A new Clark Kent and his dog suit up in James Gunn's 'Superman' trailer: Watch

You will believe the new DC franchise can fly after watching the trailer for James Gunn's "Superman."

The highly anticipated superhero reboot dropped its first footage on Thursday, revealing David Corenswet as Clark Kent and Rachel Brosnahan as Superman's love interest, Lois Lane.

A bald Nicholas Hoult also took center stage as the villainous Lex Luthor. The actor takes over the iconic role previously played on screen by Gene Hackman, Kevin Spacey and Jesse Eisenberg.

The trailer begins with a bloodied Superman crashing into the snow, where he whistles and calls his dog Krypto, clad in a red cape, to come rescue him. Meanwhile, Superman looks unrecognizable as Clark Kent going to work at the Daily Planet with Lois Lane.

The trailer strikes a hopeful tone throughout, calling back to Christopher Reeve's version and in contrast to the darker vision made famous by director Zack Snyder. Accompanied by a new rendition of John Williams' iconic Superman theme, the character is seen rescuing a young girl, and a boy raises up a flag with his logo at another point in the trailer. Still, the footage teases a public anger toward Superman, who enters a building as a crowd yells and throws things at him.

The teaser also emphasizes that numerous other superheroes will be featured in the movie, with first looks at Isabela Merced's Hawkgirl and Nathan Fillion's Guy Gardner, a version of Green Lantern.

"Superman" marks the first film released as part of a rebooted DC franchise, known simply as the DC Universe. Gunn, who wrote and directed the movie, is serving as co-CEO of DC Studios alongside Peter Safran and overseeing production of all of the studio's future films and TV shows, including the recently released animated series "Creature Commandos."

"It begins," says the tagline in the trailer, a meta reference to the start of the new DC universe as a whole.

'Superman' cast: Who plays Guy Gardner, others?

The stacked cast of "Superman" also includes Skyler Gisondo as Jimmy Olsen, Wendell Pierce as Perry White, Pruitt Taylor Vince as Jonathan Kent, and Neva Howell as Martha Kent.

The movie is expected to feature several other superhero characters in addition to Superman, including Hawkgirl (Isabela Merced), Guy Gardner (Nathan Fillion), Mister Terrific (Edi Gathegi), and Metamorpho (Anthony Carrigan).

'Superman' plot: What is the DC sequel about?

In a video on Wednesday, Gunn described "Superman" as a "story about humanity, about what it means to be a hero in a world that doesn't always make it easy to be one."

The reboot takes place in a universe "where superheroes exist and have existed for quite a while," Gunn previously said on Threads.

While many details about the plot have been kept under wraps, Gunn has also said the film will not be an origin story, indicating Clark Kent will already be Superman when it begins. "I'm not telling Batman and Superman's origin stories again because everyone knows them," Gunn said on Threads.

Superman's dog Krypto is set to appear in the movie, as well. The character was inspired by Gunn's own dog, Ozu, who he adopted after he started writing the movie.

"He immediately came in & destroyed our home, our shoes, our furniture - he even ate my laptop," Gunn said on X. "It took a long time before he would even let us touch him. I remember thinking, 'Gosh, how difficult would life be if Ozu had superpowers?' - and thus Krypto came into the script & changed the shape of the story as Ozu was changing my life."

DC film reboot begins with 'Superman'

The start of the rebooted DC franchise follows the decade-long DC Extended Universe, which director Zack Snyder began with his own 2013 Superman film "Man of Steel," starring Henry Cavill as Superman. Snyder's dour depiction of Superman sparked mixed reactions among critics and fans, and subsequent DC movies generally struggled to compete with Marvel at the box office.

In 2022, Cavill made a surprise return as Superman in the credits of DC's "Black Adam," promising a showdown with the title character. But after that film disappointed at the box office, Gunn's hiring was announced, and he confirmed he would take the franchise in a new direction with a younger Superman.

"Our story will be focusing on an earlier part of Superman's life, so the character will not be played by Henry Cavill," Gunn said on X in 2022. "But we just had a great meeting with Henry and we're big fans and we talked about a number of exciting possibilities to work together in the future."

But Gunn's new DC franchise will not be ignoring everything that came before. Certain characters and stories will carry over, including John Cena's Peacemaker and Viola Davis' Amanda Waller.

The pressure is especially high for Gunn to revive the DC brand after "Joker: Folie à Deux" bombed at the box office in October and received weak reviews from critics and audiences.

When will 'Superman' be released?

"Superman" hits theaters on July 11, 2025.

This date is notably just two weeks before Marvel's "The Fantastic Four: First Steps," setting up a box office showdown between two rival superhero reboots. Which film wins this face-off could foreshadow whether Marvel will maintain its dominance in theaters or whether DC, under Gunn, could finally start giving the studio a run for its money.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: 'Superman' trailer: James Gunn's version teases David Corenswet