Expectations of Steel: First ‘Superman’ Trailer Reaction

 

There’s one North Pole resident who can fly around the world in a night dominating social media right now, and it ain’t Santa Claus.

DC Studios has given us our best look yet at James Gunn’s optimistic take on The Man of Steel with a new Superman teaser trailer that sent anticipation for the 2025 film up, up and away when it dropped on Thursday. With bright colors, big-time action and a fantastic cast – including David Corenswet as the titular Kansas farmboy-turned-demigod, Rachel Brosnahan as intrepid Daily Planet reporter Lois Lane and Nicholas Hoult as calculating “bald-is-beautiful” poster boy Lex Luthor – Superman looks like a lot of fun. Plus, we get a glimpse of the live-action debut for one of comic books’ goodest boys, Krypto the Superdog, who proves to be just as heroic as his nigh invincible owner.

If you know me, you know I have owned a LOT of action figures in my life, but one of my first was Kenner’s “Super Powers” Superman, who met an unfortunate fate when I accidently jammed him between the cushions of my mom’s Toyota Tercel – there was obviously some Kryptonite stashed in the glove compartment. Superman II was also one of the first movies I watched on repeat as a three-year-old, alongside Ghostbusters and The Empire Strikes Back. So yeah, me and Supes go way back.

I didn’t gel with Zack Snyder’s take on Superman in The Man of Steel or its sequels, and Bryan Singer’s 2006 Superman Returns hasn’t aged particularly well, so I’m excited for a film that seems tonally similar to the classic Christopher Reeve film while creating something entirely new. I’ll be looking up when Superman flies into theaters July 11, 2025.

Watch the teaser below!  

‘Clayface’ Movie Officially in the Works

As an in-the-weeds comic book fan, sometimes it’s hard for me to believe that most casual movie audiences have no idea that one of Batman’s most dangerous adversaries is a goopy, shape-shifting mud monster. Well, Warner Bros. Pictures’ DC Studios is changing all that with a standalone Clayface film, Variety reports. The horror/thriller/tragedy is set to hit theaters Sept. 11, 2026.

The film will be based on a script by Mike Flanagan (Doctor Sleep), and filming will begin next year. Details are scarce, but there’s no word as to whether Batman will appear. As we’ve seen with HBO/Max’s The Penguin series, The Caped Crusader’s villains don’t necessarily need to be squaring off with a billionaire in a bat suit to be compelling. That said, given the ice-cold reception to recent no-hero villain stories like Kraven the Hunter and Warner Bros. Pictures’ own Joker: Folie à Deux, sometimes you need a hero. I think there’s even a song about that.

As for me, I’ve been a Clayface fan ever since Batman: The Animated Series’ first season in 1992, which introduced legions of kids to the character with an exceptional two-part story called “Feat of Clay.” Even if you’re not into animation, I highly recommend checking that out on Max.

For the full Variety story, click here.

Chris Evans to Reunite with Robert Downey Jr. in ‘Avengers: Doomsday’

We’ve known for months that Robert Downey Jr. would be returning to the Marvel Cinematic Universe in Avengers: Doomsday – but as Dr. Doom and not Tony Stark – but it seems like he won’t be the only OG Avengers actor to return in the 2026 film. The Wrap reports that Chris Evans, who we recently saw as Johnny Storm/The Human Torch in Deadpool & Wolverine, will appear in Avengers: Doomsday, but whether he will don the stars and stripes as Steve Rogers’ Captain America remains to be seen.

This news comes just months before the release of Captain America: Brave New World, in which Anthony Mackie’s Sam Wilson carries the Cap franchise forward for the first time since the 2021 Disney+ series The Falcon and the Winter Soldier. With that film’s Feb. 14 release date fast approaching, though, rumors of poor test screenings and last-minute reshoots have dampened expectations to a certain extent. Does this casting news shed light on a nostalgia-driven desperation play, or is Evans – like Downey – playing another character entirely?

To read The Wrap’s full story, click here.