James Gunn is all set to reboot the DCU franchise with his film Superman: Legacy. The film is set to be the first chapter in the new and improved universe that is not particularly a part of the Snyderverse. It stars David Correnswet as Clark Kent a.k.a Superman and Rachel Brosnahan as Lois Lane.
The recent Superman portrayals including Henry Cavill’s portrayal in the DCU have done away with an iconic aspect of the character: the red trunks. Gunn recently posted an image of his production wall for Superman: Legacy, indicating that the iconic red trunks might return in the character’s design.
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History Of The Red Trunks In Superman’s Character Design
James Gunn’s Superman: Legacy is touted to be a more comic-faithful and classic adaptation of the character and there have been speculations that part of this classic adaptation is the return of his red trunks. The red trunks have been one of the most noticeable signifiers of the iconic superhero.
The red trunks were part of his blue suit to make it resemble the colors of the American flag as he was the quintessential American hero. For decades Superman was identified by his blue and yellow suit that was mixed with a red cape and trunks. The trunks even pre-dated the iconic ‘S’ symbol in its current iteration.
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The DC Comics timeline underwent a reboot after the ‘Flashpoint Paradox’ storyline and a new storyline emerged called ‘The New 52’. The continuity gave the characters a new design and started their storylines from the beginning. From this iteration, the iconic red trunks were done away with and were replaced by a thin belt.
In the movies, Zack Snyder’s Man of Steel was the first iteration to do away with the red trunks. The film was in production while the ‘New 52’ had just begun and hence borrowed some design elements from the comics. The CW show Superman & Lois also had Tyler Hoechline’s Superman without the trunks.
Will James Gunn’s Superman Have His Iconic Red Trunks?
James Gunn recently uploaded a photo of his production wall which had references from the comic run of Superman All Seasons. The photo led to fans speculating whether Superman would finally go back to his original design with the red trunks. The trunks are visible in the references posted on the production wall.
Gunn had previously mentioned how the film Superman: Legacy would be going with a more classic version of Superman as opposed to the grittier and broodier version of Henry Cavill’s Superman. The director had also posted the release date of the film in a classic Superman font which had blue, red, and yellow colors.
There have been no confirmations about the design update from James Gunn and all of these are just speculations. Since Gunn has been insistent on reverting to a classic avatar of the man of steel, fans are speculating that the suit could finally revert to the red trunks, which were last seen in Brandon Routh’s Superman Returns.
