DC Studios released a new Superman teaser to hype the upcoming film, but it started trending for an unexpected reason that required director and studio head James Gunn to clear the air.
The teaser contains a few new images including one of Lex Luthor (Nicholas Hoult) getting out of a helicopter in the Arctic. He may be in search of the Fortress of Solitude, but we don’t know yet, and that isn’t what has people guessing.
The last shot featuring Corenswet is what’s making news. At the end of the teaser, he flies across the ice and glaciers of the North Pole and does a barrel role before the camera cuts to a close-up of his face.
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That’s pretty standard for the Man of Steel, but some on social media weren’t impressed and thought they noticed a flaw in the shot – Corenswet’s face. Looking slightly cross-eyed, his CU was dismissed as awful by commentators who assumed it was enhanced with CGI.
Gunn denied this on Threads and explained the perceived effect had to do with his choice of lenses. “There is absolutely zero CG in his face. People’s faces can look different when you put a wide angle lens up close. The background plate in Svalbard is 100% real as is David,” he said.
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Svalbard, Norway, is where Gunn took the production for location shoots to capture the essence of the frigid tundra around the Fortress. Interiors and Corenswet’s flight sequences were filmed on soundstages.
We could take Gunn at his word, but it would be ludicrous to think individual shots aren’t or won’t be cleaned up with CGI when the effects-heavy Superman has an estimated budget between $200 million and a disputed $363M (according to a few reports).
Until it finally releases in July, the film will undoubtedly keep dividing those on social media willing to give Gunn and the DCU a chance, and those who support the jilted Henry Cavill and the vision of Man of Steel director Zack Snyder.