Lex Luthor, Green Lantern, Supergirl: Superman’s New Allies and Enemies Revealed

DC Studios is diving headfirst into its new era of films and TV shows, and one of the first projects to kick off this new chapter is a rebooted Superman film from writer-director James Gunn. Superman is one of DC’s most famous and profitable characters, so it makes sense that their first rebooted project would be this rebooted take on the superhero that will release this July. Months of speculation and release date delays have come and gone, but after the full first trailer for Superman was released, DC and Superman fans everywhere have a LOT to be excited about. It looks like we finally have a Superman reboot that might just “work” in the DCU.

So, to clarify things before we begin. Superman is not, as you might expect or have been led to believe, a traditional origin story film. Gunn has confirmed that while the Kryptonian origins story for Clark Kent will still be a part of the film’s plot, the film is more interested in Clark Kent’s internal origin story. The film will focus on Clark coming to terms with his Kryptonian royal heritage while at the same time reconciling with his small-town, Kansas upbringing, and in turn finding where he truly fits in.

In terms of casting, all signs point to Superman actually being about both Clark Kent’s superhero identity and Clark Kent the reporter, and much of the dynamic between Clark and Lois in this film could come down to Clark playing both roles when it comes to his interactions with Lois Lane. Veteran actor and fan-favorite from Pearl and Hollywood, David Corenswet, stars as the titular Superman/Clark Kent, and at 25 years old, he’s a much older, wiser Superman than the more doe-eyed character we’ve seen in prior DCU takes on Superman. Opposite him in the role of Lois Lane is Rachel Brosnahan (The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel), who, as the trailer opens, is running through a “fake interview” with Superman (yes, as you may have guessed, that is Clark Kent). Brosnahan’s Lois is witty, confident, and by all means unwilling to play ball with Superman.

The trailers’ very opening minutes immediately set up Lois and Clark as this interesting push and pull of flirtation and competition, but have kept fans guessing if Lois knows Clark is Superman or not (looking at you, fansites claiming Lois has it figured out). I’m in the undecided camp on this, but my money is on Lois being pretty much in the dark (don’t tell me, don’t tell me, just show me! ), but with Brosnahan’s look at Lois and the facial expressions of both actors in the opening scene in particular, I’m also at least somewhat open to the prospect of Lois knowing. Fans of Nicholas Hoult, who will be playing the villainous Lex Luthor, will also be happy to see some familiar faces in his corner this time around in the form of Sara Sampaio as Eve Teschmacher and Terence Rosemore as Otis, who will serve as Luthor’s right hand and a couple of other corporate/military minds as well.

Finally, if there is one big breakout character for me in the trailer for Superman, it’s most definitely going to be Superman’s white dog, Krypto. Krypto first got the internet buzzing last December when fans caught a glimpse of the pup in the Supertrailer for the film, but the teaser sets the tone for the dog as it shows Krypto heroically dragging a gravely wounded Superman to safety, to the Fortress of Solitude. The full trailer doesn’t disappoint either as they lean into the dog’s hero side here, showing Krypto not only go paw-to-toe with Lex Luthor but high-kick the high-tech villain Angela Spica (Maria Gabriela de Faria), aka The Engineer, as she and her team assault the Fortress in high-tech body armor and nanotechnology-enhanced chainsaws. While we have no word on Spica or if this may be a Marvel crossover, Spica here is very much her usual self, as Luthor often has had some of his strongest and most compelling supervillain moments next to this team of body-clad costumed baddies, with Luthor himself being a de facto corporate magnate.

On top of all that, the full trailer for Superman isn’t exactly light on world-building elements and casting announcements either, as in between the intense battles, flashes of kaiju and lots of love letters to the world of superhero team-ups, viewers also get to see a pretty large group of new DC characters in action that look just as interesting if not more so than the usual line-up. Nathan Fillion as the bowl-cut sporting Green Lantern Guy Gardner, Anthony Carrigan as the shape-shifting element-manipulating Metamorpho/Rex Mason, Isabela Merced as the winged fighter Hawkgirl, Edi Gathegi as the scientist/inventor turned super-genius Michael Holt/Mister Terrific, Pruitt Taylor Vince and Neva Howell as Clark Kent/Superman’s Kansas parents Jonathan and Martha Kent, as well as newcomer Milly Alcock as Superman’s cousin Kara Zor-El (that’s right Supergirl! ), a huge portion of the trailer is focused on the new Superman kicking butt, but more importantly, on seeing who exactly he is at this point in his life and career compared to how others see him and his legacy.

Frank Grillo is another actor who is making the jump from the animated medium over to the live-action DC Universe here, this time reprising his role as Rick Flag Sr. from the animated series Creature Commandos, and Sean Gunn also makes an appearance as Maxwell Lord.

Full Steam Ahead

The film will go full steam ahead with these new heroes of the DCU, as this is certainly a project that, more so than past films in the DCU, would benefit from having more exposure to more characters than the usual line-up. But as the trailer moves at breakneck speed, it still has time to land a few punches and moments that are as much to do with Clark Kent the person as Clark Kent the superhero. When Lois calls him out on how his work is perceived by higher-up authorities (like the Secretary of Defense), Clark takes umbrage at the idea that he’s acting against his moral code or any time of common sense when he says:

People were going to die!

At the moment, Clark is certainly right. No one can argue that in a situation where people are going to die if you don’t intervene, you should step in and save them, but to what extent does this go? If we’re looking at actions versus optics in the trailer, when is a moment one has to draw the line in regards to a public “image” Clark Kent/Superman would want to project (such as with the Secretary of Defense and her reaction to the scene), especially as Superman builds up a public profile in the coming sequel, and where is there to cut back? Lois Lane is really that person in the film who plays this role, so this looks to me to be the start of an interesting character relationship in Clark Kent.

The trailer’s very end, full of action and heroics, contrasts nicely with the final shot of Superman resting on his bed peacefully, with his loyally contented (if ungrateful) dog Krypto on his chest. It’s a quiet moment that, to me, suggests that while there will be large action moments in this universe and it will still be this version of Superman, Gunn and Co. want to ground the heart of Superman and their DCU in these more emotionally grounded moments, even if they’re not quiet or passive in the moments. It’s an entertainingly fun teaser and a promise of the wide-ranging characters and expansive DCU that’s coming and feels new, exciting, and a bit different at the same time.

Superman is in theaters on July 11th, 2025.