Bizarrely, James Gunn’s тιтular hero in Superman actually looked a bit more like Lex Luthor during key scenes, according to the film’s VFX supervisor. Since its release last month, Superman has soared in popularity, with Gunn’s new DCU project offering a bold take on the iconic hero. In fact, Superman has surpᴀssed all other 2025 superhero movies at the box office.

Now, as DC fans eagerly await the next chapter of the rebooted DCU, behind-the-scenes details are beginning to reveal just how much effort and illusion it takes to make such an impressive film. From David Corenswet and James Gunn arguing on the set of Superman, to strangely effective VFX methods, a lot went into 2025’s hit movie.

In an exclusive interview with ScreenRant‘s Joe Deceklmeier, Wētā VFX supervisor Guy Williams broke down the complications with depicting flight satisfyingly in Superman, as they didn’t want it to “feel like a cartoon.” As a result, they relied on some unusual methods to create the visual effect with Corenswet. Check out Williams’ explanation of the process below:

Often, David would wear a bald cap, [and] his cape was never on when he was flying, and it was so that, in CG, we could put those things in to get the proper results. It’s interesting: if a person is flying at a certain speed, it doesn’t look as nice as your brain thinks it should.

If you ever take somebody with a haircut like Superman’s, get in a car, and go 80 miles an hour and stick your head out the window, it doesn’t look cool, right? Your hair just smacks flat, and you look like you’ve come out of a pool and everything’s super slick. So, as much as we want it to look real, we also want it to look the real that your brain thinks it should look.

Superman’s hair was not the only issue they encountered, as the cape was also a problem. Considering the speed of the flight, Williams stated: “His cape should just be flapping at a million miles an hour, and as real as that would look, it would distract you.” Therefore, the cape was also done in CG to slow it down.

What This Means For Superman

Although the image of Superman‘s David Corenswet in a bald cap, dressed in a capeless outfit, is quite jarring — evoking more of a Lex Luthor (Nicholas Hoult) vibe — it was never meant to be seen by audiences. Instead, Williams offers this behind-the-scenes tidbit to showcase the meticulous and often strange practices that go into selling superhero realism on-screen in things like Superman.

The bald cap allowed the VFX team to animate Superman’s hair in post-production to achieve a more satisfying windswept look, and what audiences expect to see, not reality. Furthermore, the cape’s speed in the wind would have distracted audiences, so Williams explains how it was slowed down, stylizing reality just enough into something which feels believable without breaking the illusion.

Our Take On Superman’s VFX

Williams’ account is as amusing as it is enlightening. The idea of Superman looking like Lex Luthor mid-flight is bizarre, but it serves as the perfect reminder of how much movie magic exists in the post-production phase. It’s also a testament to how far visual effects have come that we can have something animated to that level of realism.

Superman‘s VFX also highlights Gunn’s commitment to grounding the fantastical in a sense of realism, one of the most promising elements of the new DCU. If Superman‘s VFX team is thinking this deeply about cape movement and hair physics, it bodes well for the rest of the rebooted DCU, even if we have to imagine Superman in a bald cap.