During the Superman teaser trailer event, the cast and writer/director James Gunn discuss creating David Corenswet’s Superman suit, and their reactions to it.
One of the most important things when creating a “comic book movie” is the suit. Say what you will, this is something the fans are going to latch on to, for good or for bad. Of course, the story must also be great, but making sure the suits look like they should is top of the list.
I was invited to a special event for the Superman teaser trailer, which included a Q&A session with James Gunn (writer/director), David Corenswet (Clark Kent / Superman), Rachel Brosnahan (Lois Lane), and Nicholas Hoult (Lex Luther).
One of the topics that came up was David Corenswet’s Superman suit. He explained how he never really put the suit on for the first time because it was built through a lengthy process. Writer/director James Gunn weighs in and reveals what Corenswet said to make him change his mind about this version of the suit being so colorful. Nicholas Hoult also confesses his reaction to seeing Corenswet in the suit on set.
Cast & Filmmaker Reactions To Superman’s Suit
David Corenswet: People ask about the first time you put on the suit. When you have the amazing chance to build the suit from the ground up with an amazing costume department, you don’t put on the suit for the first time. You put on parts of it and then it gets fitted and more pieces get put in.
So for me, it was the first time that other people saw me in the suit. It’s like when you get a nice haircut and you forget about it but then you walk around and everybody’s like, whoa you look great for once. I walked on set and I had other people who saw me in the suit for the first time. So I got to see other people see Superman.
I didn’t feel like Superman, but it was so amazing watching my cast mates and the crew members, who are also getting to work on this amazing historic piece of media. The moments when they saw it for the first time or when they saw Superman fly for the first time, getting to witness them witness it.
The best thing is seeing kids see it. When people would bring their kids to set. Getting to see, first person, five, six-year-old kids see Superman. There’s nothing like it. It’s amazing.
Nicholas Hoult: When I saw David in the costume, and I hate to admit it, it made me feel warm and fuzzy. Like a kid again. There was one scene where he flies into the set and I was watching and I had a little grin, a little private grin on my face, and I was like this is amazing. I turned around and I saw everyone else in the room with the same look on their face watching him. That’s the effect that he’s talking about, and it’s really special.
James Gunn: The thing that I think of so much is when we were designing the costume, I knew certain things were going to be different and I knew that I didn’t want to have it look like a wet t-shirt. I didn’t want to have a bunch of thick muscles in it. I didn’t want to have airbrushed abs on it. But it was really a long process of development.
We were standing in the room and it was freaking colorful and had the underwear and the whole thing and I was like, ugh, I don’t know. I said it’s so colorful and [David Corenswet] goes, yeah, he’s an alien from outer space who’s super powerful. He doesn’t want children to be afraid of him. And it touched me in the moment and it touches me now as I say it, is that is who he is and that’s where the costume comes from and that goes along with Jerry and Joe’s original vision hardening back to wrestlers and the circus and these other things.
That’s who Superman is. His costume is so colorful because he doesn’t want to scare children. He’s got red beams that come out of his eyes and he can blow over things with his breath.
See the suit in action for yourself when Superman comes to theaters on July 11, 2025.
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About Superman
Follows the titular superhero as he reconciles his heritage with his human upbringing. He is the embodiment of truth, justice and the American way in a world that views this as old-fashioned.
