There have been 12 years and 15 movies since the DCEU commenced with Man of Steel, and looking back, I’m struck by how unique the very opening scene was. With the DCU set to get underway in earnest with its own take on Superman, conversation about Man of Steel and the actor who once portrayed the тιтular hero has been reignited. It’s safe to say, just from Superman trailers alone, that James Gunn’s DC Universe is venturing down a different path with his franchise in several ways.
One glaring aspect of the DCEU that James Gunn appears to be forsaking is the darker themes and color palette. Man of Steel delivered a unique – and some might say definitive – take on Superman as a distinctly otherworldly messianic figure. Conversely, James Gunn appears more concerned with humanizing Superman (or, at least, having Superman strive to humanize himself). Whatever the case, Man of Steel‘s opening scene is a stark reminder of just how much the DCEU leaned into sci-fi, and often downright transcendental, themes.
The DCEU’s Opening Scene & Sequence Is Unlike Anything Else That Happens In The Entire Rest Of The Franchise
The Scene Shows The Birth Of Superman
The DCEU’s overall tone shifted substantially as it progressed. Ending with the colorful and more lighthearted likes of The Flash, Blue Beetle, and Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom, the end of the DCEU was a far cry from its ethereal and solemn beginnings in Man of Steel and Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. This initial tone was established from the jump with Man of Steel‘s opening sequence, which depicts the birth of Kal-El, AKA Superman, on Krypton before his doomed world begins tearing itself apart.
The scene hits like a sci-fi movie, and certainly stands out from the distinctly terrestrial settings in subsequent DCEU installments.
The opening scene is an emotional one, with Lara Lor-Van giving birth naturally to Kal-El in a world where natural births have been sidelined in favor of genetic engineering. Surrounded by her husband, Jor-El, and a couple of unearthly automated delivery specialists, the scene ends with a crying newborn Kal-El in the arms of his father, who is subsequently seen beseeching the Kryptonian Council to venture to other planets to save their race. The scene hits like a sci-fi movie, and certainly stands out from the distinctly terrestrial settings in subsequent DCEU installments.
The DCEU Opening With Superman’s Birth Was A Gripping Way To Start The Franchise
It Set The DCEU Apart From Other Superhero Franchises
Man of Steel‘s opening was like something out of another movie. When it was released in 2013, superhero movies were a well-established part of the cinematic zeitgeist, thanks in no small part to the MCU, which had, at that point, already released its first Avengers movie. Although Thor had already taken the superhero genre to space at that point, it struck a decidedly different tone from Man of Steel, opting to depict Asgard as a slightly more otherworldly Kingdom that didn’t look too dissimilar from the opulent medieval palaces of Earth.
Man of Steel, on the other hand, hammered home the alien nature of Superman’s origins, proving that the DCEU, from the jump, would be as dissimilar as possible from its rival cinematic franchise. It is additionally unusual to open with the birth of a flagship hero, immediately centering on Kal-El as a particularly important character by having the audience witness the hugely consequential moment of his birth. Looking back, this now seems more unusual than ever in the context of the modern iteration of the same character.
Looking Back Now, The DCEU’s Opening Scene Only Seems All The More Unusual
The Tone Is Decidedly Different From What’s About To Come
The DCU is taking a decidedly different route with Superman. Superman will take place in a world where the eponymous hero has operated for several years and where metahumans are a dime a dozen. The DCEU, on the other hand, opened in such a way that it hammered home the notion that its debut superhero was the first ever, rendering him all the more otherworldly by design. Furthermore, the fraught atmosphere and muted tones now contrast more than ever in a cinematic landscape where bright colors and lightheartedness are the norm.
Supergirl will be the next movie to release in the DCU on June 26, 2026.
Of course, whether for better or worse, the decisions made by the DCEU didn’t exactly work out. To some, Kal-El’s intense origins and characterization in Man of Steel and beyond flew in the face of the hope that he was supposed to represent. To others, this more grounded depiction of Superman was more believable and easier to take seriously than what James Gunn seems to have lined up for Superman. Whatever the case, I doubt we’ll ever see an opening sequence like Man of Steel‘s in the DCU.
