Superman Movie: Handling Side Characters Amid High Expectations

The Man of Steel is back—almost, at least. The latest trailer for James Gunn’s upcoming film Superman has been released ahead of its July launch, and it’s packed with excitement. Lead actor David Corenswet’s performance and the dynamic presence of Superman’s beloved dog Krypto are just the tip of the iceberg. However, the main buzz among fans following the trailer's release centers around the sheer amount of content and how the film plans to handle it all cohesively.

“Strong start to the trailer,” one Redditor commented on an r/Superman post shortly after the trailer dropped. “But then practically every shot introduced another new character, and I started worrying how the movie was going to tell a coherent story.” Another fan echoed this sentiment: “I’m gonna love it, he looks great as Superman, he looks great as Clark Kent, but the movie looks like it might be a bit busy, there's a lot going on here.”

“Now this, I love this trailer. As someone who never really enjoyed the dark DC vibe, I’m excited to experience a true comic superhero movie. But am I the only one who is worried about all the cameos in the trailer?” another fan wrote in the comments. “I swear I counted like 8 friends and foes in this movie. I know they want to set up James Gunn’s DCU with this, but I would prefer it to be less heavy on cameo fodder and take more time to develop the characters essential to the story.”

To be fair, the trailer does feature a wide array of characters, including Clark Kent’s Earth parents, love interest Lois Lane (played by Rachel Brosnahan), and several sets of formidable villains, with the central antagonist Lex Luthor (portrayed by Nicholas Hoult). While some fans are concerned about the film being overly packed, many are thrilled at the prospect of these character introductions.

All the characters revealed so far in Superman:

• Superman
• Lois Lane
• Lex Luthor
• Mister Terrific
• Guy Gardner
• Hawkgirl
• Metamorpho
• The Engineer
• The Hammer of Boravia
• Ultraman
• Rick Flag Sr.
• Supergirl
• Maxwell Lord
• Kryptonian robots, including Kelex
• Krypto
• Jonathan Kent
• Martha Kent
• Perry White
• Jimmy Olsen
• Steve Lombard
• Cat Grant
• Ron Troupe
• Eve Teschmacher
• Otis

“I'm glad there's a lot going on. We've seen him fight Lex & Zod countless times at this point, I want to see him completely overwhelmed and emerge as a symbol of hope,” one user responded to the concerns, while another added, “It’s side characters, less cameos. Like Iron Man had several side characters.”

A third fan noted that this is fairly standard for superhero films. “I don't feel like it's such a big deal honestly. Movies usually need secondary/side characters,” the person commented. “Gunn here is just filling in those spots with rather big names, but I doubt he'll give them more than what they need.”

Superman: Behind the Scenes Cast and Character Images

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Despite concerns about the film being potentially overstuffed, fans remain eager to see how it all unfolds. “It looks good but wondering how they’re going to shoehorn so many different characters into one movie,” one user wrote, to which another fan replied, “It's not any more characters than the average comic book movie. It's fine.” A third user even quipped: “Kinda like Guardians of the Galaxy…?” Honestly? Touché.

James Gunn has emphasized that the film is not an ensemble piece. “At the middle of everything is Clark, Lois, and Lex,” he stated during an Instagram Live session at the beginning of 2025. “It’s about these three characters.” How he plans to focus on these core characters amidst the crowded cast remains to be seen.

Superman flies into theaters on July 11, 2025.