Warner Bros. Released a Superman Behind-The-Scenes Video for Superman Day
Today is Superman Day, which is designated because April 18, 1938, was the publication date of Action Comics #1, the first appearance of Superman. Warner Bros. wisely capitalized on the day, releasing a behind-the-scenes video of Superman, the upcoming film written and directed by James Gunn. There’s not much insight into it; the video is mostly already known information, with some fluff on James Gunn and his affinity for Superman, the actors talking about how great it is to work on the movie, and stuff like that. There are no big reveals or glimpses of locations we didn’t know about, but there is a healthy amount of Nathan Fillion, so it’s not a total wash. You can watch the Superman behind-the-scenes video below:
The most surprising thing about the Superman behind-the-scenes video is the distinct lack of Krypto. He has been everywhere throughout the advertising campaign so far, and while I’m fine with him being in the movie, it’s kind of enough already. Instead, the video focuses on the guy who should have been at the center of the marketing: Superman. It’s nice hearing people talk about how much they love the Man of Steel, and everyone is saying the right things (which I doubt is an accident because this thing doesn’t sound spontaneous at all), with the emphasis on hope, heart, saving people, a new era, etc. On the other hand, there are also mentions of the things that have people worried, like the vast number of superheroes in this movie, which is supposed to be the introduction not just to James Gunn and Peter Safran’s DCU but to this version of Superman. Hawkgirl, Metamorpho, and Mr. Terrific all show up in the video, and Nathan Fillion, who plays the Green Lantern, is interviewed, and it feels a bit crowded. At one point, Lois Lane actress Rachel Brosnahan says, “We’re just getting started, and we’re already deep in the DC Universe,” which I’m sure was supposed to make Superman sound epic, but it’s concerning to people who want this movie to focus on Superman and for the DCU to avoid the mistakes of the DCEU and other shared universes and not go too far too fast.
Another thing people have been saying is that the marketing and lead-up to Superman has made the movie seem more about James Gunn than the movie, the story, and the characters. I don’t think that’s completely fair, but I get where those who think so are coming from: the emphasis on Krypto, whom Gunn based on his own dog, the massive amount of lesser characters that appear to form a motley crew of oddballs (and Superman), which is Gunn’s seemingly preferred setup, and reports about the Cinemacon presentation that the focus was on Gunn and not Superman. And as much as, again, I don’t really subscribe to this (although I didn’t see the Cinemacon presentation, of course), this Superman behind-the-scenes video feeds into that argument because so much of it is talking about Gunn. Obviously, some of it has to be since he’s the writer and director, but when you have Rachel Brosnahan say, “In James Gunn, we trust,” while David Corenswet smiles, you may be going just a tad overboard. Speaking of the lead actor, nobody said a word about him or his performance; perhaps it would have been beneficial to hear Gunn, Brosnahan, and the rest say he’ll be a great Superman who will make you believe a man can fly, or something to that effect. We know James Gunn by now, but Corenswet is the big mystery, and aside from a couple of shots of him on the set (one in which he talks about Superman’s red tights), there’s not much about him. It feels like a missed opportunity not to use Superman Day to hype up the new Superman actor. This marketing campaign continues to be baffling.
Let us know what you think of the Superman Day Superman behind-the-scenes video in the comments!
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