While Justice League was not particularly well received, it did manage to deliver an interpretation of Superman that many fans have been clamoring for.
***JUSTICE LEAGUE SPOILERS AHEAD***
Once Superman snapped out of his post-resurrection grumpiness, we got to see a more positive version of the character than in previous films. This version of the Man of Steel was much more reminiscent of the character fans know and love from the comics. However, there’s one aspect of the character’s comic book version that hasn’t made an appearance in the DCEU—the red trunks.
DC Comics bringing back the iconic costume feature after a seven year absence to honor the 1000th issue of Action Comics and 80th anniversary of the character. This has raised a question among people who obsess about minor details in superhero movies: should Henry Cavill don the red trunks too?
The odds of this happening are probably pretty slim, since coming up with a reason for this costume adjustment would be a bit tough. Perhaps Superman found a different suit that happened to be in somewhere in the Kryptonian scout ship? As much as I’d love to see a contrived reason for the red jocks to show up, the film could also just not address the change, as they did with the costume changes between Batman v Superman and Justice League.
If the DC Universe goes in this bold new direction, it would represent a complete tonal shift from the way the film series began. Man of Steel was filmed in a time where "dark and gritty" was in vogue. Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight trilogy was wrapping up, and it looked like the best way to get the wider audience interested in goofy comic book characters was to make them as realistic as possible. Of course, this was a bit easier to do with Batman than it was with Superman.
However, the release of The Avengers changed things, showing that a bit of campiness can be a good thing as long as the filmmakers show some restraint. Just look at Captain America’s costume in that movie:
Of course, The Avengers didn’t become a hit because of questionable costume choices. The movie worked because it successfully captured the spirit of its characters, highlighting their most important traits. As long as we see a hopeful, noble version of Superman in future films, the character should be just fine. So while it would be neat to see the DCEU embrace the red trunks, there are definitely other parts of the character that they should be more concerned about.