Summary

Superman's second trailer is eagerly awaited by fans after a successful CinemaCon.
Superman's unconventional marketing strategy, with minimal trailers, raises doubts about building momentum and shaping audience perception.
Despite comparisons to Birds of Prey's poor marketing, Superman is expected to soar at the box office with a new media piece on Superman Day.

After a successful CinemaCon, all that’s left for James Gunn’s Superman now is a second trailer to arouse the comic book faithful. Sadly, the wait will continue.

Superman’s teaser was released on December 19, 2024, and was greeted with over 250 million views, the most for a DC flick and the fifth among movie trailers in general. At the recently-concluded CinemaCon, the movie stoked fans once more by releasing a then-exclusive sneak peek of one of the most discussed parts of the first teaser — Superman bleeding in the snow and calling on Krypto for help. In the roughly five-minute clip, the Fortress of Solitude juts out from the ice, and the Kryptonian robots rush out to speed Superman’s recovery. Come July 11, fans will get to witness on the big screen David Corenswet as the latest Man of Steel, Rachel Brosnahan as his love interest Lois Lane, Nicholas Hoult as his eternal rival Lex Luthor and a bunch of other superheroes, including Isabela Merced’s Kendra Saunders/Hawkgirl, Nathan Fillion’s Guy Gardener/Green Lantern, Edi Gathegi’s Mister Terrific/Micheal Holt, and Anthony Carrigan as Metamorpho.

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By Melody MacReady

Even before the CinemaCon, a second full-length trailer was rumored to be around the corner, with many predicting that day to be April 18 (Superman Day). But as shared by DC Film News on X, James Gunn replied to a fan on Instagram, noting that five minutes of CinemaCon footage is all fans will get, pending a second trailer. "We just released five minutes of footage in theaters, so it will be a beat."

Is There Reason to Worry About Superman’s Marketing Strategy?

Birds of Prey’s Poor Marketing and Subsequent Consequences Ring A Bell

For a movie whose cinematic debut is less than three months away, one brief still here and another new look there of Superman certainly doesn’t follow the playbook of conventional Hollywood marketing. In Hollywood, studios usually release at least two trailers and a teaser before a blockbuster's marketing campaign properly kick-starts. Matt Reeves’ The Batman released its first teaser a year in advance, with two other trailers and TV spots made public a few months before its debut. Superman is laced with both the honor and burden of introducing the newly crafted DC Universe and a Henry Cavill-less Superman film to the silver screen. In that light, there's little room for risk when it comes to marketing. Every opportunity to build momentum and shape perception must be seized.

The DCEU film, Birds of Prey stands as an example of what happens when a marketing team sucks at their job. But the Blue Boy Scout is not the Clown Princess of Crime as far as general audience knowledge goes. Despite releasing next to the heavy hitter that Marvel’s Fantastic Four: First Steps is shaping up to be, Superman will be the film to beat.

For now, the only thing anyone can be sure of is a piece of new media as Warner Bros. Celebrates Superman’s Day on Friday. A new poster, perhaps? Or just another still? Whatever marketing game Gunn and co-CEO Peter Safran are playing, it'd better be worth it when Superman flies into theaters on July 11.

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