Superman Trailer Breakdown: Who Are Metamorpho and the Mysterious Villain?

James Gunn (Guardians of the Galaxy) is now in charge of DC's film/TV universe and his direction is immediately clear: serious, colorful and super-comic. The trailer for the studio's first major release, 2025 Supermanfell on Thursday to set the tone. There's a lot to unpack in the two-minute spot – so let's unpack it. Here's a breakdown of everything announced ahead of the July 2025 release to make sure you don't confuse any birds or planes with Superman.

The trailer starts off bold for a superhero movie: the lead actor has apparently just had his ass kicked. Is that one? All-Star Superman Something that makes him more vulnerable? Or is he up against a really nasty opponent? We know Gunn loves All-Star Superman (and rightly so).

Luckily, Superman's best friend is there to help him. Krypto the Superdog has been a recurring addition to the Superman continuity since writer Otto Binder and artist Curt Swan introduced him in 1955 Adventure Comics #210. He is a dog from the planet Krypton who, like all Kryptonians, gains incredible powers – such as flight and super strength – when exposed to the light of a yellow star.

How does an animal Exactly How do Earth dogs evolve on Krypton? How did Krypto survive the destruction of Superman's home planet? In the 70 years that Crypto has existed as a publisher, comic book creators have come up with a variety of explanations for this, so let this comic book expert sum it up for you: Don't worry about it.

Superman has a dog with laser vision. It's fun.

While Lex Luthor's conglomerate (I would say “evil conglomerate”, but that would be redundant) is classically known as Lexcorp, it is occasionally referred to by other names such as LexCo, Lex-Corp, L-Corp and even Supercorp (because…) Lex is known to like to do things just because they annoy Superman.

For him SupermanJame Gunn seems to have gone with the dark choice of “Luthorcorp,” which is used most often in the film Smallville TV series.

If there's a bald guy in a suit in a Superman comic, he can only be one. This is Nicholas Hoult (Nosferatu) as Lex Luthor as Agent 47 from Hitman.

There are a lot of ethically neglected billionaires running tech companies in the DC Universe – ha ha, so superheroic, so far-fetched, ha ha – and here's our clue that at least one of them exists in the new DC Films universe.

Stagg Industries is the company of unscrupulous CEO Simon Stagg. Stagg may not show up – he's not there Supermanis the officially announced cast list. But he is the archenemy (and future father-in-law; it's complicated) of the superhero Metamorpho (more on him later). With Metamorpho also appears in SupermanIt makes sense for Stagg Industries to have a presence in the environment, regardless of whether the company plays a significant role or not.

From this bowl cut, you know that a Green Lantern lives without fear

Nathan Fillion plays Green Lantern Guy Gardner Supermanand his haircut is both completely cartoon-accurate and absolutely terrible.

The superhero supporting cast is also rounded out by Isabela Merced as Hawkgirl. There are many different versions of Hawkgirl and Hawkwoman throughout DC Comics history, but let's see if this comics expert can narrow it down: She's either a repeatedly reincarnating warrior who retains the memories of all her previous lives, or she is a policewoman from a planet of bird people. We'll find out!

A rampaging giant monster seems bad for Metropolis but great for moviegoers. And an astute Polygon writer asked a good question: Could this be Jimmy Olsen?

I know this sounds ridiculous, but this beast has strangely human eyes and something like that happened to Jimmy Olsen all the time in the Silver Age.

We've seen this ball of energy before, floating in the background of the first photo that showed Gunn of David Corenswet's Superman costume. There's no telling what it is, what it does, or who created it, but purple and green are classic Lex Luthor colors, just saying…

As a comic book fan, you often have the slightly out-of-body experience of seeing something that makes perfect sense to you and knowing that it looks mundane from the outside. “Superman, deep in grief, cradles a robot without legs” is one of those things.

Judging by the bright crystal surroundings here, we are in his Fortress of Solitude, and judging by Superman's obvious deep dismay at what has happened to this robot, it is likely Kelex. Created by John Byrne for the 1986s Man of Steel #1, Kelex is a robot formerly part of Superman's Kryptonian family and often serves as the fortress's caretaker.

Meet Rex Mason aka Metamorpho

This man with a rocky exterior is Rex Mason, the shape-shifting superhero known as Metamorpho, played by Anthony Carrigan (Barry). Due to some shenanigans on Simon Stagg's part (see Stagg Industries above), Rex Mason has the power to transform himself – or even just Parts of itself – into any element or chemical compound by expanding, rebounding, dissolving into gas, or making its mass dense enough to survive and deliver powerful blows. The catch is that he just doesn't look human anymore.

There's not much to say here other than acknowledging that Boravia is one of countless fictional European countries that have graced the pages of DC Comics over the setting's nearly nine-decade history SupermanIt's getting more and more exciting.

The trailer sneaks in a few shots Supermanis the mysterious villain fighting here in the Metropolis Meteors' empty ballpark. This character's identity has been all but tainted by paparazzi snapping set photos, so google carefully! (If you Really I want to know who that seems to be, Click here.)

The third smartest man in the world

Here we take our first look at Michael Holt, the adventurous super-genius known as Mister Terrific, and his signature T-balls that project this nifty shield. For more on him, we have a whole article – Gunn has repeatedly said that Terrific plays a “big role” in him Superman.

Just a few star reporters

The trailer is rounded off with some classically framed shots of the real heart of the Superman stories – Superman and Lois Lane. The greatest superhero stories are based on a combination of monsters, superheroes, and romance, but we'll have to wait until July to find out how Gunn mixes these themes together Superman.