SUPERMAN Concept Art Showcases The (Casualty-Free) Destruction Of Metropolis In James Gunn's Reboot

SUPERMAN Concept Art Showcases The (Casualty-Free) Destruction Of Metropolis In James Gunn's Reboot

New concept art from DC Studios' Superman showcases the destruction that hit Metropolis thanks to Lex Luthor, including the memorable shot that saw the Man of Steel save a woman from a falling skyscraper.

By JoshWilding - Sep 13, 2025 12:09 AM EST
Filed Under: Superman

Superman will end 2025 as this year's highest-grossing superhero movie. Throw in the positive reviews, and it's fair to say that filmmaker James Gunn has got the DCU off to a strong start with his reboot.

There was some room for improvement (more time in The Daily Planet newsroom would have been welcomed), but with Man of Tomorrow on the horizon, Gunn looks set to continue exploring the DCU's Metropolis. 

The DC Studios co-CEO has been praised for making a point of showing the city being evacuated during the right act, and thanks to artist Victor Martinez, we have a new look at the destruction that rained down on Superman's home, thanks to Lex Luthor.

Of course, unlike 2013's Man of Steel, there were presumably no casualties, thanks to that timely evacuation and Superman's intervention.

Doing the rounds to promote the movie this summer, Gunn was asked about the insurance rates in the city Clark Kent calls home. "I mean, I live part of the time in California, and we have fires and earthquakes, so it’s about the same," he shared "It's just that there aren’t as many fires and earthquakes in Metropolis, just more Kaiju."

He added, "I wanted to create a universe that was different from ours. One of the things I liked about DC was it wasn’t our world, it was another world, it was Gotham instead of New York, it was Metropolis instead of whatever, it was Star City and Central City and all of these different places, it was like a fictional world and so I wanted to create this other planet, this other reality, that’s what I love doing."

"If you destroy New York in the MCU, it’s, I mean, it’s heavy to destroy any city, but anything can happen in the DCU. We can destroy anything at any time. We could destroy a continent. It could happen. It gives you the freedom to do what you want," Gunn concluded.

Check out this new Superman concept art in the Instagram post below.

Superman, DC Studios' first feature film to hit the big screen, is set to soar into theaters worldwide this summer from Warner Bros. Pictures.

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.  

"Superman is an indescribable joy," we said in our review"A beautiful, moving thrill, David Corenswet is the perfect Man of Steel in a movie packed full of ideas. Fortunately, under James Gunn’s expert direction, all of those work, creating a rousing experience that flies higher than DC has in a very long time."

The movie stars David Corenswet in the dual role of Superman/Clark Kent, Rachel Brosnahan as Lois Lane and Nicholas Hoult as Lex Luthor.

Also appearing are Edi Gathegi, Anthony Carrigan, Nathan Fillion, Isabela Merced, Skyler Gisondo, Sara Sampaio, María Gabriela de Faría, Wendell Pierce, Alan Tudyk, Pruitt Taylor Vince, Neva Howell, and Milly Alcock.

Superman is now playing in theaters and available on Digital platforms.

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JackDeth
JackDeth - 9/13/2025, 12:12 AM
I'm not sure why the idea of a Superman who cares about saving people is a controversial idea, but I think it has to do with the criticism Snyder's Superman gets when he puts so little care into saving the lives of bystanders during his fight with Zod. I can already hear the braindead monkeys typing their responses to this.
Matchesz
Matchesz - 9/13/2025, 12:21 AM
@JackDeth - ?feature=shared
Matchesz
Matchesz - 9/13/2025, 12:25 AM
@JackDeth - whats controversial should be Gunns pedo jokes everyone chooses to ignore now for some reason
JackDeth
JackDeth - 9/13/2025, 12:27 AM
@Matchesz - User Comment Image
Matchesz
Matchesz - 9/13/2025, 12:31 AM
@JackDeth - I thought the monkey scene was a dig at redditers lol
vectorsigma
vectorsigma - 9/13/2025, 12:33 AM
@Matchesz - because it's what it is. A joke
JackDeth
JackDeth - 9/13/2025, 12:35 AM
@Matchesz - It's for assholes who spread bullshit and it's perfect.
soberchimera
soberchimera - 9/13/2025, 12:42 AM
@JackDeth - Did…..did…..you seriously not watch Man of Steel? He saved the entire planet.
JackDeth
JackDeth - 9/13/2025, 12:48 AM
@soberchimera - Did…..did…..you seriously not watch Batman v. Superman? He flew through a [frick]ing building and a ton of people died.
SpiderParker
SpiderParker - 9/13/2025, 2:08 AM
@Matchesz - Oh damn, he used super-speed to save that Soldier, what a great guy. It's cool that he was a blur until he stopped. He must have really hated his dad since he didn't do that for him, huh?

By the way, remind me again, what happened when the fight took place in a more populated area like Metropolis?
SpiderParker
SpiderParker - 9/13/2025, 2:10 AM
@soberchimera - Yeah, and it only took a couple millions to die to save the planet.
EskimoJ
EskimoJ - 9/13/2025, 3:27 AM
@Matchesz - Seems kinda' weird to fixate on Gunn's jokes when even higher profile people's actual acts are met with a shrug.
ObserverIO
ObserverIO - 9/13/2025, 4:50 AM
@JackDeth - Dude it's 2025. Goodness is frowned upon.
dragon316
dragon316 - 9/13/2025, 7:37 AM
@JackDeth - it’s one thing I hate being comic fan dumb fans are stupid one sided dc make mistakes they never mention marvel bad choices Snyder Superman doesn’t save people, killed zod but they always forget past movies Keaton Batman and Chris reeve killed zod and people was put harms way fighting zod ?si=Kfaovun9jz_aTd6E
dragon316
dragon316 - 9/13/2025, 7:38 AM
@Matchesz - social media all together
dragon316
dragon316 - 9/13/2025, 7:41 AM
@vectorsigma - golden and silver age of Superman was never joke of Superman and Batman look covers of Superman in video ?si=2mnStwwMZbmmvyMC
dragon316
dragon316 - 9/13/2025, 7:42 AM
@SpiderParker - happens in Superman vs doomsday comic and many other villains
Biggums
Biggums - 9/13/2025, 9:17 AM
@JackDeth - some want their Supes who can't save Everybody, though he tries pretty damn hard. Why's that controversial?
captainwalker
captainwalker - 9/13/2025, 3:47 PM
@Matchesz - He failed to mention the fires were caused by direct energy weapons and that his wonderful governor turned the water off.

The DEI hired fire chief didn't help much either.
captainwalker
captainwalker - 9/13/2025, 3:49 PM
@SpiderParker - Millions perished from that deadly vax that didn't stop the spread and that's real life.
JackDeth
JackDeth - 9/13/2025, 4:49 PM
@dragon316 - I don't remember him killing Zod in Superman II. He just de-powered him.
JackDeth
JackDeth - 9/13/2025, 4:50 PM
@Biggums - You lost me at 'tries pretty damn hard' when he leap-frogs a tanker as it explodes behind him.
SpiderParker
SpiderParker - 9/13/2025, 9:51 PM
@captainwalker - As a matter of fact, less people died from Covid in 3 years than the deaths caused by heart attack in a single year. And that's nature, this was avoidable if Superman stopped to think.
Matchesz
Matchesz - 9/13/2025, 10:57 PM
@EskimoJ - the irony is Trump raised good kids you can actually tell he doesnt fondle lil kids by the father he is and he talked to everyone being a businessman he is. Unlike 80% of hollywood who are all out and open sexual deviants but yall not ready to talk about that
Matchesz
Matchesz - 9/13/2025, 11:07 PM
@EskimoJ - Gunn literally deleted 10,000 pedophilia related tweets then turned around and is now being worshipped for his “good moral” approach to superman.. typical democRAT.. then the same ppl worshipping Gunn will ask for the epstein list. Imm not even making any of this shit up!
captainwalker
captainwalker - 9/14/2025, 11:29 AM
@SpiderParker - With great powers comes great responsibilities, if only uncle Ben raised him.
Matchesz
Matchesz - 9/13/2025, 12:19 AM
In a city as massive as metropolis I appreciated Man of Steels grounded approach of showing that casualties were unavoidable in larger than life extraterrestrial scenarios. It gave the movie and threat way more weight. Everything with the Kaiju looked like a soundstage and we couldnt even get to see how Supe would handle that alone
Knightrider
Knightrider - 9/13/2025, 12:35 AM
@Matchesz - I did prefer Snyder’s concept to set the DCeU in a “Real” world setting. The only thing I didn’t like was Superman’s lack thought before taking action.

He destroyed the ship causing it to crash into the city. I feel they could have connected it more to the theme of Superman choosing between humanity and his heritage by having him crash the ship somewhere like a lake.

Like when he jumped the tanker and it blew up the building he should have stopped that.

But I do agree the monster in the city in Superman looked bland and the lack of destruction is laughable. Almost blend the world of Snyder with Gunns Superman and bam winning
WalletsClosed
WalletsClosed - 9/13/2025, 1:35 AM
@Matchesz - Blame the tards that complained about MOS destruction
Matchesz
Matchesz - 9/13/2025, 8:37 AM
@Knightrider - I saw it as Supes first inexperienced go at saving the world, all the while having to fight aliens as strong as him for the first time in his life. He was so desperate in trying to destroy the Kryptonian machine that was going to make the entire race extinct that some had to be sacrificed. I think a follow up could’ve explored him growing and becoming more relaxed with his powers and in his role as a traditional superman

Nothing in Gunns movie really gave me goosebumps the way this scene did..
?si=5-3O7m3mnZL6y6be
THEDARKKNIGHT1939
THEDARKKNIGHT1939 - 9/13/2025, 12:38 AM
Lol "casualty free". While Superman was fighting Ultraman, the entire city was still tearing apart for 20 minutes.

Superman should have called the Justice Gang to take care of collateral damage and evacuation of the city while he saved the people in Jarhanpur. He could have wiped out those soldiers in 3 minutes. Meanwhile, with Mister Terrific's gadgets, GL's constructs, and Hawkgirl's flight, they would have been perfectly suited for taking care of the city in the meantime. Then, Superman could have flown back to Metropolis and fought Ultraman while the Justice Gang continued saving people from the rift's path of destruction. It would have made so much more strategic sense while also showing that Superman always tries to help everyone no matter what. It also would have been such a more satisfying payoff seeing the people crying out for Superman to actually be saved by Superman. Imagine how disappointed and ignored that kid must have felt seeing his hero not show up for him.
Forthas
Forthas - 9/13/2025, 12:49 AM
@spr0cks
@ClungeOfSteel
@Nomis929
@WalletsClosed

What they are saying about this Superman can't be true! That Superman let people die... to save a squirrel????

The picture shows two people running for their lives who can be seen in the bottom left corner with two MORE people across from them on the other side of the street. The two people farthest to the right could not have possibly outrun the Kaiju’s tail.

User Comment Image

Video
https://vp.nyt.com/video/2025/07/21/144886_1_22cul-superman-squirrel-24680_wg_720p.mp4

I just can’t believe it! Everyone told me that Cornswet's Superman is concerned about human life and he would never let people die! Unlike that other guy...


User Comment Image
WalletsClosed
WalletsClosed - 9/13/2025, 1:38 AM
@Forthas - This dork saved a SQUIRREL over HUMAN lives. Some Superman. But, but... MOS BAD!

Reboot the MCU and DCU
Forthas
Forthas - 9/13/2025, 2:11 AM
@WalletsClosed - The people that pissed in their panties for over a decade about Henry Cavill supposedly not saving people are cheering for a Superman that saves LESS people...saves animals over human lives...gets his ass beat and has to be saved himself...and is immature and throws temper tantrums not to mention his father is a tyrant!

You cannot make this sh*t up!
SpiderParker
SpiderParker - 9/13/2025, 2:36 AM
@Forthas & WalletsClosed - And here I thought he had super speed, so he saved anyone who needed saving before the squirrel.

Oh, wait, you guys love those Transformers-esque movies. Are they brain-numbing? Make sure to apply some COPIUM to the affected brain regions.
Forthas
Forthas - 9/13/2025, 3:04 AM
@SpiderParker - You may want to take a closer look at the video link because it CLEARLY shows the two people on the right side of the screen not only in the path of the monsters tail but running in the wrong direction ...therefore they are DEAD while Superman is saving squirrels.

There is no spinning this one!!!!
SpiderParker
SpiderParker - 9/13/2025, 3:24 AM
@Forthas - Oh, hello? Super-speed? Faster than a speeding bullet? Is your brain not receiving adequate signal? Look for an upgrade!

He saved the squirrel from the right side, so if there were people that needed to be saved, he did. Do you actually not know what's in the box cause they never showed it?
Forthas
Forthas - 9/13/2025, 3:55 AM
@SpiderParker - Oh Goodbye? If superman moved anyone at the speed he would need to save the people and the squirrel...the very act of moving people at that speed would kill them.

User Comment Image

...but we don't need to go there. Superman made no effort to save those people. He did save the squirrel though. What a hero!
SpiderParker
SpiderParker - 9/13/2025, 4:19 AM
@Forthas - @Forthas - Yes, there's no way to save people at super-speed. Flash probably killed a bunch of times trying to save people. Actually, in MOS, that soldier even died from the whiplash of being caught at super-speed and suddenly stopping. Like a bullet.

So, I'm sure you are right. These people are indeed dead. But you know who didn't die, thanks to a Superman without emotional instability and angst? His dad and the squirrel.

User Comment Image
ClungeOfSteel
ClungeOfSteel - 9/13/2025, 4:55 AM
@Forthas - sadly they're impressed by performative scenes that make 0 sense 😭
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