James Gunn packs the first DC Universe movie with insider-y references and playful nods to past Superman media.
James Gunn kicks off the new DC Universe with Superman, a film packed with insider-y references and familiar faces. From nostalgic nods to wild cameos, here are seven Easter eggs fans won’t want to miss.
(Warning: Spoilers ahead!)
1) The Superman Robots
When an injured Clark Kent/Superman (David Corenswet) is rescued by Krypto and taken to the Fortress of Solitude, four caped robots tend to him — a clear homage to the mechanical helpers first seen in World’s Finest #42 (1949) and reimagined in Grant Morrison’s All-Star Superman.
Their voices? Gunn’s regular collaborators Michael Rooker, Pom Klementieff, and Jennifer Holland. Alan Tudyk — who voiced the droids Sonny in I, Robot and K-2SO in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story — fittingly plays the lead bot, Gary, here; he has also voiced Superman himself and other DC characters in several animated projects.
2) Jor-El and Lara Lor-Van
Early in the movie, Superman watches a hologram recording of his Kryptonian biological parents, Jor-El (Bradley Cooper) and Lara Lor-Van (Angela Sarafyan), though the second half of it appears to be corrupted.
Lex Luthor (Nicholas Hoult) later steals that recording and deciphers the corrupted data, revealing that Jor-El and Lara commanded their son to rule over Earth and subjugate its people — something the LuthorCorp CEO weaponises to turn humanity against Superman. The unsettling revelation about the Kryptonians’ imperialistic impulses and murky moral compass echoes storylines from the comic The Man of Steel (1986) and the TV series Smallville, and is perhaps the movie’s most controversial plot point.
3) Lex’s Team
Lex surrounds himself with people that DC fans might have heard of: Eve Teschmacher and Otis Berg, characters that originated from the original 1978 film, plus the nanite-powered Engineer. There’s also Ultraman (Corenswet) — a failed Superman clone — and Mister Handsome, one of Lex’s creepy early experiments. His private army, PlanetWatch, dons purple-and-green power suits inspired by his armour in the comics, and one soldier is voiced by Smallville’s Lex himself, Michael Rosenbaum.
4) The Justice Gang (and Peacemaker)
Gunn loves to spotlight obscure heroes. Enter the Justice Gang: Guy Gardner/Green Lantern (Nathan Fillion), Michael Holt/Mister Terrific (Edi Gathegi), and Kendra Saunders/Hawkgirl (Isabela Merced), who are all bankrolled by Maxwell Lord (Sean Gunn), Lex’s rival. This line-up has some similarities with Justice League International from the comics, and Guy, Kendra, and Maxwell all make cameos in Peacemaker S2. Speaking of which, Peacemaker (John Cena) himself shows up in Superman as a talk show guest.
The Justice Gang operates from a still-under-construction Hall of Justice — filmed at Cincinnati Union Terminal — whose murals tease dozens of forgotten or lesser-known DC characters, such as Sister Symmetry and Black Pirate.
5) Daily Planet Office and Staff
Lois Lane (Rachel Brosnahan) and Clark Kent work at the iconic Metropolis Daily Planet, filmed at Cleveland’s Leader Building (the exteriors) and Macon’s Terminal Station (interiors). Look out for nods to Superman (1978) and Superman II decorating Clark’s cubicle.
The newsroom features Perry White (Wendell Pierce), Jimmy Olsen (Skyler Gisondo), and Cat Grant (Mikaela Hoover) — all characters that have appeared in the comics.
A real-life TV news reporter also makes a cameo: Will Reeve, son of the late (and original) Superman actor Christopher Reeve. Aptly enough, he plays a TV news reporter (though not a Daily Planet staffer), covering the Justice Gang’s arrival to fight a kaiju unleashed by Lex.
6) Metamorpho
Among Lex’s prisoners is Rex Mason, aka Metamorpho (Anthony Carrigan), the Element Man whose body can transform into any element. While his tragic comic book backstory with Sapphire Stagg isn’t fully explored here, his appearance teases the larger world of DC’s misfit heroes. Carrigan, who played Mr Zsasz in Gotham, a TV series based on DC characters, brings just the right mix of pathos and weirdness here.
7) Supergirl
The film ends on a high and hilarious note: Superman’s cousin Kara Zor-El/Supergirl (Milly Alcock) crash-lands at the Fortress of Solitude, drunk after visiting a red-sun planet (she can’t get drunk on Earth, it’s a metabolism thing). Turns out, Krypto is actually her dog! Superman was just dog-sitting, something he mentions in the movie.
She’ll headline her own movie in 2026, which will be based on the Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow comics series by Tom King and Bilquis Evely. Other characters appearing in that film include Supergirl’s father, Zor-El (David Krumholtz), and alien bounty hunter Lobo (Jason Momoa), teasing even more intergalactic mayhem in Gunn’s expanding DCU.
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