If you thought a preview shot of the Man of Steel flying in the teaser trailer for the upcoming “Superman” film looked bad, worry not — James Gunn did too.
The “Superman” writer, director and DC Studios co-CEO shared in an interview with Entertainment Weekly published Thursday that an unfinished shot of Kal-El flying through an arctic landscape “kind of got by” him in an early teaser. In fact, the shot bothered him so much, it will not appear in the final cut of the film.
The shot in question, featured at the end of a 30-second teaser released Jan. 26, follows Superman from behind as he soars through the arctic — likely, either coming or going from his Fortress of Solitude. When Superman approaches a rocky structure, the camera switches angles to cover his face as he does a barrel roll. What follows is a shot of Superman flying straight at the camera — with actor David Corenswet’s visage looking strangely static and warped.
“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,” Gunn said. “So all the pieces were real, but it was incorporated in kind of a funky way.”
You can see for yourself in the teaser below.
Gunn owned up to the mistake, saying he didn’t look as closely at the TV spot as he would a full trailer. The shot faced broad criticism at the time of its release; however, it appears that, even then, Superman’s flight had plenty of defenders.
Gunn spoke to the difficulty of depicting a hero with such “simplicity and elegance” as Superman. Gunn has directed flying superheroes before, including Star-Lord and Adam Warlock in his “Guardians of the Galaxy” trilogy. However, he has never depicted flight on a character as graceful as the Man of Steel.
Though Gunn removed this shot from “Superman,” fans will have to wait until July 11 to see how the director handles the character’s flight overall.
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