{"slug":"superman","type":"movie","title":"Superman","year":2025,"releaseDate":null,"franchise":"dc","genres":["Action","Adventure","Science Fiction"],"creators":["James Gunn"],"url":"https://thethingsyoumissed.com/movies/superman","hook":"Gunn hid Smallville's Lex, Christopher Reeve's son, and a photo of the real-life Lois Lane inside his DCU launchpad.","intro":"Rachel Brosnahan let one slip after release: sitting on Lois Lane's desk at the Daily Planet is a framed photo of **Joanne Siegel** — the woman who modeled for the original Lois in 1938 and later married Superman co-creator Jerry Siegel. That's the level James Gunn was operating at when he built *Superman* (2025). This isn't a movie with a few winks tucked into the corners; it's a movie shot in Jerry Siegel's hometown, on streets renamed after comic creators, with a Justice Society mural that Gunn has personally described as a roadmap for the DCU.\n\nThe cameo game is just as layered. *Smallville*'s Michael Rosenbaum is in the film but you'll never spot him — he's a voice inside a LuthorCorp Raptor helmet. Christopher Reeve's son Will plays a Metropolis news reporter. And four of the Fortress of Solitude's helper robots are voiced by Gunn regulars, including Alan Tudyk as the fan-favorite Gary.\n\nBelow is every documented easter egg worth your time — from the *Superman #1* chains in the DC Studios logo to the drunk Kryptonian who staggers in at the end — sourced to interviews, official DC posts, and the outlets that did the freeze-framing, ordered roughly as they appear in the film.","identifiers":{"tmdbId":1061474,"tmdbUrl":"https://www.themoviedb.org/movie/1061474","imdbId":"tt5950044","imdbUrl":"https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5950044/"},"counts":{"eggs":20,"confirmed":7,"community":13,"theory":0,"sources":29},"postCredits":{"status":"yes","verdict":"Yes — Superman has 2 post-credit scenes.","scenes":2,"description":"Two stingers, both jokes rather than setup. Mid-credits: Superman and Krypto sit side by side on the moon, gazing at Earth — a wordless postcard shot. Post-credits: Superman needles Mister Terrific over a rebuilt Metropolis skyscraper that's ever-so-slightly crooked; Terrific storms off, and Superman regrets being 'such a jerk.' Gunn has said neither scene teases a future project — the crooked building is just the DCU's first running gag.","detail":"Two, and neither of them is homework. James Gunn splits them across the crawl: the first arrives mid-credits, once the principal cast cards have gone by, and the second waits until the very end.\n\nThe mid-credits scene runs about thirty seconds and contains no dialogue. Superman sits on a lunar ridge with **Krypto** in his lap and the two of them watch the Earth turn — weather systems, city lights, the whole slow rotation — while Krypto does very little except be a dog. It plays as a breath rather than a beat, and it quietly restates the film's central argument: he does not belong to Metropolis, he belongs to all of it.\n\nThe post-credits scene is a joke at the hero's expense. Back in the rebuilt city, Superman and **Mister Terrific** stand looking up at a skyscraper Terrific reassembled after Lex's dimensional tear ripped the place open — and it is very slightly, unmistakably crooked. Clark points this out. Terrific, who has spent the entire film being the most competent person in any room, declines to take the note and walks off without a word, leaving Superman muttering *\"I shouldn't have brought it up… gosh, I can be such a jerk.\"*\n\nNeither scene sets up an announced project, which is a strange choice for a franchise-launching film and a deliberate one. Gunn has said on the record that his time at Marvel taught him not to plant stingers for things that may never pay off, and he would rather promise nothing than promise wrong. The genuine handoff to the wider DCU happens inside the film instead, in the last scene before the credits, when Supergirl turns up at the Fortress to collect her dog.","url":"https://thethingsyoumissed.com/movies/superman/post-credits"},"eggs":[{"id":"dc-studios-logo-chains","url":"https://thethingsyoumissed.com/movies/superman#egg-dc-studios-logo-chains","title":"The DC Studios Logo Recreates Superman #1's Chain-Breaking Pose","description":"The animated DC Studios logo is lifted from the back cover of 1939's *Superman #1*, drawn by co-creator Joe Shuster. Superman bursts free of heavy chains before the classic Milton Glaser bullet appears. The chain-breaking image became so iconic that DC trademarked it in 1941. Debuted on *Creature Commandos*, the logo doubles as a mission statement for Gunn's rebooted DCU: the character breaking out of everything that held him back. This film is the first theatrical DCU release to open with it.","scene":"The very first frames, before the opening crawl","timestamp":null,"episode":null,"types":["visual","reference","meta"],"difficulty":4,"difficultyName":"Deep Cut","verification":"community","spoiler":false,"sources":[{"label":"ComicBook.com — DC Studios logo pays homage to a classic Superman story","url":"https://comicbook.com/tv-shows/news/creature-commandos-new-dc-studios-logo-animation-explained-classic-superman/"},{"label":"CBR — James Gunn explains the official DC Studios logo","url":"https://www.cbr.com/dc-studios-logo-first-look-james-gunn-statement/"}],"motifs":["comic-panel-recreation"],"referencesSlug":null,"referencesWork":null},{"id":"krypto-modeled-on-gunns-dog-ozu","url":"https://thethingsyoumissed.com/movies/superman#egg-krypto-modeled-on-gunns-dog-ozu","title":"Krypto Is a Digital Clone of James Gunn's Rescue Dog Ozu","description":"Krypto is a pixel-perfect digital recreation of Ozu, the rescue dog James Gunn adopted while writing the script. Ozu came from a hoarding situation with 60 other dogs, had never known humans, and promptly destroyed Gunn's home — he even ate the director's laptop — which became Krypto's entire characterization. Gunn 3D-scanned Ozu (who 'despised' the process) and based Krypto's opening pounce on Superman on footage of Ozu playing with his cat. Same one-up-one-down ears, same chaos.","scene":"Krypto's introduction in the opening Antarctic sequence, and every scene of Fortress destruction after","timestamp":null,"episode":null,"types":["trivia","meta"],"difficulty":4,"difficultyName":"Deep Cut","verification":"confirmed","spoiler":false,"sources":[{"label":"CNN — The real-life inspiration behind Krypto","url":"https://www.cnn.com/2025/07/12/entertainment/superman-krypto-dog"},{"label":"IMDb News — Gunn shares first look at Krypto, inspired by his rescue dog","url":"https://www.imdb.com/news/ni64888711/"}],"motifs":[],"referencesSlug":null,"referencesWork":null},{"id":"fortress-robots-gunn-regulars","url":"https://thethingsyoumissed.com/movies/superman#egg-fortress-robots-gunn-regulars","title":"The Fortress Robots Are Voiced by Gunn's Repertory Company","description":"The Fortress of Solitude's Superman Robots are voiced by James Gunn regulars, none of whom appear on screen. Their look is designed after their appearance in *All-Star Superman*. Alan Tudyk voices Robot #4, better known as Gary, continuing his streak of DCU roles after *Creature Commandos*. Guardians of the Galaxy alumni Michael Rooker and Pom Klementieff voice Robots #1 and #5, and Jennifer Holland (Peacemaker's Emilia Harcourt, and Gunn's wife) rounds out the crew. It's a credits-only discovery.","scene":"Every Fortress of Solitude scene; check the voice cast in the end credits","timestamp":null,"episode":null,"types":["cameo","reference"],"difficulty":4,"difficultyName":"Deep Cut","verification":"community","spoiler":false,"sources":[{"label":"Collider — All the easter eggs we could find in Superman","url":"https://collider.com/superman-2025-easter-eggs/"},{"label":"ScreenRant — Superman: 111 DC easter eggs & references explained","url":"https://screenrant.com/superman-movie-easter-eggs-dc-references/"}],"motifs":["casting-in-joke"],"referencesSlug":null,"referencesWork":null},{"id":"kingdom-come-s-shield","url":"https://thethingsyoumissed.com/movies/superman#egg-kingdom-come-s-shield","title":"The S-Shield Leans Kingdom Come, Not Classic","description":"Corenswet's chest emblem echoes the angular S-shield Alex Ross designed for the older Superman of *Kingdom Come*. Look closely and the diagonal, sharpened sigil reads less like a letter and more like an alien glyph. *Kingdom Come* is the acclaimed 1996 miniseries about a Superman who never gives up on people who've given up on him. Given that this film's Superman spends the whole runtime being told the world doesn't want his help, the choice of that particular emblem plays like quiet thematic foreshadowing rather than a random redesign.","scene":"Superman's suit, visible in essentially every scene — compare the S's diagonal strokes to the Kingdom Come shield","timestamp":null,"episode":null,"types":["visual","reference"],"difficulty":4,"difficultyName":"Deep Cut","verification":"community","spoiler":false,"sources":[{"label":"ScreenRant — Superman: 111 DC easter eggs & references explained","url":"https://screenrant.com/superman-movie-easter-eggs-dc-references/"}],"motifs":[],"referencesSlug":null,"referencesWork":null},{"id":"squirrel-save-gunn-fought-for","url":"https://thethingsyoumissed.com/movies/superman#egg-squirrel-save-gunn-fought-for","title":"The Squirrel Save That Test Audiences Hated","description":"Mid-kaiju-battle, Superman detours to scoop a squirrel out of harm's way. Test screening audiences literally asked 'why the f— is he saving a squirrel?' and Gunn cut the beat — then put it back, saying 'I really miss the squirrel. He's gotta save the squirrel.' He later told The New York Times it was one of the two or three most debated moments in the movie: 'It really comes down to, do you like squirrels or not?' The two-second beat is the film's thesis in miniature — no life is too small for this Superman.","scene":"During the kaiju attack on Metropolis, as Superman weaves through the evacuation","timestamp":null,"episode":null,"types":["trivia","meta"],"difficulty":2,"difficultyName":"Second Watch","verification":"confirmed","spoiler":false,"sources":[{"label":"Variety — Superman test screenings said cut squirrel saving; Gunn refused","url":"https://variety.com/2025/film/news/superman-test-screenings-cut-squirrel-1236465783/"},{"label":"Gizmodo — Gunn put the squirrel scene back in","url":"https://gizmodo.com/superman-saving-a-squirrel-was-cut-out-of-the-movie-but-james-gunn-put-it-back-in-2000632316"}],"motifs":[],"referencesSlug":null,"referencesWork":null},{"id":"joanne-siegel-photo-lois-desk","url":"https://thethingsyoumissed.com/movies/superman#egg-joanne-siegel-photo-lois-desk","title":"The Real Lois Lane Sits Framed on Lois's Desk","description":"The framed photograph on Lois Lane's Daily Planet desk is Joanne Siegel — the woman who modelled for the original Lois Lane in the 1930s. Rachel Brosnahan revealed it after release: Joe Shuster hired Siegel to pose, and she later married co-creator Jerry Siegel. Deeper still, Jerry Siegel's grandsons, Michael and James Larson, appear as extras in the Daily Planet bullpen. Brosnahan said Gunn 'loves easter eggs like that' but never wanted audiences to feel they had homework to do. It's arguably the most sentimental hidden detail in the film.","scene":"Lois's desk in the Daily Planet newsroom scenes — freeze-frame the framed photo","timestamp":null,"episode":null,"types":["visual","trivia","meta"],"difficulty":5,"difficultyName":"White Whale","verification":"confirmed","spoiler":false,"sources":[{"label":"NBC News — Brosnahan reveals the sentimental Lois Lane easter egg","url":"https://www.nbcnews.com/pop-culture/pop-culture-news/rachel-brosnahan-reveals-sentimental-lois-lane-easter-egg-superman-rcna219213"},{"label":"Today — Rachel Brosnahan on the Lois Lane easter egg","url":"https://www.today.com/popculture/movies/superman-movie-lois-lane-easter-egg-rcna216887"}],"motifs":[],"referencesSlug":null,"referencesWork":null},{"id":"daily-planet-deep-bench","url":"https://thethingsyoumissed.com/movies/superman#egg-daily-planet-deep-bench","title":"The Daily Planet Bullpen Is Stacked with Comics Deep Cuts","description":"The Daily Planet bullpen quietly seats decades of Superman comics history: Steve Lombard, Cat Grant and Ron Troupe. Sportswriter bully **Steve Lombard** first appeared in 1973's *Superman #264*, gossip columnist **Cat Grant** in *Adventures of Superman #424*, and reporter **Ron Troupe** married Lucy Lane on the page. The news montages add more: a network called **52** nods to DC's New 52 publishing relaunch, and **WGBS** — Galaxy Broadcasting System — first appeared in *Superman's Pal, Jimmy Olsen #133* as the Planet's Bronze Age parent company.","scene":"Daily Planet newsroom scenes and the various TV news montages — read the channel bugs and nameplates","timestamp":null,"episode":null,"types":["reference","visual"],"difficulty":4,"difficultyName":"Deep Cut","verification":"community","spoiler":false,"sources":[{"label":"ScreenRant — Superman: 111 DC easter eggs & references explained","url":"https://screenrant.com/superman-movie-easter-eggs-dc-references/"},{"label":"DC.com — Rounding up the easter eggs in Superman","url":"https://www.dc.com/blog/2025/07/14/rounding-up-the-easter-eggs-in-superman"}],"motifs":[],"referencesSlug":null,"referencesWork":null},{"id":"metropolis-cleveland-creator-streets","url":"https://thethingsyoumissed.com/movies/superman#egg-metropolis-cleveland-creator-streets","title":"Metropolis Is Cleveland — and Its Streets Are Named After Comics Legends","description":"Metropolis is Cleveland, Ohio — the city where Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster actually invented Superman in the 1930s. Gunn shot there for the Art Deco skyline and only discovered the connection mid-production, a coincidence he called moving. The production leaned in: street signs and storefronts around Metropolis are named for comics creators, including Moore Avenue for Alan Moore, writer of *Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow?*. Pause any wide street shot during the kaiju attack or evacuation and start reading signage.","scene":"Exterior Metropolis shots throughout — signage is most legible during the kaiju attack and evacuation sequences","timestamp":null,"episode":null,"types":["visual","trivia","meta"],"difficulty":3,"difficultyName":"Freeze Frame","verification":"community","spoiler":false,"sources":[{"label":"Game Rant — Best easter eggs in Superman (2025)","url":"https://gamerant.com/superman-best-easter-eggs-dcu-2025-james-gunn/"},{"label":"MovieWeb — Deep cut easter eggs in Superman","url":"https://movieweb.com/superman-2025-references-easter-eggs/"}],"motifs":["blink-and-miss-signage"],"referencesSlug":null,"referencesWork":null},{"id":"dc-brand-universe-billboards","url":"https://thethingsyoumissed.com/movies/superman#egg-dc-brand-universe-billboards","title":"Zesti Cola, Chocos and Big Belly Burger: A Fully Branded DC World","description":"Metropolis is wallpapered with DC's in-universe brands. Ads for **Zesti Cola** and **Big Belly Burger** (the fast-food chain long featured in the comics and Arrowverse) dot the skyline, **Chocos** — DC's Oreo stand-in and famously Martian Manhunter's favorite snack — get shelf space, and **Stagg Industries** signage plants the corporate seed for Metamorpho's origin. **LordTech**, Maxwell Lord's company, bankrolls the Justice Gang, and the fictional pop band **the Mighty Crabjoys** (first name-dropped in *Creature Commandos*) even gets a closing-credits song that Gunn himself co-wrote.","scene":"Background billboards, storefronts and TV ads throughout Metropolis; Crabjoys song in the end credits","timestamp":null,"episode":null,"types":["visual","reference"],"difficulty":3,"difficultyName":"Freeze Frame","verification":"community","spoiler":false,"sources":[{"label":"Collider — All the easter eggs we could find in Superman","url":"https://collider.com/superman-2025-easter-eggs/"}],"motifs":["blink-and-miss-signage","product-of-the-fictional-universe"],"referencesSlug":null,"referencesWork":null},{"id":"eve-teschmacher-otis-donner-callback","url":"https://thethingsyoumissed.com/movies/superman#egg-eve-teschmacher-otis-donner-callback","title":"Eve Teschmacher and Otis: Donner's Henchmen, Rebuilt","description":"Lex's entourage is a straight callback to *Superman: The Movie* (1978). Sara Sampaio's selfie-obsessed girlfriend is **Eve Teschmacher**, a character Mario Puzo and Richard Donner invented for that film (played then by Valerie Perrine), and Lex's quietly competent enforcer is **Otis Berg** — the surname itself a joke from a 1978 land-naming exchange between Gene Hackman's Lex and Ned Beatty's bumbling Otis. Gunn inverts both: this Otis is ruthlessly capable, and Eve's ditziness turns out to be the thing that brings Lex down.","scene":"Lex's LuthorCorp inner circle throughout; Eve's selfies pay off in the third act","timestamp":null,"episode":null,"types":["callback","reference"],"difficulty":4,"difficultyName":"Deep Cut","verification":"community","spoiler":false,"sources":[{"label":"SlashFilm — A Superman character created by The Godfather's writer","url":"https://www.slashfilm.com/1914331/james-gunn-superman-character-eve-teschmacher-created-the-godfather-writer/"},{"label":"ScreenRant — Who is Eve Teschmacher?","url":"https://screenrant.com/superman-eve-teschmacher-lex-luthor-girlfriend-explained/"}],"motifs":[],"referencesSlug":null,"referencesWork":null},{"id":"rosenbaum-raptor-voice","url":"https://thethingsyoumissed.com/movies/superman#egg-rosenbaum-raptor-voice","title":"Smallville's Lex Luthor Is Hiding Inside a Raptor Helmet","description":"Michael Rosenbaum, who played Lex Luthor for seven seasons of *Smallville*, voices one of Lex's armored Raptor guards. You will never see his face. It's a double tribute, since Nicholas Hoult has cited Rosenbaum's Lex as an influence on his own performance. The film stacks a second *Smallville* nod on top: the company is branded **LuthorCorp**, the spelling that show popularized, rather than the comics' usual LexCorp.","scene":"The LuthorCorp Raptor soldiers deployed during Lex's operations — listen for the voice; Rosenbaum is in the credits","timestamp":null,"episode":null,"types":["cameo","meta"],"difficulty":5,"difficultyName":"White Whale","verification":"confirmed","spoiler":false,"sources":[{"label":"IMDb News — Rosenbaum is in James Gunn's Superman, you just won't see him","url":"https://www.imdb.com/news/ni65323359/"},{"label":"Collider — Every cameo in Superman","url":"https://collider.com/superman-2025-every-cameo/"}],"motifs":["cameo-of-original-actor","casting-in-joke"],"referencesSlug":null,"referencesWork":null},{"id":"hall-of-justice-jsa-mural","url":"https://thethingsyoumissed.com/movies/superman#egg-hall-of-justice-jsa-mural","title":"The Hall of Justice Mural Is a DCU Roadmap","description":"The Hall of Justice lobby mural is a DCU roadmap, and Gunn has confirmed **Doctor Fate** is painted on it. The Justice Gang's headquarters is modeled, as in *Super Friends*, on Cincinnati's Union Terminal, and its mural is the single densest egg in the film. Paired with the opening crawl's 'three centuries of metahumans,' it depicts DC history: Wildcat, Jay Garrick's Flash, the Black Pirate, the Silent Knight, Amethyst of Gemworld, Freedom Beast and Vibe are all identifiable. Gunn told Josh Horowitz about Doctor Fate personally, calling the mural deliberate world-building with 'a ton of thought put into it.' Translation: a Justice Society existed in this universe long before Superman.","scene":"The lobby mural behind the Justice Gang in every Hall of Justice scene","timestamp":null,"episode":null,"types":["visual","foreshadowing","reference"],"difficulty":3,"difficultyName":"Freeze Frame","verification":"community","spoiler":false,"sources":[{"label":"ScreenRant — Gunn confirms a hero in the Hall of Justice mural","url":"https://screenrant.com/superman-hall-of-justice-mural-doctor-fate-easter-egg/"},{"label":"ComicBook.com — Superman easter eggs confirm these heroes exist in the DCU","url":"https://comicbook.com/movies/news/superman-movie-easter-eggs-cameos-hall-of-justice-society-of-america-dcu/"}],"motifs":["foreshadowed-in-background-art","sequel-tease"],"referencesSlug":null,"referencesWork":null},{"id":"goddamn-mister-terrific","url":"https://thethingsyoumissed.com/movies/superman#egg-goddamn-mister-terrific","title":"'I'm Goddamn Mister Terrific' Flips a Notorious Batman Line","description":"Mister Terrific's line \"I'm goddamn Mister Terrific\" paraphrases \"I'm the goddamn Batman\" from *All-Star Batman & Robin*. Frank Miller and Jim Lee's 2005 series produced a line so notorious it became meme shorthand for over-the-top grimdark writing. Handing it to the DCU's most Batman-adjacent hero — a genius with no powers, just tech and preparation — is a sly bit of self-aware casting for the joke.","scene":"Mister Terrific's action showcase alongside Lois, mid-film","timestamp":null,"episode":null,"types":["reference","meta"],"difficulty":4,"difficultyName":"Deep Cut","verification":"community","spoiler":false,"sources":[{"label":"Collider — All the easter eggs we could find in Superman","url":"https://collider.com/superman-2025-easter-eggs/"}],"motifs":[],"referencesSlug":null,"referencesWork":null},{"id":"metamorpho-baby-joey","url":"https://thethingsyoumissed.com/movies/superman#egg-metamorpho-baby-joey","title":"Baby Joey Is a Deep Cut from Justice League Europe","description":"The green-skinned infant Lex uses as leverage against Metamorpho is **Joey Mason**, a character from 1990's *Justice League Europe*. He's Rex Mason and Sapphire Stagg's son, introduced around *Justice League Europe #11-12*, where Sapphire's tycoon father Simon Stagg exploited the baby's metamorph powers. The film mirrors that dynamic: a powerful man weaponizing Joey against his father, here to force Rex to transmute his hand into kryptonite. The Stagg Industries billboards around Metropolis complete the family's paper trail.","scene":"Lex's pocket-universe prison, where Metamorpho guards Superman's cell with Joey held nearby","timestamp":null,"episode":null,"types":["reference","trivia"],"difficulty":4,"difficultyName":"Deep Cut","verification":"community","spoiler":true,"sources":[{"label":"ComicBook.com — Superman characters explained: who is baby Joey?","url":"https://comicbook.com/movies/news/superman-movie-villain-lex-luthor-battle-armor-who-is-baby-joey-metamorpho-explained/"}],"motifs":[],"referencesSlug":null,"referencesWork":null},{"id":"gotham-city-road-sign","url":"https://thethingsyoumissed.com/movies/superman#egg-gotham-city-road-sign","title":"A Highway Sign Points the Way to Gotham","description":"A highway sign during the Metropolis evacuation directs traffic toward **Gotham City**. It is the DCU's first on-screen acknowledgment that Batman's hometown sits within driving distance of Metropolis. It's the movie's only Batman breadcrumb, and a deliberately quiet one: no Wayne logos, no Batsignal, just civic infrastructure treating Gotham as an ordinary neighboring city. Freeze-frame hunters spotted it within days of release, and it fueled immediate speculation about when the DCU's Batman will surface.","scene":"The highway evacuation shots as citizens flee Metropolis in the third act","timestamp":null,"episode":null,"types":["visual","foreshadowing"],"difficulty":3,"difficultyName":"Freeze Frame","verification":"community","spoiler":false,"sources":[{"label":"SuperHeroHype — Superman's key easter eggs with Gotham City listed","url":"https://www.superherohype.com/guides/611427-superman-easter-eggs-dc-references-gotham-city"},{"label":"ScreenRant — The Batman easter egg in Superman","url":"https://screenrant.com/superman-movie-batman-easter-egg-gotham-city/"}],"motifs":["blink-and-miss-signage","sequel-tease"],"referencesSlug":null,"referencesWork":null},{"id":"peacemaker-talk-show-cameo","url":"https://thethingsyoumissed.com/movies/superman#egg-peacemaker-talk-show-cameo","title":"Peacemaker Trash-Talks Superman on Cable News","description":"John Cena's Peacemaker turns up on cable news to trash-talk Superman. Christopher Smith appears on The Sphere's talk show, hosted by right-wing pundit Cleavis Thornwaite, smugly questioning Superman's heroism — perfectly in character for a guy who spent *Peacemaker* season 1 doubting the Man of Steel. Cena revealed the cameo came together at the last minute at Gunn's request. It's also a load-bearing egg: *Peacemaker* season 2 picks up one month after this film's ending, and Sean Gunn's **Maxwell Lord** and Frank Grillo's **Rick Flag Sr.** (now running A.R.G.U.S., carried over from *Creature Commandos*) both bridge the two projects.","scene":"The TV panel-show segment dunking on Superman after his arrest becomes public debate","timestamp":null,"episode":null,"types":["cameo","foreshadowing"],"difficulty":2,"difficultyName":"Second Watch","verification":"confirmed","spoiler":false,"sources":[{"label":"ScreenRant — John Cena breaks silence on his Superman cameo","url":"https://screenrant.com/superman-2025-movie-peacemaker-cameo-john-cena-response/"},{"label":"SlashFilm — Every DC character cameo in Superman, explained","url":"https://www.slashfilm.com/1909034/james-gunn-superman-movie-cameos-explained/"}],"motifs":[],"referencesSlug":"peacemaker","referencesWork":null},{"id":"will-reeve-news-reporter","url":"https://thethingsyoumissed.com/movies/superman#egg-will-reeve-news-reporter","title":"Christopher Reeve's Son Reports Live from Metropolis","description":"One of the TV journalists covering the destruction in Metropolis is **Will Reeve**, son of Christopher Reeve and a real ABC News correspondent. Christopher Reeve was the definitive screen Superman of 1978-1987. Gunn personally invited Will to appear, making the cameo a bridge between Superman generations that also matches his actual day job. It lands as the film's warmest legacy nod: where other reboots recast the past, this one simply hands the Reeve family a press badge in Metropolis.","scene":"News coverage during the third-act destruction of Metropolis — the on-the-street TV reporter","timestamp":null,"episode":null,"types":["cameo","meta"],"difficulty":4,"difficultyName":"Deep Cut","verification":"community","spoiler":false,"sources":[{"label":"ScreenRant — All 7 cameos in Superman explained","url":"https://screenrant.com/all-7-cameos-in-superman-explained/"},{"label":"Collider — Every cameo in Superman","url":"https://collider.com/superman-2025-every-cameo/"}],"motifs":[],"referencesSlug":null,"referencesWork":null},{"id":"ultraman-crime-syndicate-reveal","url":"https://thethingsyoumissed.com/movies/superman#egg-ultraman-crime-syndicate-reveal","title":"The Hammer of Boravia Is Ultraman — Lex's Superman Clone","description":"The masked bruiser billed as the Hammer of Boravia is unmasked as **Ultraman**, the evil Superman of the Crime Syndicate. The name carries 60 years of baggage: Ultraman was introduced in 1964's *Justice League of America #29*. Gunn's twist makes him a clone Lex grew from Superman's DNA and pilots like a video-game character, calling out attack patterns from mission control. His exit — tumbling into the black hole of the collapsing pocket universe — conspicuously avoids a death, leaving fans betting on a Bizarro or Superboy-adjacent return.","scene":"The Hammer of Boravia fights bookending the film; the unmasking comes during the final Metropolis battle","timestamp":null,"episode":null,"types":["reference","foreshadowing"],"difficulty":2,"difficultyName":"Second Watch","verification":"community","spoiler":true,"sources":[{"label":"ComicBook.com — Superman villains explained: Ultraman","url":"https://comicbook.com/movies/news/superman-movie-villain-lex-luthor-battle-armor-who-is-baby-joey-metamorpho-explained/"},{"label":"Collider — All the easter eggs we could find in Superman","url":"https://collider.com/superman-2025-easter-eggs/"}],"motifs":[],"referencesSlug":null,"referencesWork":null},{"id":"john-williams-theme-reinvented","url":"https://thethingsyoumissed.com/movies/superman#egg-john-williams-theme-reinvented","title":"The John Williams March, Rebuilt Note by Note","description":"Composers John Murphy and David Fleming wove John Williams' 1978 'Superman March' through the entire score. Fleming says they 'kept the DNA of the John Williams theme... but never in a direct way.' Murphy stumbled onto the film's signature sound mid-session, strumming the march on electric guitar in the style of Jimi Hendrix's Woodstock 'Star-Spangled Banner.' Listen at the end for the gentlest variation: a stripped, Radiohead-style acoustic rendition Murphy recorded that plays as the film closes. Even the fanfare's return is an easter egg — the DCU officially reclaiming the Reeve era's musical identity.","scene":"Throughout the score; the acoustic-guitar version plays near the film's close","timestamp":null,"episode":null,"types":["music","callback"],"difficulty":1,"difficultyName":"Plain Sight","verification":"confirmed","spoiler":false,"sources":[{"label":"Variety — Superman composers on honoring John Williams' theme","url":"https://variety.com/2025/artisans/news/superman-score-john-williams-lex-luthor-1236453524/"},{"label":"ScreenRant — Composer interview: John Murphy & David Fleming","url":"https://screenrant.com/superman-2025-composer-john-murphy-david-fleming-interview/"}],"motifs":["music-cue-callback"],"referencesSlug":null,"referencesWork":null},{"id":"supergirl-drunk-woman-of-tomorrow","url":"https://thethingsyoumissed.com/movies/superman#egg-supergirl-drunk-woman-of-tomorrow","title":"A Drunk Supergirl Walks Straight Out of Woman of Tomorrow","description":"Milly Alcock's Kara Zor-El crashes into the Fortress visibly hammered, a detail lifted from the first pages of *Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow* (2021). Tom King and Bilquis Evely's comic opens with Kara drinking on a planet with a red sun — the only place a Kryptonian's invulnerable metabolism allows a buzz, since red sunlight negates their powers. Superman even explains the red-sun mechanics to his robots. It's a functioning trailer for the *Supergirl* film, which adapts that exact comic run.","scene":"The final Fortress of Solitude scene before credits, when Kara arrives to collect Krypto","timestamp":null,"episode":null,"types":["foreshadowing","reference","cameo"],"difficulty":3,"difficultyName":"Freeze Frame","verification":"confirmed","spoiler":true,"sources":[{"label":"Nerdist — How Supergirl appears in Superman","url":"https://nerdist.com/article/how-does-dcu-supergirl-milly-alcock-appear-in-superman/"},{"label":"ScreenRant — Why Supergirl is drunk (and what it means)","url":"https://screenrant.com/superman-movie-supergirl-drunk-explained/"}],"motifs":["book-accurate-detail","sequel-tease"],"referencesSlug":"supergirl","referencesWork":null}],"faq":[{"question":"How many easter eggs are in Superman?","answer":"We catalog 20 verified easter eggs in Superman (2025), from the Superman #1 chain-breaking pose in the DC Studios logo to the drunk Supergirl ending pulled from Woman of Tomorrow. Seven are officially confirmed via James Gunn, cast interviews, or DC posts. That's a curated count — outlets like ScreenRant have documented over 100 references, and Gunn seeded Metropolis with creator-named streets and in-universe brands too dense to fully itemize."},{"question":"How many post-credits scenes does Superman 2025 have?","answer":"Two. A mid-credits scene shows Superman and Krypto sitting on the moon looking at Earth, and a final post-credits scene has Superman teasing Mister Terrific about a slightly crooked repaired skyscraper. Neither sets up a future DCU project — James Gunn has said they're character beats, not teasers — so you can skip them without missing plot, but the Terrific gag is worth the wait."},{"question":"Is Michael Rosenbaum in Superman 2025?","answer":"Yes, but you'll never see his face. Rosenbaum — Lex Luthor for seven seasons on Smallville — voices one of Lex's armored LuthorCorp Raptor guards. It's a knowing tribute: Nicholas Hoult has cited Rosenbaum's Lex as an influence, and the film even uses Smallville's 'LuthorCorp' spelling instead of the comics' LexCorp. Check the end credits for his name."},{"question":"Why is Supergirl drunk at the end of Superman?","answer":"Because Kryptonians can only get drunk under a red sun. Yellow sunlight supercharges their cells, making Earth alcohol useless, so Kara Zor-El party-hops to red-sun planets where her powers — and tolerance — drop to human levels. The scene directly adapts the opening of Tom King's Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow comic, which is the basis for Milly Alcock's 2026 Supergirl film."},{"question":"Who voices the robots in Superman's Fortress of Solitude?","answer":"Four James Gunn regulars: Alan Tudyk voices Robot #4, the fan-favorite Gary; Guardians of the Galaxy alumni Michael Rooker and Pom Klementieff voice Robots #1 and #5; and Jennifer Holland (Peacemaker's Harcourt) voices another. The robots' look is modeled on their design in the All-Star Superman comic. None of the actors appear on screen — the credits are the only giveaway."},{"question":"Is Batman in Superman (2025)?","answer":"Not on screen — but Gotham is. During the third-act evacuation of Metropolis, a highway sign directs traffic toward Gotham City, the DCU's first on-screen confirmation that Batman's hometown sits within driving distance. It is the film's only Batman breadcrumb and a deliberately quiet one: no Wayne logos, no Batsignal, just civic infrastructure treating Gotham as an ordinary neighbouring city."},{"question":"Where was Superman (2025) filmed?","answer":"Metropolis is Cleveland, Ohio, chosen for its Art Deco skyline — and James Gunn only discovered mid-production that Cleveland is where Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster invented Superman in the 1930s, a coincidence he called moving. The production leaned into it, naming Metropolis street signs and storefronts after comics creators, including a Moore Avenue for Alan Moore. The Hall of Justice, meanwhile, is modelled on Cincinnati's Union Terminal, exactly as it was in Super Friends."},{"question":"Who is on the Hall of Justice mural in Superman?","answer":"The lobby mural is the densest single easter egg in the film, and it establishes that a Justice Society existed in this universe long before Superman. Identifiable figures include Wildcat, Jay Garrick's Flash, the Black Pirate, the Silent Knight, Amethyst of Gemworld, Freedom Beast and Vibe. James Gunn told interviewer Josh Horowitz that Doctor Fate is on the wall too, and described the mural as deliberate world-building with 'a ton of thought put into it.' It pairs with the opening crawl's reference to three centuries of metahumans."}],"publishedAt":"2026-07-08","updatedAt":"2026-08-12","source":{"name":"The Things You Missed","page":"https://thethingsyoumissed.com/movies/superman","api":"https://thethingsyoumissed.com/api/titles/superman","methodology":"https://thethingsyoumissed.com/about"}}