Superman‘s costume is as iconic as the character himself, in all its red, blue, and (sometimes) yellow-belted glory. The latest version donned by David Corenswet is a visual step back to a more traditional depiction of the suit, after Henry Cavill and television’s Tyler Hoechlin’s versions ditched its most-discussed aspect. I’m speaking, of course, of the red trunks — or underpants, as they are often referred.
To underwear or not to underwear, or how to underwear, has been a focal point of virtually every Superman production. In the last big “Superman” adaptation, filmmaker Zach Snyder did away with the trunks, which he said he couldn’t make “cool.”
“I did fight to keep them, but let’s not forget that the red trunks are left over from Victorian-era strong men, who had to wear flesh-colored leotards and trunks over it so they didn’t look naked. So I feel we’ve moved on a little bit,” Snyder told Yahoo! Movies in 2013. In 2011, soon after the first photo of Cavill was revealed, the actor told Jay Leno, “Why wear underpants when you can be far more revealing?”
When asked about the trunks (or lack thereof) a decade later by Stephen Colbert, Cavill indicated he would don them if need be. “I really loved my suit, I thought it was pretty cool,” Cavill said (via The Wrap). “However, if it were to happen again, I would definitely be open to the idea of adding the trunks in some way, shape or form.”
Now, the semantics of what exactly Supes looks like with or without the red trunks date back to the ’50s with George Reeves. That actor reportedly said, “I’m getting a little too old to be running around in my underwear,” toward the end of production on “The Adventures of Superman.”
In a documentary on the 2001 DVD release of 1978 superhero flick granddaddy “Superman: The Movie,” the movie’s Lois Lane, Margot Kidder, talked about the various pieces used for Christopher Reeve‘s suit. “[Producer] Alexander Salkind pronounced very early as we were to begin shooting about Superman, ‘Either he has a big one or he has nothing.’ So, they put poor Christopher in this various assortment of sizes of codpiece under the suit in the red underpants, and some days Christopher would come out and he’d be out to hear [Kidder gestures]. Which would make me go ‘ding ding ding ding’ [Kidder mimes flicking the codpiece], cause they were all made of metal. He’d go, ‘Kidder! Stop it!’”
When Brandon Routh’s first photo was unveiled in 2005 (for 2006’s “Superman Returns”), it sparked press and fan controversy over the size of Superman’s, ahem, bulge. No, really, there were numerous articles written about it, including this one from Wired titled “Battle of the Bulge.” Writer Regina Lynn wrote, “If the real purpose of this is to avoid distracting the audience, it’s backfired. They’ve just ensured that every one who goes to this movie will take a long hard look at the red undies – which, I suspect, is the real intention behind the whole thing.”
New York Magazine quoted the movie’s costume designer Louise Mingenbach as saying, “There was more discussion about Superman’s ‘package’ than anything else on the suit. Was it too big? Was it not big enough? Was it too pointy? Too round? It was somebody’s job for about a month just working on codpiece shapes. It was crazy.”
The red undies were even a big point of contention when Nicolas Cage almost played Superman in the abandoned Tim Burton-directed “Superman Lives” way back in 1998. Per the excellent documentary “The Death of Superman Lives” (available on YouTube), Cage said during a costume fitting, “The only thing is like, what was wrong with the original costume was that he wore his underpants on the outside… but maybe if it were darker blue — you know, maybe if weren’t glaring red.” Basketball shorts, believe it or not, were even discussed as an alternative on this misbegotten production.
“We tried all different ways to avoid that, actually, ’cause people tend to kind of make fun of that element on Superman,” said Colleen Atwood, the would-be costume designer of that movie, in the documentary.
Well, now that Corenswet has taken over, the red trunks are back, and it was apparently something the actor himself was insistent about, as writer/director James Gunn explained to Gizmodo in December 2024.
“We were trying on all these different versions, and we screened tested with trunks and no trunks,” he said. “And one of the things David said is that Superman wants kids to not be afraid of him. He’s an alien. He’s got these incredible powers. He shoots beams out of his eyes… He’s this incredibly powerful, could be considered scary, individual and he wants people to like him. He wants to be a symbol of hope and positivity. So he dresses like a professional wrestler. He dresses in a way that makes people unafraid of him, that shows that hope that shows that positivity. And that really clicked in for me. And I think trying to pretend that Superman’s costume doesn’t have some frivolity to it at its base, trying to make it look serious, is silly because he is a superhero. He’s the first one, brightly colored, and that’s who he is.”
Corenswet would appear to have made the right call, as “Superman” has launched with an impressive $122 million domestic total this weekend.
“Three years ago, I hired James Gunn and Peter Safran to reimagine and unify the creative direction of DC under one leadership team, by breathing new life and excitement into one of the most iconic storytelling franchises in the world,” Warner Bros. CEO David Zaslav said on Sunday, July 13, following the box office report. “James and [DC Studios co-CEO Peter Safran’s] commitment to honoring the legacy of the DC Universe while forging something new and enthralling is inspired.”
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