Superman: James Gunn’s First-Look Image of David Corenswet and That Evil Orb Explained

James Gunn released a first-look promo image from his Superman movie, featuring actor David Corneswet making his official full-fledged debut in the new Superman costume. However, Gunn only makes chess moves when it comes to promoting his new DC Universe, so the image for Superman contained some choice Easter-egg details for fans to analyze. 

The New Superman Suit

Superhero movie costumes are always a big deal – and no suit’s a bigger deal than the Superman suit. Fans always have serious feelings toward just about every detail of the iconic Superman look (or deviations from it) and David Corenswet’s Superman is no different. 

The suit that James Gunn is going with for the DC Universe looks like it has the high-collared design of Superman’s “New 52” costume  – and the same could be said for the line patterning on the blue and red portions of the costume, as well as the cuffs of the boots and shirt sleeves. That said, the Superman insignia on the costume looks like a mix between the classic and new-age designs, and the photo doesn’t make a pronounced point about it but in close-up it’s clear that Corenswet’s Superman will be wearing the red briefs on the outside – the epitome of a classic look for the character. However, the location of this scene is questionable: floor-to-ceiling windows in a downtown apartment, on a reporter’s salary? Hard to believe.

The biggest point of curiosity right now seems to be the state of Superman’s costume in this photo. The suit has definitely seen better days than the scorched mess we see in the upper-right chest area. Obviously, Superman’s been in some intense battle, and the appearance of a giant, floating, ocular-shaped energized object in the background seems to be the culprit.

What Is The Glowing Orb In James Gunn’s Superman Photo? 

We can only speculate at this point, but DC fans have theories about what James Gunn is teasing with the deadly orb in the sky over Metropolis. 

DC’s Solaris Explained – The most compelling guess from fans is that James Gunn is teasing the DC villain “Solaris,” who was created by Grant Morrison in the 1998 event series DC One Million, and had a key role in Morrision’s now-classic limited series All-Star Superman. 

Solaris is a sentient artificial sun that was created through a temporal paradox effect, in which Solaris of the 853rd Century used the Future version of Hourman to travel back in time travel and infect the 20th Century with a virus that ensured its creation. Solaris can infect and consume stars, and through his battles with present-day Superman (or “Superman Prime”), Solaris becomes obsessed with battling Superman and all his descendants, in a feud that lasts from the 20th Century all the way to the 853rd. 

In All-Star Superman (which is the source material James Gunn originally hinted at as inspiration for his film), it turns out to be Solaris who is the secondary villain of the story. Solaris teams with Lex Luthor in a plan to take down Superman by tinting the sun to a red color (de-powering Clark Kent), while Lex Luthor had a Superman serum giving him strength. Solaris went so far as to poison the Earth’s sun (betraying Lex), forcing Superman to sacrifice his own life to re-power the sun. 

While the creature in the background of the image could, in fact, be some creation of Brainiac’s (another frequent cohort of Luthor’s), or some threat made by Lex, it feels more likely that Gunn is sticking to his guns and is adapting All-Star Superman in some form.