James Gunn has revealed that the highly-criticized shot of David Corenswet flying in the Superman trailer will not be making it into the final cut.
The upcoming DC flick will be released in cinemas on July 8 in the US, and premiering in the UK on July 11 – with Rachel Brosnahan playing Lois Lane and Nicholas Hoult as villain Lex Luthor.
Fans were left devastated after the first teaser dropped in January, and flocked to social media to voice their fears that the latest star to wear the coveted costume looking ‘a little off’.
In a new interview, the director and DC CEO had his say over the reaction, and how he is ‘learning a lot’ about how to ‘shoot stuff’ on set.
When asked how much he sees the flick as a ‘proof of concept’ for what other films in the DCU could look like, the filmmaker insisted: ‘I don’t think of it like that at all. I just think of it as I’m making another movie. I’m trying to make the best movie I possibly can. And I’m learning a lot.
‘This process has been more similar to the first Guardians for me than anything else because I’m learning so much about how to shoot stuff with Superman, which is very different.
‘The flying and figuring all that out and figuring out the simplicity and elegance of this character, which is so different from anyone I’ve ever written a movie for before. I’m learning a lot along the way.’
Discussing the backlash to the moments in the trailer showing a bulked-up David flying as Superman, James lifted the lid on how it was filmed, and shared that he didn’t ‘love’ that the footage made it into the teaser.
‘It was a TV commercial and it wasn’t a finished visual effects shot,’ he continued to Entertainment Weekly. ‘So the part of him flying, it was a photograph of his face and him flying. It was a photograph of a drone flying in front of an actual background.
‘All the pieces were real, but it was incorporated in kind of a funky way. I didn’t love the shot, so it’s not even the shot that’s in the movie.
‘Sometimes I’m pretty strict about when I’m going through a trailer and looking at each of the shots, but sometimes the commercials, I forget to look at this closely. So that one kind of got by me.’
Moments after the 30-second teaser was released, film lovers were up in arms over the brief shot, questioning why it was filmed that way.
Many made their feelings known on social media, branding the footage ‘too fake’.
‘This shot looks so bad every time. why do filmmakers insist on it?’ Reddit user ProtectMeAtAllCosts complained.
‘There are so many cooler ways to visualize flying; just look at anything in Man of Steel. These just look goofy,’ ColtonC_20 agreed.
James was forced to wade into the furor himself when there was speculation that they used CGI to complete the shoot.
Replying to a post on Threads, he vowed: ‘There is absolutely zero CG in his face. People’s faces can look different when you put a wide angle lens up close.
‘The background plate in Svalbard [a filming location in the Norwegian archipelago] is 100% real as is David.’
David was unveiled as the new Superman in 2023, taking over from Henry Cavill.
The new blockbuster will follow a young Clark Kent as he rises to become Earth’s protector against a powerful alien threat, while grappling with his dual identity
As humanity questions its need for a saviour, Superman must prove that hope is his greatest power.
Superman is released in the US on July 8, and in the UK on July 11.
Got a story?
If you’ve got a celebrity story, video or pictures get in touch with the Metro.co.uk entertainment team by emailing us celebtips@metro.co.uk, calling 020 3615 2145 or by visiting our Submit Stuff page – we’d love to hear from you.
