DC Studios has released the first poster for James Gunn’s Superman movie to get DCU fans hyped for the official trailer‘s debut this week. The motion poster for Superman mimics the effects of David Corenswet’s Man of Steel taking flight – but it also comes with our first official tease of Superman‘s musical score, in the form of some poignant new theme music for the iconic superhero, which pays clear homage to legendary composer John Williams’ original Superman theme from Richard Donner’s Superman: The Movie (1978).
Videos by ComicBook.com
Superman’s New Theme Music Is A Blast From The Past
[WATCH & LISTEN to Superman Poster’s New Theme Music HERE]
As you can hear in the official Superman motion poster post, the new theme music is a slightly new-age-sounding meditative version of that original John Williams Superman theme. It’s an interesting audio sample for Gunn and the studio to include, which is clearly meant to resonate with longtime Superman fans; entice new fans with those same classic chords Williams composed – and possibly tip us off as to what kind of film this trailer will reveal to the world, before we actually see it.
By using a variation on John Wiliams’ “Superman – Main Theme” Gunn is already adding a level of meta-awareness to his DCU reboot. Bryan Singer’s Superman Returns (2006) was an unabashed attempt to recreate the universe of Donner’s Superman films; Singer and Warner Bros. even had composer John Ottman (The Nice Guys, Usual Suspects, X-Men: DofP) do a cover of Williams’ Superman theme in its full orchestrated majesty.
But then, that has always been the main critique of Singer’s film: too much slavish recreation of Donner’s film – from the casting of Superman (Brandon Routh) to Kevin Spacey mimicry of Gene Hackman’s Lex Luthor to the music that propelled it all. It seems that, so far, Gunn is lifting the core DNA of Donner’s Superman (and the late Christopher Reeve’s good-natured, all-American essence) and is transposing it into the bigger, darker, wilder, modern DCU. Just thinking of Corenswet’s Superman having to deal with the violent, shady (but lovable!) freaks of the Creature Commandos should give you an idea of the kind of tonal range the DCU is establishing – and how Corneswet’s Superman will be its infallible moral center.
[RELATED: Will DC Fans Respond to the Superman Trailer Like Man of Steel’s Teaser?]
Why Old School Superman Still Works in the DCU
Superman’s unshakable consistency as a moral ideal is a concept that legendary DC comic writer Dan Jurgens talked about with our ComicBook Nation Podcast. When asked what kind of new take on Superman was needed to re-ignite the franchise, Jurgens was adamant that no ‘special sauce’ was required – the perspective just needed to be right:
“One of the things I’ve always been asked over the years was this idea of, ‘Well, is Superman falling out of flavor? Is he too much the Big Blue Boy Scout? Or are his ideals too retro and too old?’” Jurgens said. “And to that I have always said, ‘Well if you’re going to say that someone is doing the right thing is too old school, or if someone who represents truth and justice is too old school, that’s not a commentary on the character: that’s commentary on us.’ And so I think what Superman is able to do is provide this touchpoint, where we can look at ourselves through him in a way: and when we do find out that we have maybe this greater need for Superman, I think it’s because we’re the ones who have drifted too far. Not Superman.”
The DCU has already dropped clues that this Superman movie could take place after Clark Kent/Kal-El has had to face death and consider a world without him as its protector. In examining his legacy (keyword) both literally and figuratively, Gunn’s version of Superman could make the case for his importance as the bedrock of the DCU and deliver a funny, exciting, heart swell of a superhero fantasy adventure, as well. That John Williams remix will likely help with that.
Superman flies into theaters on July 11, 2025. The trailer will be released this week.
