Look, up in the sky! It’s a bird! It’s a plane! It’s… Superman versus the Hammer of Boravia! Ahead of Wednesday’s Superman trailer launch, writer and director James Gunn shared a 15-second snippet of footage showing the Man of Steel (David Corenswet) swooshing into action and trading blows with the Hammer of Boravia, an original villain from the fictional war-torn country that has been glimpsed in trailers released thus far. Between shots of the golden-armored Hammer unleashing his floor-leveling laser vision is a sneering Lex Luthor (Nicholas Hoult), suggesting the LuthorCorp CEO has something to do with the menace to Metropolis…
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Watch the just-released clip below.
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The Hammer of Boravia bears a striking resemblance to the Lexo-Suit battle armor that John Corben — the future cyborg supervillain Metallo — piloted as the Man of Steel’s first super-powered foe in “The Last Son of Krypton,” the three-part series premiere of 1996’s Superman: The Animated Series. There Luthor’s war-profiting scheme involved the foreign country of Kaznia.

First identified as the Hammer of Boravia in a Daily Planet newspaper article penned by mild-mannered reporter Clark Kent, the armored antagonist retaliates against Metropolis for Superman’s overseas interference. The article is transcribed below, but be warned of potential spoilers for plot points in Superman, which involves a conflict between Boravia and Jarhanpur (a neighboring country mentioned in Creature Commandos).
Metropolis was targeted by a superpowered mystery man on Sunday, resulting in over 20 million dollars in damage to the city. The self-titled “Hammer of Boravia” attacked Downtown Metropolis claiming it was retribution for the recent political interventions in Boravia by Superman. This vengeful expedition turned into a terrorist assault on American soil, hospitalizing 22 Metropolis citizens.
Boravia has been the source of numerous headlines worldwide in recent weeks as it invaded its neighboring country Jarhanpur, only for the brief war to be swiftly ended by the Superman. The President of Boravia, Vasil Glarkos, maintains the Hammer of Boravia is not a representative of the national government, but rather an independent vigilante.
When addressing the political ramifications of his actions, Superman said, “While critics thousands of miles away from this conflict continue to argue if what I did was right or wrong, the bottom line is peoples lives were threatened. I had to act.”
Damages included an ocular laser strike on the well-known Chocos Building. “Luckily no employees were injured,” says a Chocos spokesperson, “and this will not affect the production of our beloved Chocos cookies!”
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The destruction of public property due to the actions of super-powered individuals and extraterrestrials has been a contentious topic of discussion in local government. Many believe that the recent tax hike is a consequence of this rise in super-people acting outside the law. “The recent tax raise was only to support our ever growing population”, claims a representative from the Metropolis capital. “Our latest project is to restore reported condemned housing and re-codify them into modern standards. This would increase available homes in New Troy 17%, Bakerline 19% and Queensland park 26%.”
Chocos, of course, is the Oreo-like sandwich cookie that is a favorite of J’onn J’onnz, the Martian Manhunter.
Starring David Corenswet, Rachel Brosnahan, Nicholas Hoult, Frank Grillo, Edi Gathegi, Anthony Carrigan, Nathan Fillion, Isabela Merced, Skyler Gisondo, Sara Sampaio, María Gabriela de Faría, Wendell Pierce, Alan Tudyk, Pruitt Taylor Vince, Neva Howell, and Sean Gunn, DC Studios’ Superman soars into theaters on July 11.