Superman’s First Trailer Ushers in a New Era of Superhero Films

You think you’re ready to view the first trailer for James Gunn’s Superman, but you may not be. Do you have good lighting? Proper sound? A place where you won’t be embarrassed if you get a little emotional as shivers run up and down your spine? Those would all be helpful when watching what you’re about to watch.

On July 11, a brand new DC Universe kicks off with the release of Superman. Written and directed by Gunn, it stars David Corenswet as Clark Kent/Superman, Rachel Brosnahan as Lois Lane, Nicholas Hoult as Lex Luthor, and many, many more. It’s a film with a ton riding on it, so it had to come out of the gate with an epic, confident trailer. And it delivers. Check out the first trailer for James Gunn’s Superman.

There’s a lot to digest, and we’ll get to all of it later, but first a public service announcement. Earlier this week, Gunn and a few of his stars spoke to press on the Warner Bros. lot and Gunn said what you just watched was about as close to the movie as he could get without spoiling it. “I was incredibly rigorous with the trailer,” he said. “And it went through a lot of iterations until I was happy with it. And there was only one thing that was on the forefront of my mind [and] that was the trailer has to be an authentic representation of what the film is. It doesn’t have to have every single element that’s in the film, obviously, but it has to show what is the basic essence of the movie and the story we’re telling. And I think that it does that, but it took a lot of work to get there.”

That’s why you get the romance, you get the action, you get the heroes and villains, and you get to see Superman at his most vulnerable at the beginning of this trailer. (Gunn confirmed to io9 that the opening scene takes place soon after the film’s drop-you-in-middle-action opening we revealed earlier this week.) Plus, in a very interesting turn of events. the trailer doesn’t say it’s for “Superman.” It says it’s for “DC Studios,” a decision we asked Gunn about at the event. “It just felt good,” he said. “We had made these trailers and they did all this testing and I was like… I believe in testing. I believe in the testing process and we’ve already tested Superman. But it’s also like, you have to go with your gut and what feels right … [and it] seems like it worked.”

We think so, but what about you? Superman, written and directed by James Gunn, hits theaters on July 11—officially kicking off the new DC Universe. Tell us what you think about the trailer below.

Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, what’s next for the DC Universe on film and TV, and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who.