Superman Movie Flight Scene Divides DC Fans, James Gunn Responds

James Gunn’s Superman is one of the most highly-anticipated movies of 2025 – and one of the most hotly-debated. Not only does Gunn have to re-introduce a new version of Clark Kent/Superman (actor David Corenswet), but the entire future of the new DC Studios and its DC Universe franchise depends on Superman opening wider doors to a mainstream audience than the previous era of the “DC Extended Universe” which was shepherded by Zack Snyder.

It shouldn’t surprise anyone, then, that every bit of footage from Gunn’s film is being weighed against Snyder’s DCEU debut film Man of Steel – including the latest Superman TV spot, which features the first close-up footage of Corenswet’s Superman in flight. Now even fans of The CW’s Arrowverse are weighing in on whether or not Gunn’s Superman can outdo the likes of Superman & Lois!

The image above is from the latest Superman TV spot, which was released during the NFL Conference Championship games. Fan chat threads quickly bent toward the conspiracy theory that Corenswet’s face had been altered with CGI to simulate realistic in-flight physics. That notion led to a wider range of criticism (about the two seconds of footage) about whether or not Gunn is making a Superman movie that is worthy of the big screen and and big budget.

“Man of Steel was over 10 years ago and it still Looks light years better than JG’s Superman!” said one DC fan in a Twitter post, adding, “This downgrade is diabolical!” Another post stated that Gunn’s Superman film is “Getting mogged by a Superman CW show with 1/20 the budget” while showcasing a .gif of Tyler Hoechlin’s Superman in flight, during an episode of Superman & Lois.

There are now entire chat threads filled with side-by-side videos of Gunn’s Superman in flight, compared to footage of Henry Cavill’s Superman in flight, or Hoechlin’s Superman in flight. Despite many positive takes on the footage (see one below), there is still a dedicated consensus in the criticisms of the footage, that Gunn’s take on Superman is too bright, colorful, and CGI-heavy, and is worse than the modern live-action versions of Superman we’ve gotten before.

On the other hand, many positive counterpoints are being made by fans – like the fact that Gunn is the first modern Superman movie director to actually take the physics of in-flight hair into consideration: “Finally, a Superman flying scene where his hair actually flows in the wind – unlike the usual super-speed flights where it stays perfectly gelled, barely moving, like he’s in front of a table fan,” one fan posted before adding that “@JamesGunn is a GOAT.”

James Gunn Responds to Fan Backlash Over Superman Flight Footage

Viewer opinions can’t often be changed once set, so getting Snyderverse or Arrowverse fans to suddenly embrace what James Gunn is doing with his Superman is a somewhat futile battle. However, Gunn did take to his social media account to debunk any assertions that Corenswet’s face was CGI or AI-created during Superman’s flight scenes:

“There is absolutely zero CG in his face,” Gunn wrote in a post. “People’s faces can look different when you put a wide-angle lens up close. The background plate in Svalbard is 100% real as is David.”

This isn’t the first time that Gunn has hopped into the fan discourse about Superman with some film school-style technical clarifications. The first Superman trailer sparked widespread debate about the color palettes ad production design of the film – even some chatter (and confusion) about the type of camera lenses being used and what kind of shot composition we will get in the film.

[RELATED: Why You Really Need to Watch the Superman Trailer in 4K]

As we’ve previously stated (see link above) there is clear evidence that Gunn is using dynamic shifting color tones and stylistic flairs like wide-angle lens shots to immerse viewers in a modern-yet-fantastical DCU world, while trying to have them experience Superman’s godly powers like never before. Whether or not every fan embraces that new vision remains to be seen – and this likely won’t be the last time that shade gets thrown about Gunn’s skills as a filmmaker or ability to pull off a game-changing Superman reboot.

Superman has a theatrical and IMAX release date of July 11th.