The internet collectively decided, as it often does, to lose its ever-loving mind yesterday. It was Monday, sure, but that’s not why. The first official picture of the suit David Corenswet’s going to wear as Superman dropped, and it’s a man sitting down, pulling his boots on, while something enormous happens in the sky behind him.

When it was just the symbol, we were all excited. Ooh, it looks like Kingdom Come. I thought it looked interesting, I thought it looked cool, and I still do. I’m on the record from yesterday, in my own post. This isn’t the suit I would’ve necessarily wanted, or the way I would’ve wanted to see it, but I don’t have a problem with it. And I need to break something to you: I didn’t want Henry Cavill’s suit when I first saw it either.

Now I’m seeing all kinds of insulting things about it, and people losing their minds. Have we learned nothing from Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Badness, or from Spider-Man: No Way Home? When you shove all of your presuppositions and all of your ideas into these things, you’re going to be disappointed.

Where I’m Coming From

I’m a Superman fan. I’ve got multiple Superman shirts. On the wall in my actual work area, where I do my video editing, I’ve got a poster of the CW Flash, I’ve got the Incredible Hulk, I’ve got the Black Panther, and in the middle, in the place of honor, is a piece of pop art of Superman opening his shirt, the classic, with the symbol underneath. I love me some Superman.

He’s arguably been one of my favorite superheroes forever. Spider-Man was my first, because my uncle introduced me to him. Then it was the Flash, because that’s the first comic book I bought myself. Then the X-Men. But Superman’s always been in my head because of Christopher Reeve.

Christopher Reeve wore spandex. Christopher Reeve wasn’t big, hulking and muscular. I’ve never subscribed to the idea that Superman’s supposed to look that way. So when everyone’s sitting here nitpicking wrinkles, to me this looks like a functional suit.

The Boots

Did I think it was a misstep for James Gunn to introduce it this way, with that whole event happening behind him? At first, yes. Then I watched The John Campea Show, and John Campea laid it out. He’s tired. Pull back to the full image. Even though he’s weary, there’s a threat, the world needs him, so he’s putting the boots back on. You can see the weariness on his face, and he’s going anyway.

There’s nothing, to me, more quintessentially Superman than that. It makes so much sense when you stop and think about it.

If you don’t like the suit, fine. You don’t have to like everything. My issue at the moment is this vitriolic attack mentality, where if you say you like something, somehow you’re a stan and you’re wrong. Everyone’s entitled to their opinion. Yours may not be mine, and that’s fine.

If you’re a Zack Snyder stan, hey, great. Were the Zack Snyder movies my favorite? Not particularly. I liked Man of Steel. It was a tone I hadn’t expected, and I thought it was fine. I thought the director’s cut of Batman v Superman was vastly superior, and I loved the Justice League. But Superman himself, as a character, was grossly ill-characterized. I think the best moment in all of Man of Steel is when his mother, Martha, is at the school and you go through that whole encounter. That’s really the only one. The rest is this modernization of him, where he isn’t the symbol. If you want to argue with me about that, fine. You’re allowed to like what you like, and I’m allowed to dislike what I dislike. I generally don’t talk about things I dislike.

I like the suit. It’s grown on me.

Where Is Your Faith

The other part of this is James Gunn. This is the man who brought us Guardians of the Galaxy, a completely unknown property none of us thought was going to be anything, and made it spectacular. He’s the guy who picked up the pieces of DC’s defunct Suicide Squad movie and gave us The Suicide Squad, an arguably better movie. I don’t care that the first one is the one with the Oscar. I really don’t. And whether or not you liked Starro, that version is how we ended up with Peacemaker, which was amazing.

The man hasn’t failed us yet, and everyone wants to freak out.

One commenter said they weren’t expecting the New 52 inspired Jim Lee collar, and then wrote, “then again this is obviously going to be a whole series so I imagine the costume’s going to change in between installments and they probably want to give themselves room to update. Hell, it took three Guardians of the Galaxy movies for them to wear blue.” Anybody who knows anything about the Guardians knows exactly what that’s referring to, and I absolutely agree. I had that same conversation under the picture I posted on my community tab. James Gunn isn’t a guy who sits on his laurels. He plans, he structures, he keeps everything really well put together. I’m firmly of the mindset that we’re going to see an evolution.

Every Suit Took Liberties

Captain America’s first suit wasn’t Captain America’s suit. It had flaring, it had all these pieces, and it eventually evolved into what it became. You don’t see anybody saying that one doesn’t match the comic books. Iron Man’s armor took a lot of liberties. There’s armor in those movies that’s line for line what’s on the page, and plenty that isn’t, and it still works really well. Should we get started on the Batman costumes we’ve all loved, from Michael Keaton’s to Ben Affleck’s to Robert Pattinson’s? Nobody has an issue with those. Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man suit looked nothing like the comic suit. Andrew Garfield’s looked nothing like it.

Somebody called this a downgrade from Tyler Hoechlin’s costume. I’m sorry, are we forgetting the pictures? When Tyler Hoechlin’s suit isn’t being dramatically lit, it looks like a suit you could go buy at a costume shop. I’m being hypercritical on purpose, to show how ridiculous we in fandom can be, and I include myself in that. Henry Cavill’s suit was no different. It was padded, though yes, he did work out and he did bulk up.

Mind you, I think Tyler Hoechlin’s Clark Kent is pitch perfect, and I love his Superman. For me there’ve been three iconic Clark Kents who turn into Superman, in the order I met them. Christopher Reeve, who happens to be the one I like the most. Dean Cain, from Lois & Clark, which was brilliant for its time and gave us drama with Superman in a way we’d never seen before. And later, Tyler Hoechlin. As wonderful as Smallville is, you never really got to see the genuine suit, so I don’t count it. I did like Brandon Routh’s Kingdom Come suit from Legends and Crisis on Infinite Earths on the CW.

Somebody else posted a side by side and said the new one can’t be the final product: “too many clothing flaws.” Clothing flaws. You’re talking to a guy who thinks Christopher Reeve’s was the pinnacle outfit. That suit was amazing. The idea of giving these suits texture and making them more functional started with Brandon Routh’s first one, in Superman Returns, and moved into the modern era from there.

They brought the red trunks back, and I’m down. I love that, because it’s so iconically Superman. The accents are very reminiscent of the New 52. I don’t know that I’m a big fan of the collar, though I kind of dug the suit feel of the thing. With Henry Cavill they started the cape from its own area on the shoulders, where it always used to look like it was tucked into the collar. I still want to see if there’s a symbol on the back.

The Pose, and the Muscle

Then there was the hot take. “I figured out why the new Superman image seems off. Because it’s an effeminate pose. It’s not a good pose for a man that’s supposed to be the strongest man in the universe.”

I beg to differ. He’s the strongest man on Earth, because Earth’s sun is what fuels him. And I don’t know how you’ve ever put boots on, but very few people just slide and push.

I don’t know that this is how I would’ve introduced it. But we’ve seen every superhero pose you could possibly ask for. Knowing who James Gunn is, this was premeditated. This wasn’t a misstep. This was 100% on purpose, with a purpose, and when it’s all said and done we’re going to see it was the beginning of something brilliant.

Nobody liked Michael Keaton’s casting. People asked how in the world this guy could be Batman. And there’s an argument to be had there, because Batman’s supposed to be the pinnacle of human physicality and training.

Superman is different. I’ve never interpreted him as the big bulky muscle guy, because the sun gives him his power. I could be Superman and I’d still be able to pick up a building. A child could be Superboy and still pick up a building. It has nothing to do with physical strength. He could work out all he wants and get as jacked as he wants. He doesn’t get proportionally stronger because his biceps stick out more.

Don’t get me wrong, tons of artists have drawn him very big and bulky, Jon Bogdanove among them, even Dan Jurgens. But the pinnacle interpretation for me is John Byrne, who took a lot of his instincts from Christopher Reeve. I’ve always felt that’s who Superman is. None of the television versions have had the big hulking muscle either, because they knew better.

The Thread That Changed My Read

There’s a thread going around called “Why I love the first official picture of Superman 2025,” and it’s an inspired take. I’ve reached out to the man who wrote it, because I’d love to have him on the show and really dig in. He lays out, step for step, why his thought process is the way it is, and it brought me to an understanding I didn’t have before.

So there you go. Now you know, and if knowing is half the battle, you’re halfway to being a know-it-all yourself.

Everything I’ve said here is a rebuttal to how people are choosing to interpret one photograph. In James Gunn I trust, until he gives me a reason not to, and so far everything the man has done has won. Trust the process. Trust this guy. It’s going to be brilliant.

I’d love to hear your thoughts and your interpretations of the suit, the boots and the collar. Let’s keep it civil. The conversation lives in the comments on the video above.