‘I hoped you would never see this’: James Gunn hates the ‘Superman’ trailer we weren’t supposed to see, and fans feel his pain

After the failures of The Flash, Blue Beetle, Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom, and Joker: Folie à Deux, Warner Bros. and DC probably can’t wait to hit the reset button and start their cinematic universe over with Superman – and who can blame them at this point? Starring David Corenswet as Clark Kent, Rachel Brosnahan as Lois Lane, and Nicholas Hoult as Lex Luthor, the comic book movie only wrapped up production in July 2024, so it might be a little too presumptuous to expect to see any footage right now.

Speaking at New York Comic Con 2024 (via ComicBook.com), Gunn didn’t provide a definitive timeline on when fans should expect to see the first trailer either, saying “it won’t be too long,” while “it also won’t be too soon.” Realistically, most marketing drives for big blockbusters start about six months before the release date, so it’s likely that a trailer should arrive sometime around January 2025 or thereabout.

NYCC proved to be a busy time for Gunn as he unveiled the trailer for the Creature Commandos animated series and discussed more about the plans for the DC Universe, including Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow and the second season of Peacemaker. As always, Gunn remained active on social media too; however, he might have wished he hadn’t opened up the X app on Oct. 20.

Gunn reshared a post from another who shared a clip from a French television program that showcased alleged “footage” from the Superman. Clearly, the video is AI-generated and pretty awful even by internet standards, making the graphics on Nintendo 64 look like something that should be hung in the Louvre. Gunn captioned the reshare with three puking emojis and rightfully so.

The comments section under Gunn’s post prove to be a hoot, with French fans apologizing on behalf of their country and others bemoaning AI technology and how terrible the Man of Steel looked here. Another commentator said: “Oh no, I hoped you would never see this.” Gunn replied: “I wish this as well.” Don’t we all, James?

Of course, this isn’t the official Superman trailer, but it’s humorous to see how someone working for the French program must have been deceived by one of those countless “official” YouTube trailers that are created by fans using AI. Already as it stands, there are a lot of detractors criticizing the look of Gunn’s Superman, especially the costume and the leaked production images doing the rounds, so Gunn obviously wants nothing to do with this fake.

In the meantime, let’s all make space, get out of the kitchen, and let James Gunn and his collaborators cook. At least we have a picture of the goodest boy in the whole wide DC Universe, Krypto, hanging out with Superman as they look at the Earth, to keep us satisfied for now. That alone is worth more than 20 AI trailers.