to date.
Isabela Merced as Hawkgirl (DC Studios/Warner Bros.)Anthony Carrigan as Metamorpho (DC Studios/Warner Bros.)
There’s some very cool footage of Lois Lane and Perry White (Wendell Pierce) walking through the office of the Daily Planet and other action scenes on real locations with real practical effects, not just on an empty soundstage that will be filled in with CGI (though there is some of that, to be sure). There’s also a fun moment where Corenswet, in costume as Superman, explains to Lex Luthor portrayer Nicholas Hoult how Superman wears his trunks on the outside of his pants. “It’s liberating,” he jokes.
Gunn and the actors then talk about how this version of Superman is full of hope and heart and goodness. “He saves people because it’s the right thing to do,” Brosnahan says. “We could use a little bit more of that.”
“This is the beginning of the future,” says Edi Gathegi, who plays Mr. Terrific.
“They are launching a new era, right now,” adds Fillion.
“In James Gunn we trust, and I think we can do it,” Brosnahan says.
Warner Bros. is putting a lot of trust in Gunn, who previously made the Guardians of the Galaxy movies for Marvel and is creatively in charge of the whole DC slate. Superman will be followed by a number of other DC movies and shows, with movies Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow and Clayface and TV series Lanterns in production for 2026 release dates.
If nothing else, the behind the scenes featurette gives a sense of the scale of Superman‘s production and how confident the filmmakers are in it.
Superman opens in theaters on July 11.