After the Superman movie trailers have made the hero look weak to some fans, I hope it does not mean that the new DC Universe is going to repeat a Clark Kent story that has been adapted twice in the past 8 years. I’m fully confident in James Gunn’s Superman movie. I wanted David Corenswet to play the Man of Steel from the moment I watched him on Netflix’s The Politician back in 2019 when Henry Cavill was still leading the DCEU movie franchise as Superman. As such, I’m thrilled that the DCU is finally making that dream a reality.

Superman is what every superhero should aspire to be, and in a lot of ways, I feel like the DCU’s first movie is doing right by that notion. Superman goes back to the character’s classic roots in the comics, presenting a Clark Kent and a world that is more vibrant and as full of hope as one should come to expect from a Superman story. However, that is not to say that Corenswet’s Superman will not face challengers in his DCU debut. In fact, I’m surprised by just how hard the Superman movie trailers have been on him.

David Corenswet’s Superman Can Be Seen As Weak In The Superman Movie Trailers

The First Superman Trailer Opened With Clark Kent Bleeding

One thing that all the DCU Superman movie trailers have in common is the fact that David Corenswet’s Superman gets injured quite a lot with every new bit of footage. Since Gunn had commented on how he was looking to go for the classic Superman tone with the movie, I was shocked when the first Superman teaser trailer opened with the Man of Steel bleeding in the snow. A sH๏τ of a badly injured Superman sure was a choice to start the new DC movie franchise on, and it got a lot of fans talking about it.

After the first Superman trailer, every new teaser, sneak peek, and even the latest full Superman movie trailer has shown the hero getting hurt time and again. Superman even gets imprisoned twice in the recent trailer, being apprehended by Ultraman, Rick Flag Sr., and an army, and later being contained by robots while Metamorpho seemingly morphs his hand into kryptonite to keep the hero at bay. While I don’t think that David Corenswet’s Superman will be weak as some claim, I worry that the Superman movie trailers are showing Superman getting injured a lot with a specific goal in mind.

Superman Has Died Twice In Live-Action In 8 Years

The Man Of Steel Died On TV And In Theaters

My biggest fear for the DCU’s Superman is that David Corenswet’s Man of Steel is being shown as “weak” because he will die. “The Death of Superman” is one of the most influential DC Comics events, and the story has since been adapted twice into live-action in just 8 years. The most famous such case came from the DCEU. After debuting in 2013’s Man of Steel, Henry Cavill’s Superman died fighting Doomsday — the monster who kills him in the comics — in his second DCEU movie, 2016’s Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice.

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As such, there is a precedent for Superman dying early into his tenure in a shared universe. Recently, another live-action version of the Man of Steel, this time on the small screen, also came to die while fighting Doomsday. Tyler Hoechlin’s Clark Kent was killed in the Superman & Lois season 4 premiere, with the show later bringing him back, just like what happened in the DCEU with Cavill’s Superman, but Hoechlin’s Clark Kent would die for good in Superman & Lois‘ series finale. I don’t want David Corenswet’s Superman to die, especially so early.

The Superman Movie Trailers Set Up Many Dangerous Threats For The Man Of Steel To Fight

While Doomsday is not part of the DCU’s Superman, at least not that we know at the moment, the Superman movie trailers have teased all the threats that the hero will have to face in his debut. Nicholas Hoult’s Lex Luthor will be Superman‘s main villain. Working for him is The Authority‘s Engineer, who uses nanotechnology in the trailers to slash through enemies with buzz saw hands. Luthor is also seemingly behind Metamorpho keeping Superman weakened with kryptonite, having access to the hero’s biggest weakness. That makes him a formidable intellectual threat to the Man of Steel.

However, it seems like Superman will go a step beyond with Lex, doing what Superman & Lois season 4 did. That is because Superman merch has revealed the first look at Lex Luthor’s warsuit, confirming that the villain will likely suit up to fight David Corenswet’s Superman. Besides Lex and those working for him, there are other complicated threats to the Man of Steel. All Superman movie trailers build to a somber moment where the hero will have to help at least the Green Lantern, Guy Gardner, against a sun-like creature, which could be Solaris, the sentient sun.

The sun-like monster could be powerful enough to take out a hero, and since Guy Gardner and Hawkgirl have appeared in the Peacemaker season 2 trailer, I would say both are safe. There are also two powerful physical threats to Man of Steel in the form of Ultraman and The Hammer of Boravia. If he is anything like the comics, Ultraman, whose idenтιтy is being kept secret, could either be an alternate universe version of Superman or a clone of the hero. As for The Hammer of Boravia, which displayed Kryptonian powers, the theories have begun to mount.

David Corenswet’s Superman Dying In The DCU Would Hurt The Franchise

The Shared Universe Needs To Learn From The DCEU’s Issues

I was disappointed by how the DCEU killed Henry Cavill’s Superman in his second movie. It was obvious that with a Justice League film coming out a year later, Superman would have to be revived for it. As such, there was no real impact to the decision other than it making it so that 2017’s Justice League had to keep Cavill’s Superman away for most of the movie, which made it less exciting. I think that killing David Corenswet’s Superman in his first DCU movie would be an even worse attempt at the same story.

The DCU hinges on Superman being successful, which James Gunn has made clear. After the DCEU failed to use the character as much as it should have, I don’t want to see the new DC Universe waste Superman’s potential. Due to that, I’m hoping the reason why Superman is being shown so injured in the DCU movie’s trailers is to cement the fact that the hero is still very much at the start of his career and to focus on how Clark Kent is “human” and has to overcome many obstacles in Superman, rather than dying.

Upcoming DC Movie Releases

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  Superman

  
  
  
  

  
  

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  Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow

  
  
  
  

  
  

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  The Batman Part II

  
  
  
  

  
  

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