‘Superman’ Costume Designer Says James Gunn Was Unsure About Red Trunks “Until The Night Before Filming Started”
Though the director ultimately decided to go with the classic look, Superman director James Gunn was reportedly so torn on whether or not the DCU Man of Steel should wear his red trunks that he did not actually decide to use them until the literal night before the film officially rolled cameras.
This bit of trivia regarding Superman‘s wardrobe choices was detailed by Brazilian pop culture news outlet Omelete, who finally revealed their knowledge of Gunn’s indecision roughly a year after having learned of it during a July 2024 open media visit to the film’s set.
“The red underwear was the subject of discussions every day and every hour from the moment we started the movie,” costume designer Judianna Makovsky explained to the outlet, as machine translated by DeepL. “There were a lot of people who didn’t want the underwear, and a lot of people who did. And James was very divided. And I have to say, I refused to give up.”
“It’s one of those things you want to see if you can really make it work,” added the industry vet, her past Hollywood credits including such noted outings as Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, Captain America: Civil War, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3. “We didn’t have this iteration of the underwear until just before we shot it. The decision to wear the underwear wasn’t made until the night before filming started.”
And though Gunn struggled with his feelings towards the trunks, Makovsky further revealed that from day one, this particular element of Big Blue’s has always had one major defender: Superman actor David Corenswet.
“David has always been pro-pants,” said the costume designer. “He always wanted underpants.”
Notably, this is not the first time that Corenswet’s love of Superman’s classic comic book look has been detailed in the public sphere.
Speaking to the press during said open set visit, Gunn admitted that it was the actor himself who managed to change his mind, as “We were trying on all these different versions, and we screened tested with trunks and no trunks, and one of the things David said is that Superman wants kids to not be afraid of him.”
“He’s an alien,” said the DCU boss, per the BBC. “He’s got these incredible powers. He shoots beams out of his eyes, He shoots beams out of his eyes, can blow [a] truck over. He’s this incredibly powerful, could be considered scary, individual and he wants people to like him. He wants to be a symbol of hope and positivity. So he dresses like a professional wrestler. He dresses in a way that makes people unafraid of him, that shows that hope that shows that positivity.”
“And that really clicked in for me. And I think trying to pretend that Superman’s costume doesn’t have some frivolity to it at its base, trying to make it look serious, is silly because he is a superhero,” further recapped Variety “He’s the first one, brightly colored and that’s who he is.”
Corenswet’s take on Superman, in all his red-trunked glory, is set to make his debut in just five days when Superman hits theaters on July 11th.
