Superman Movie: Handling Side Characters a Major Challenge

The Man of Steel is back — almost, at least. The latest trailer for James Gunn's upcoming film *Superman* has been released ahead of its July launch, and it's brimming with excitement. From David Corenswet's captivating performance as Superman to the dynamic action sequences featuring his beloved dog Krypto, there's plenty to unpack. However, the primary focus of fan discussions post-trailer seems to be the sheer volume of elements introduced in the film and how it intends to manage them coherently.

"Strong start to the trailer," one Redditor commented on an r/Superman post shortly after its release. "But then practically every shot introduced another new character and I started worrying how the movie was going to tell a coherent story." Another fan echoed this sentiment: "I’m going to love it, he looks great as Superman, he looks great as Clark Kent, but the movie looks like it might be a bit busy, there's a lot going on here."

"Now this, I love this trailer. As someone who never really enjoyed the darker DC vibe, I’m excited to experience a true comic superhero movie. But am I the only one who is worried about all the cameos in the trailer?" another fan expressed in the comments section. "Like, I swear I was counting like eight friends and foes in this movie. I know they want to set up James Gunn's DCU with this, but I would prefer it to be less focused on cameo fodder and more on developing the characters needed to tell the story."

To be fair, the trailer does introduce a wide array of characters, including Clark Kent’s Earth parents, love interest Lois Lane (played by Rachel Brosnahan), and several sets of formidable villains, with Lex Luthor (Nicholas Hoult) as the central antagonist. While some fans are concerned that the film might be overstuffed, many others are thrilled about the potential these character introductions bring.

All the characters revealed so far in *Superman*:

• Superman
• Lois Lane
• Lex Luthor
• Mister Terrific
• Guy Gardner
• Hawkgirl
• Metamorpho
• The Engineer
• The Hammer of Boravia
• Ultraman
• Rick Flag Sr.
• Supergirl
• Maxwell Lord
• Kryptonian robots, including Kelex
• Krypto
• Jonathan Kent
• Martha Kent
• Perry White
• Jimmy Olsen
• Steve Lombard
• Cat Grant
• Ron Troupe
• Eve Teschmacher
• Otis

"I'm glad there's a lot going on. We've seen him fight Lex & Zod countless times at this point; I want to see him completely overwhelmed and emerge as a symbol of hope," one user responded to the concerns, while another added, "It’s side characters, not cameos. Like Iron Man had several side characters."

A third fan noted that this is standard practice in films. "I don't feel like it's such a big deal honestly. Movies usually need secondary/side characters," the person commented. "Gunn is just filling in those spots with rather big names, but I doubt he'll give them more than what they need."

Superman: Behind the Scenes Cast and Character Images

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Despite concerns about the film being overstuffed, the excitement around the movie remains high. "It looks good but I'm wondering how they’re going to fit so many different characters into one movie," one user commented, to which another fan replied, "It's not any more characters than the average comic book movie. It's fine." A third user even quipped: "Kinda like Guardians of the Galaxy…?" Honestly? Touché.

James Gunn has emphasized multiple times that the film is not an ensemble piece. "At the heart of everything is Clark, Lois, and Lex," he stated during an Instagram Live session at the beginning of 2025. "It’s about these three characters." It remains to be seen how he manages to weave this narrative focus into the broader tapestry of characters.

*Superman* flies into theaters on July 11, 2025.