Filmmaker James Gunn says the battered-looking version of Superman seen in the trailer for his highly anticipated "Superman" film represents America.
During a recent Q&A session at the trailer’s premiere, the director acknowledged the political implications present in the film, saying there is a theme of a bruised and bloodied America running through it.
"We do have a battered Superman in the beginning. That is our country," Gunn said at the event.
The trailer debuted online Thursday, teasing a whole new cinematic universe for the legendary DC Comics superhero. Superman is played by actor David Corenswet this time around, alongside Rachel Brosnahan’s Lois Lane.
In addition to reintroducing audiences to the classic Superman characters, the roughly two-minute trailer featured the titular character in dire straits, lying bloodied and bruised in an Arctic wasteland.
The opening shots of the trailer feature the roughed up superhero using his remaining strength to whistle for his dog, Krypto, to rescue him.
Gunn said the shocking images of the broken hero are a reference to an America that still stands for goodness despite what he called its current bloodied and beat-up state.
"I believe in the goodness of human beings, and I believe that most people in this country, despite their ideological beliefs, their politics, are doing their best to get by and be good people — despite what it may seem like to the other side," he said.
But the beleaguered state of Gunn's Superman represents America when corrupted by "darker voices," he said.
"This movie is about that. It’s about the basic kindness of human beings, and that it can be seen as uncool and under siege [by] some of the darker voices are some of the louder voices."
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Elsewhere during the Q&A, Gunn reiterated the idea that the movie is about human goodness overcoming these "darker" influences.
He said, "It’s about the basic kindness of human beings. It’s a noble premise, and one that seems designed to appeal across the political spectrum. It’s a moral call to embrace decency and optimism."
Gunn, who steered clear of political specifics, has long been a critic of President-elect Donald Trump, calling him in a 2017 post "an incompetent President forging a full-blown attack on facts and journalism in the style of Hitler and Putin."
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During the Superman event, Gunn also mentioned how he wanted his reboot to keep its distance from some of the themes of the franchise’s past iterations.
"Yet, given how often contemporary superhero stories have been scrutinized as allegories for our polarized era, there’s an undercurrent of concern," he said. "After all, previous DC installments have been criticized for flirting with darker political undertones and ‘fascistic power fantasies.’"
"We all felt like we were doing something good… not a fascistic power fantasy," he added elsewhere.
