The debut of the first teaser trailer for 2025’s Superman has captured the hearts and imaginations of millions of people who love the Man of Steel. Like most teasers, the two-minute preview is impressionistic and doesn’t offer much in the way of plot specifics. Still, the overall vibe fans took away from it was one of joy and hope. Only, a pair of quick scenes in the trailer showing David Corenswet’s Superman bitterly angry feel tonally out of place, perhaps because he might not be Kal-El but a hidden villain.

The feeling of lightness and hope in the Superman trailer is not there by accident, as the new DC Universe will begin with an uplifting story. “I start with a place that’s very hopeful,” Gunn said in an interview, adding the film is also “incredibly serious.” After all, the first moments viewers see Kal-El, he’s beaten and bloody, crashing into the snow. Likely, he got this way after fighting with a masked villain in black seen near the end of the teaser. Still, that moment of defeat is juxtaposed with joy as Krypto the Superdog shows up to help take him “home.” The moments showing Superman with his back to an angry crowd and brooding in the lobby of Stagg Industries are really the only two scenes standing in contrast to the overall vibe. Perhaps this is because the person audiences see there isn’t the real Kal-El at all.

Why Fans Think the Man in Black Superman Fights Is a Version of Ultraman

The Villain Could Also Be a Combination of Characters from DC Comics

While filming on location, photos taken of the Superman set revealed Frank Grillo’s Rick Flag Sr. and Maré Gabriela de Faría’s Engineer with a group of soldiers. David Corenswet’s Superman is in the middle of the group, hands presumably cuffed behind his back. The masked villain seen fighting in the trailer also appears in the group, and fans noticed a “U” logo on his chest. It’s strikingly similar to the crest worn by Ultraman. In the comics, this character is a multiversal variant of Kal-El from Earth-3, a world where the DC’s most powerful characters are villains. In the comics, he looks exactly like Superman.

Relevant Alternate Versions of Superman

The post-Crisis Bizarro was a failed Superman clone created by Lex Luthor.
Ultraman was the Superman of Earth-3 (or Antimatter Earth in the New 52 Era), and leader of the Crime Syndicate.
Connor Kent is a clone of Clark Kent and Lex Luthor who becomes Superboy.
Match is an evil clone of Connor Kent created by ‘The Agenda’ for Project Cadmus.
Neil Quinn/Ulysses is from an alternate dimension with the powers of Superman who ultimately wanted to sacrifice millions of humans to save his home dimension

It’s clear that James Gunn is hewing closely to the DC Comics source material for Superman. Yet, on the heels of The Flash flopping and the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s Multiverse Saga, it seems unlikely that he’d start the DCU with a parallel Earth crossover character. Given that, this version of Ultraman might draw from different aspects of the comics. Ulysses, for example, is a character from the New 52 era who wears a similar logo and matches Superman’s power. He isn’t a Kal-El doppelgänger, however. Similarly, in the post-Crisis On Infinite Earths continuity, Lex Luthor has created clones of Superman, including Bizarro and Connor Kent’s Superboy.

Past DC Comics’ adaptations have proven it’s possible to maintain the spirit of the source material while changing the details. For example, Superman & Lois turned an alternate reality Kal-El into Bizarro, and then Doomsday. Perhaps, this Ultraman is a similar combination of characters. Specifically, he could be a clone of the Man of Steel created by some DCU Big Bad. While Viola Davis’s Amanda Waller could be behind him, if anyone cloned Superman, it’s probably Metropolis’s resident mad scientist: Lex Luthor.

Lex Luthor Is the Main Villain in Superman, but He’s Not the Only One

The Teaser Trailer May Have Shown More Than One Character Played by David Corenswet

Even before fans saw them in the teaser trailer, casting announcements confirmed the presence of a number of DC Comics characters in this movie. Nathan Fillion plays Guy Gardner, Edi Gathegi is Mister Terrific, and Isabela Merced will appear as Hawkgirl, but their purpose in the story remains shrouded in mystery. It’s not even clear if Anthony Corrigan’s Metamorpho starts out as a hero or villain, like in some of his animated appearances. Yet, the man in black can punch through walls and is even flying while fighting Superman in the baseball stadium. There has been no word about who the actor is under that mask. Whoever he is, chances are he’s directly tied to LuthorCorp in some way.

“The primary protagonist of Superman is, shockingly, Superman. The main villain of Superman is, shockingly, Lex Luthor. I don’t know where all the stuff is coming from that it’s something other than this.” — James Gunn in April 2024.

Despite the full roster of characters in the cast, Superman will ultimately be a showdown between Kal-El and Lex Luthor. However, their conflicts are almost never physical, unless Luthor has his Silver Age war-suit. So far, that’s only happened in the Superman & Lois finale in live-action. Instead, Luthor usually employs technology or other superpowered beings to handle rough stuff for him. From the set photos showing Kal-El in custody to the image of him caged in the trailer, The ultimate plan could be to replace Superman with a doppelgänger Luthor controls.

The DCU film will not be an origin story, as the LuthorCorp CEO already hates Kal-El. However, Gunn said Superman and Lex haven’t yet met. In John Byrne’s Man of Steel miniseries, Luthor creates the Bizarro clone immediately after their first encounter. It’s possible he does something similar in this film. Whether he’s called Ultraman, Ulysses or Underdog, perhaps the reason the man in black wears a mask is because he looks just like Superman. The uncharacteristically angry Corenswet character in the trailer could be a phony Man of Steel.

How the Different Businessmen Could Be Involved With the Heroes and Villains

The Rich Crave Power and They May Be Collecting Metropolis Metahuman

Along with the superheroes, there are a lot of DC Comics’ billionaires in Superman. The trailer implied via the Stagg Industries sign in that lobby that Simon Stagg will appear. Sean Gunn is already confirmed as Maxwell Lord, another tycoon and CEO of Lord Tech. In the comics, Mister Terrific is the alter-ego of inventor and entrepreneur Michael Holt. The arrival of Superman may have inspired all of them to use their money and smarts to get in on the superhero game themselves. Luthor may not want just any hero, however — he wants to own Superman. Whether the man in black is a clone or a multiversal variant of Kal-El, it takes more than looks and an outfit to truly be the Man of Tomorrow.

While it’s difficult to make out in the trailer, set photos confirmed Guy Gardner and Hawkgirl wear uniforms with the Lord Tech logo on the chest. This means, Maxwell Lord has hired them to be “his” superheroes. Similarly, Metamorpho is intertwined with Simon Stagg more tightly than Superman is to Lex. Mister Terrific’s relationship to Michael Holt’s company could be like Iron Man and Tony Stark. Given all this, it doesn’t make sense that LuthorCorp wouldn’t get in on the action, and what better way to do it than by putting Superman on his payroll?

The overall tenor of the trailer doesn’t suggest the world is conflicted about Superman like in the DC Extended Universe. It makes more sense if Luthor’s pet hero failed to live up to the Man of Steel’s standard, which could explain why he and the crowd of citizens are so angry. This could also be why Guy Gardner seems perturbed when he blocks the windows with his power ring. Whatever mistake led to that moment is made worse because they are corporate rivals. As the real Superman is taken home to recover by Krypto, a lookalike pretender may have tried to take his place. If so, judging by the anger running through those scenes, it’s clear he failed to meet that challenge.

James Gunn’s Superman will debut exclusively in theaters on July 11, 2025.