While the MCU is arguably over the hill, the newborn DCU stands on the precipice of greatness. With James Gunn at the helm, all the signs are pointing to the Guardians of the Galaxy helmer using the lessons he learned from his time at Marvel Studios to make DC a true rival to Kevin Feige in terms of consistent quality content.
Unfortunately, with the long-awaited first-look unveiling of David Corenswet as the Man of Steel in 2025’s Superman, Gunn has also unwittingly admitted that he’s taken on one of the worst lessons he could’ve learned from Marvel Studios too. The first-look pic shows off the new Last Son of Krypton in his revamped super-suit, but the reaction to the costume has proven to be as muted as its color scheme. And for good reason.
Superman first-look pic proves Gunn has taken the MCU-ification of superhero costumes to heart
On paper, there’s so much to love about the Corenswet Superman suit (see top of page). The combination of the Kingdom Come S shield and the classic red trunks, for instance, shows a brilliant blend of tradition and subversion. What is really leaving fans disappointed, however, is the over-familiarity of the suit’s material and color palette. Not only does it look similar to Henry Cavill’s SnyderVerse uniform, it’s very much in keeping with every hero suit in the MCU as well.
The MCU has done a lot of things right by the superhero genre, but an unfortunate side-effect of its immense popularity is that it seems all superhero suits now have to be grounded and/or muted in order to function. There’s nary a costumed MCU character who goes by without their comic book outfit being toned down or militarized in some way shape or form. Even Hugh Jackman’s outfit in Deadpool & Wolverine — one of the best MCU suits, for sure — has been altered to appear more like armor.
For the DCU, Gunn had the chance to completely rewrite the rulebook and stand out from the crowd. Could a more old-school fabric suit like the one worn by Christopher Reeves’ Supes work nowadays? Personally, I think it could’ve done, given the effectiveness of Brandon Routh’s costumes in both Superman Returns and Crisis on Infinite Earths. Seeing such a suit revealed in a first-look image would’ve promised the world that 2025’s reboot would be truly a new start for the superhero movie medium. Instead, it warns that Superman is going to look like every other entry in the genre right now.
There’s still time to fix this, of course, in future films in the DCU, but it certainly looks like Gunn has been too keen a student of Kevin Feige’s to switch things up now. But, hey, an MCU Superman’s better than no Superman.
