The first trailer forReign of the Supermenis here. This new animated DC feature picks up in the wake of this year’s animated adaptation ofThe Death of Superman, which was received pretty well. In the wake of the hero’s sacrifice of his own life at the hands of Doomsday, several mysterious new versions of Superman have emerged, including Steel,Cyborg Superman, Superboy, and The Eradicator. But none of that seems to be enough to stop the Earth from being in imminent danger now that the powerful hero is no more.
The trailer showcases the several Supermen that have shown up in theaftermath of the real Superman’s death. We also see, as one of these new versions of the Man of Steel puts it, that the Earth has had a target painted on it ever since the Daily Planet announced that Superman died. This is similar to what happened inJustice Leaguewhen Steppenwolf came for the Mother Boxes. It’s a world in chaos. The other members of the Justice League, and quite a few ordinary citizens, must band together to try and stop the impending threats. And the real question we’re left with is, when is the real Superman coming back?
DC Comics hit a homerun withThe Death of Supermanstoryline in the early 90s, only to resurrect him not long after. It set a precedent for deaths not really being permanent in the world of comic books, but it also gave the publisher one of its most iconic storylines in the process. The punchline of the storyline being thereturn of Superman from the dead. That isn’t really teased here, but we can only assume that his resurrection is set to be a part ofReign of the Supermen.
This comes at an interesting time for Superman. Henry Cavill has been playing the character on the Big Screen ever sinceMan of Steelarrived in 2013 and as recently as last year inJustice League. However, Warner Bros. has been retooling their approach to thelive-action DC universeand, as a result, we may have seen the last of Cavill in the role, even if there is some hope he could return. In any case, for the time being, we’re left with Tyler Hoechlin, whenever he shows up in the Arrowverse on The CW, and these animated adaptations, which, thankfully, are often quite good.
Jerry O’Connell (Superman), Rebecca Romijn (Lois Lane), Nathan Fillion (Green Lantern), Rainn Wilson (Lex Luthor) and Patrick Fabian (Hank Henshaw) lead the cast. The movie was directed by Sam Liu, working from a script by Jim Krieg and Tim Sheridan. Warner Bros. has yet to set a release date forReign of the Supermen, but the movie is expected to arrive on digital platforms and Blu-ray/DVD in early 2019. Be sure to check out the first trailer, courtesy of the IGN YouTube channel, for yourself below.
