Back in January, DC Studios released a new TV spot for James Gunn's Superman, and while fans were delighted to get a first proper look at Supes taking flight, one quick glimpse of the Man of Steel (David Corenswet) came in for quite a bit of ridicule online.
The shot in question was a close-up of Superman's face as he comes out of a barrel roll to avoid some rocks. Some fans made fun of the "goofy" look on the character's face, while others felt that the VFX made him appear unnaturally still when his hair and cape could be seen billowing in the wind.
Whatever the issue may (or may not) have been, a lot of people seemed to be in agreement that something simply looked "off" about the shot.
Gunn was asked about the teaser on Threads at the time, and responded with the following.
“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 is 100% real, as is David.”
Despite his initial defence of the shot, Gunn has now acknowledged that it did look at bit "funky," and won't actually feature in the finished film at all.
"It was a TV commercial and it wasn't a finished visual effects shot," Gunn explained to EW. "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. So 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."
The filmmaker's decision to remove this shot has come in for a bit of backlash, as some feel that he shouldn't "pander" to those that kicked up a fuss about the sequence in the first place. At the end of the day, it's Gunn's movie, and if he had another look at the promo and agreed that it didn't look that great, why wouldn't he change it?
Gunn also confirmed that there are "other characters who will appear in Superman who have not been announced yet."
Supergirl (Milly Alcock) is unlikely to be one of them since the trades have already mentioned that she'll appear, but if you've been keeping up with the casting rumors, you'll probably have a pretty good idea of at least one of the characters Gunn is referring to.
Superman also stars Rachel Brosnahan as Lois Lane, Isabela Merced as Hawkgirl, Nathan Fillion as Green Lantern Guy Gardner, and Anthony Carrigan as Metamorpho.
Sara Sampaio is on board as Lex's assistant/lover Eve Teschmacher, Pruitt Taylor Vince and Neva Howell will play "Ma" and "Pa" Kent, and Milly Alcock's Supergirl has been confirmed to make her debut ahead of her own Woman of Tomorrow movie.
"And that’s a wrap," Gunn posted last year when filming concluded. "God bless our cast and crew whose commitment, creativity, and hard work have brought this project to life. I set out to make a movie about a good man in a world that isn’t always so much. And the goodness and kindness and love I’ve encountered on a daily basis on the set has inspired me and thrust me forward when I felt too spent to move on my own.
Thank you all from the bottom of my heart. It has been an honor. The destination has been Superman, but the journey has been the toil and the laughter and the emotions and ideas and magic we’ve shared together on set - and for that I am forever grateful."
You can check out a synopsis for the movie below.
"In his signature style, James Gunn takes on the original superhero in the newly imagined DC universe with a singular blend of epic action, humor and heart, delivering a Superman who’s driven by compassion and an inherent belief in the goodness of humankind."