James Gunn's Superman Movie Quietly Spoils Its Biggest Twist After Less Than 30 Minutes - Did You Catch It?
By Dan Bibby
October 6th, 2025
Is it a bird? Is It a plane?! No, it's a Superman spoiler!
2025's Superman is the first feature-length effort to be entered into James Gunn's rebooted DCU canon, and while it's a great movie, it's actually quite easy to spoil it for yourself simply by watching it. I know that sounds obvious, but let me explain. Just before the half-hour mark, there's a moment that makes it quite obvious what's going to be revealed later on.
I'll admit that I didn't notice it when I watched the movie in the cinema, but upon rewatching, I'm a bit annoyed that I missed such an obvious clue to a big reveal that wouldn't occur until much later in the film. Having said that, I'm also glad that I was too wrapped up in the story to spoil it for myself.
I'll admit that I didn't notice it when I watched the movie in the cinema, but upon rewatching, I'm a bit annoyed that I missed such an obvious clue to a big reveal that wouldn't occur until much later in the film. Having said that, I'm also glad that I was too wrapped up in the story to spoil it for myself.
Lex Luthor "Breaking Into" The Fortress Of Solitude Should Have Ruined The Movie's Ultraman Reveal
Just before Superman reaches its 28th minute, Nicholas Hoult's Lex Luthor and three other characters can be seen gaining access to the Fortress of Solitude. Out of Lex, the Engineer (Maria Gabriela de Faria), Eve Teschmacher (Sara Sampaio) and Ultraman (secretly David Corenswet), it seems unclear who of the four has triggered the Fortress' door to open.
The Engineer looks surprised as she glances at Lex, which sort of rules her out of contention. Eve is a very unlikely candidate, but I suppose Lex's genius makes him a possibility. Of course, we now know it was Ultraman. Later revealed to be a Superman clone, Lex's dim-witted lackey shares the same DNA as the movie's title character. As we go on to discover, it's Superman's DNA that grants him entrance to the Fortress of Solitude.
What I failed to properly consider is that Ultraman is wearing a mask that conceals his identity from the audience, yet he seems to be a very important character with more in store. In retrospect, I should have really put two and two together and solved what now seems to be a very straightforward mystery. I'm sure there were people who did, but I wasn't one of them.
The Engineer looks surprised as she glances at Lex, which sort of rules her out of contention. Eve is a very unlikely candidate, but I suppose Lex's genius makes him a possibility. Of course, we now know it was Ultraman. Later revealed to be a Superman clone, Lex's dim-witted lackey shares the same DNA as the movie's title character. As we go on to discover, it's Superman's DNA that grants him entrance to the Fortress of Solitude.
What I failed to properly consider is that Ultraman is wearing a mask that conceals his identity from the audience, yet he seems to be a very important character with more in store. In retrospect, I should have really put two and two together and solved what now seems to be a very straightforward mystery. I'm sure there were people who did, but I wasn't one of them.
David Corenswet's Ultraman Is Very Different From Previous Iterations Of The Character
Like other comic book characters, Ultraman has been reimagined many different times. The version in Superman adds yet another spin on the villain. In the DC source material, Ultraman is a version of Superman from another universe. Specifically, he's from Earth-3. With multiverse stories saturating superhero movies and TV shows at the moment, I understand why James Gunn opted for a different and less predictable approach.
Lex has cloned Superman before in the comics, but the character that emerged as a result was Bizarro, not Ultraman. Like the version of Ultraman in James Gunn's movie, Bizarro is an imperfect clone, but still incredibly powerful. So, Gunn has combined various ideas from DC comic books to create Corenswet's secondary character in Superman.
Lex has cloned Superman before in the comics, but the character that emerged as a result was Bizarro, not Ultraman. Like the version of Ultraman in James Gunn's movie, Bizarro is an imperfect clone, but still incredibly powerful. So, Gunn has combined various ideas from DC comic books to create Corenswet's secondary character in Superman.
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