James Gunn, director of Superman, is not amused by a French news network airing a fake, AI-generated trailer for the 2025 film. The clip, which was used on France.tv, is no long available to watch on the original website, but a Twitter user, @foxhouet, tweeted the video. His post got the attention of the DC Studios co-CEO, who responded:
Gunn’s tweet left little room for doubt as to how he felt about the false trailer. His entire response was just three vomiting emojis. The video itself starts with Matthew, Alexandra, and Will Reeve, the children of late Superman star Christopher Reeve, at an interview promoting the documentary Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story. Alexandra says, “we love you, Superman,” before deepfake images of David Corenswet’s Superman and Rachel Brosnahan’s Lois Lane appear.
Gunn has a history of disliking AI-generated images pertaining to his work. Earlier this year, fake pictures claiming to be from the set of Superman emerged, and when asked by a fan if they were real, the director shared his thoughts rather bluntly. He drew attention to the various errors in the image, which should tip off the viewer as to its authenticity:
Can the man on the left take a photo holding an amorphous black blob while looking through an eyeball on the front of his cap? Can the man on the right’s torso grow out of his right hip and can he be stupid enough to wear his pants with the drawstring in the back? Are David Corenswet’s hands made of wax without any bones or veins? And might Superman’s trunks be knitted with yarn?
Gunn then added: “Ask yourself these questions and I’m certain you’ll be able to answer the question on your own.” His comments leave little room for argument. While the AI-generated trailer has typical Superman imagery and thus will somewhat resemble the actual film, it is entirely fan-made.
Our Take On The French Superman AI Situation
The clip is in bad taste for a variety of reasons, from faking a trailer to more uncomfortably, using the video of Reeve’s children. They were promoting a documentary honoring their deceased father, so co-opting that footage is especially bad. The network should have vetted the content before airing it. That aside, the use of AI is a complicated issue, especially when that content is misrepresented as official. It is understandable that Gunn would be upset.
As for when the actual trailer will drop, Gunn said this at a NYCC panel: “it won’t be too long until we see a trailer, but it’s also not going to be too soon.” In fact, he stated that he had footage on his phone, which he had taken off of him in case someone attacked him. Gunn seems to indicate there will be a wait before the official trailer, but given that Superman releases in July 2024, it can’t be that long until we see a preview for the Man of Steel’s next outing.
Written and directed by James Gunn, Superman is the first movie in Warner Bros.’ rebooted DC Universe to center around the titular comic book hero. It introduces a new version of the Man of Steel after Henry Cavill’s departure from the role, honoring the character’s roots as “the embodiment of truth, justice and the American way.”
- Release Date
- July 11, 2025
- Distributor(s)
- Warner Bros. Pictures
- Cast
- David Corenswet , Rachel Brosnahan , María Gabriela De Faría , Edi Gathegi , Nicholas Hoult , Frank Grillo , Nathan Fillion , Milly Alcock , Sara Sampaio , Pruitt Taylor Vince , Skyler Gisondo , Anthony Carrigan , Wendell Pierce , Beck Bennett , Sean Gunn
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Sources: Twitter, Threads, Collider
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