David Corenswet Settles the Superman Trunks Debate (With a Better Reason Than the Comics)

Whenever a new take on an iconic character makes the jump to the big screen, filmmakers have the opportunity to put their spin on classic aesthetics. With the upcoming Superman, one of the biggest debates was whether David Corenswet’s Kryptonian would honor the origins of the character by wearing red trunks as part of his costume. Comicbook got the chance to visit the set of Superman; while there, James Gunn confirmed that it was ultimately the Corenswet himself who made the great point that, by wearing trunks, he might appear more approachable to young fans. It was a sentiment that even went against Gunn’s initial thoughts that Corenswet’s Superman definitely shouldn’t wear trunks:

“At the end of the day, [the debate] wasn’t that heated. It was heated for a while. I was on the ‘no trunks’ team for a long time,” Gunn shared with ComicBook. “And [Man of Steel director] Zack [Snyder] said that when he was doing it, he tried a billion different trunk versions as we did. And I kept going back to no trunks, no trunks, no trunks. And I’m like, well, ‘Let’s just grind it out. Let’s just keep trying trunks and see what happens.’ And David [Corenswet] said something to me that really affected me.”

He continued, “We were trying on all these different versions, and we screen-tested with trunks and no trunks. And one of the things David said is that Superman wants kids to not be afraid of him. He’s an alien. He’s got these incredible powers. He shoots beams out of his eyes, can blow the truck over. He’s this incredibly powerful, could be considered scary, individual and he wants people to like him. He wants to be a symbol of hope and 
positivity.”

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Superman, and virtually every other comic book character, was designed to be as visually and aesthetically dynamic as possible, regardless of how these appearances would translate into the real world. Throughout Superman’s onscreen legacy, his look has been reimagined in various ways, though Henry Cavill — the most recent actor to play the character on the big screen — had a more practical, alien-looking suit. The nature of fandom means that while some audiences love the look of trunks, others hate it.

DCU Superman’s Trunks Come From Wrestling Inspiration

“He dresses like a professional wrestler, he dresses in a way that makes people unafraid of him, that shows that,” Gunn continued. “That really clicked in for me. And I think trying to pretend that Superman’s costume doesn’t have some frivolity to it, at its base, trying to make it look serious is silly because he is a superhero. He’s the first one, brightly colored, and that’s who he is. So that’s where we landed and, eventually, we all came to a place where almost all of us agreed on the trunks.”

Given that Superman is set to be the first entry in the upcoming DCU, fans will be fascinated to see how this aesthetic decision impacts the big-screen looks of other iconic heroes.

Superman is set to hit theaters on July 11, 2025.