On a random Monday, writer/director James Gunn finally dropped the first look at David Corenswet’s Superman suit from the upcoming, appropriately titled movie, Superman (formerly Superman Legacy). And I’m no fashion expert, but it sure looks like the suit takes its inspiration not just from Kingdom Come, but the New 52 as well.
Let’s take a look at the suit in full, which Gunn posted on every social media platform imaginable. For the sake of clarity, we’ll focus on his Threads account:
First of all: cool. Gunn further clarified that, “The above photo was taken on set by Jess Miglio and was entirely in-camera.” Which is pretty alarming because that giant ball of bisexual sky fire is real???
Anyway, let’s take a look at the suit — and we’ll get back to the skyball in a second. Corenswet is pictured here as Superman, putting on his boots. Depending on what interpretation you want to go with it does seem to be a semi-tired, back-to-work look for him. That could be how he’s approaching the role in the movie, or it could be a tease for Superman once again coming to save superhero cinema.
Superman’s New Look Is A Mix Of New 52, Kingdom Come, Plus Red Trunks
Regardless, the full suit is the draw here. Yes, he’s got the red trunks on, which is pretty exciting. We had already seen the logo, which is inspired by the classic comic book series Kingdom Come, albeit with far more color. That book was about an older Superman, this is a younger, newer-on-the-scene Superman, so it’s not quite the same thing. In fact, the overall look is closer to what Superman wore in DC Comics‘ New 52 reboot than anything else.
Here they are side-by-side for comparison:
While it’s not a one-to-one — for example, the notch on the top of the boots goes down, instead of up, and he’s wearing a turtleneck instead of a collared suit — the texture and coloring seem pretty consistent with New 52, the 2011 reboot of DC Comics designed by Jim Lee. And that makes sense! In those books, this was a greener, newer-on-the-scene Superman who was still getting used to the world around him… And that’s what’s happening in Superman, too.
And that’s all well and good, but let’s talk skyball.
Who Is The Villain Of Superman?
There’s been a fair amount of discussion online about what’s going on behind Superman, focusing on the villain. All joking aside, I’m assuming that’s a matte painting behind him with whatever that is — but it does seem to indicate one of many possible villains for the movie.
We know Lex Luthor is in the film, played by Nicholas Hoult. So this simply could be “Lex Luthor built a big evil skyball that shoots pink rays.”
This could also have something to do with The Engineer, played by María Gabriela De Faría. She’s a member of The Authority, a superhero/supervillain team that will clash in some way with Superman in the film. Given she has a nanotech-infused that allow her to control technology, it’s possible this might be a big machine ball. Technical term.
The popular internet theory is that this is something to do with Brainiac, the uber-smart alien baddie who has plagued Superman time and again. However, with a packed roster of superheroes and others already in the movie, and no indication anyone has been cast as Brainiac, I would be surprised if he showed up here as the main villain.
One other possibility to throw out about Sky Ball. The first is that this might be Brother Eye, an evil satellite that knows everything about everyone and looks to control the world through force. While Brother Eye is usually built by Batman in the books, it would make a certain sense to have Brother Eye as the ultimate force this Superman, who is fighting for truth and justice in a broken world, needs to take down.
And last, perhaps most likely possibility? Solaris, the rogue Sun featured heavily in Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely’s All-Star Superman. Gunn has been pretty open about the book being an influence on his movie, and Solaris, per the name, is a large Sky Ball. So it all makes sense!
Regardless, we’ll know one way or another when Superman premieres in theaters on July 11, 2025.
