A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away… an infant from the doomed planet Krypton was rocketed to Earth. Landing in Smallville, Kansas, young Kal-El was adopted by the Kents and raised as Clark Kent, who used his solar-fueled powers to become Superman, Man of Steel. It’s a familiar origin story told in several cinematic iterations, and as such, not retold in James Gunn’s Superman movie. The reboot begins with the Last Son of Krypton (David Corenswet) already established as the newest superhero in a pantheon of metahumans that spans hundreds of years.
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According to multiple reports out of the recent fan event in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, where those in attendance watched the first 30 minutes of the movie, Superman starts with what is being described as a Star Wars-inspired crawl. (No word yet if the opening titles are also inspired by the swooshing blue text of 1978’s Superman: The Movie, as seen in trailers.)
The opening of Superman is “similar to what is done in Star Wars, with a scrolling text setting the context for this new universe,” according to fansite Superman Brasil.
In recent interviews, Gunn stated that the Superman movie is “introducing a whole new world,” one that was soft-launched with the 2024 animated series Creature Commandos.
“We’re in an alternate reality where superheroes have existed for 300 years,” Gunn, the film’s writer and director, told Fandango. “And now we’re just picking up on the story of one particular superhero three years after he comes on the scene who happens to be the most powerful metahuman of all time.”
Gunn has long made it clear that the previously-titled Superman: Legacy is not an origin story, but “tells the story of Superman’s journey to reconcile his Kryptonian heritage with his human upbringing as Clark Kent of Smallville, Kansas.”
“I think the most important thing is that [Superman] works as a movie by itself,” he told Fandango. “It’s a complete story with a beginning, a middle, and an end. It’s an important part of the life of all three of the characters.” Those characters being Superman, Lois Lane (Rachel Brosnahan), and Lex Luthor (Nicholas Hoult).
Metahumans having existed for 300 years means they’ve become commonplace, whether it’s a human-looking alien from Krypton or a man-eating shark-man. It seems like the Star Wars-esque opening crawl will establish that backstory.
“If you saw a shark-man walking down the street, you’d probably vomit and s— yourself to death. If they saw one, it would be more like if you saw Paul McCartney on the sidewalk in New York,” Gunn previously told Entertainment Weekly. “I grew up reading DC and Marvel comics and having worlds and universes of superheroes who were interacting. I grew up watching Super Friends on Saturday mornings.”
“It’s a long time coming, to be able to be a part of a world in which superheroes are real,” he continued. “We don’t have to explain everyone away. There’s a little bit of magic in this world. There’s science beyond our understanding in this world. This is the kind of place where there’s an island full of dinosaurs that probably exists.”
DC Studios’ Superman — which also features Edi Gathegi as Mister Terrific, Anthony Carrigan as Metamorpho, Nathan Fillion as Green Lantern Guy Gardner, Isabela Merced as Hawkgirl, with Skyler Gisondo as Jimmy Olsen, Sara Sampaio as Eve Teschmacher, María Gabriela de Faría as the Engineer, Wendell Pierce as Perry White, Alan Tudyk as Superman Robot #4, Neva Howell as Ma Kent, Pruitt Taylor Vince as Pa Kent, Sean Gunn as Maxwell Lord and Frank Grillo as Rick Flag Sr. — flies into theaters July 11.
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