There have been 12 years and 15 movies since theDCEUcommenced withMan of Steel, and looking back, I’m struck by how unique the very opening scene was. With the DCU set to get underway in earnest withits own take on Superman, conversation aboutMan of Steeland the actor who once portrayed the titular hero has been reignited. It’s safe to say,just fromSupermantrailers alone, that James Gunn’s DC Universe is venturing down a different path with his franchise in several ways.
One glaring aspect of the DCEU that James Gunn appears to be forsaking is the darker themes and color palette.Man of Steeldelivered a unique - and some might say definitive - take on Superman as a distinctly otherworldly messianic figure. Conversely, James Gunn appears moreconcerned with humanizing Superman(or, at least, having Superman strive to humanize himself). Whatever the case,Man of Steel’s opening scene is a stark reminder of just how much the DCEU leaned into sci-fi, and often downright transcendental, themes.
The DCEU’s Opening Scene & Sequence Is Unlike Anything Else That Happens In The Entire Rest Of The Franchise
The Scene Shows The Birth Of Superman
The DCEU’s overall toneshifted substantially as it progressed. Ending with the colorful and more lighthearted likes ofThe Flash,Blue Beetle, andAquaman and the Lost Kingdom,the end of the DCEUwas a far cry from its ethereal and solemn beginnings inMan of SteelandBatman v Superman: Dawn of Justice.This initial tone was established from the jump withMan of Steel’s opening sequence, which depicts the birth of Kal-El, AKA Superman, on Krypton before his doomed world begins tearing itself apart.
The scene hits like a sci-fi movie, and certainly stands out from the distinctly terrestrial settings in subsequent DCEU installments.
The opening scene is an emotional one, with Lara Lor-Van giving birth naturally to Kal-Elin a world where natural births have been sidelined in favor of genetic engineering. Surrounded by her husband, Jor-El, and a couple of unearthly automated delivery specialists, the scene ends with a crying newborn Kal-El in the arms of his father, who is subsequently seen beseeching the Kryptonian Council to venture to other planets to save their race. The scene hits like a sci-fi movie, and certainly stands out from the distinctly terrestrial settings in subsequent DCEU installments.
The DCEU Opening With Superman’s Birth Was A Gripping Way To Start The Franchise
It Set The DCEU Apart From Other Superhero Franchises
Man of Steel’s opening was like something out of another movie. When it was released in 2013, superhero movies were a well-established part of the cinematic zeitgeist, thanks in no small part to the MCU, which had, at that point, already released its first Avengers movie.AlthoughThorhad already taken the superhero genre to space at that point, it struck a decidedly different tone fromMan of Steel, opting to depict Asgard as a slightly more otherworldly Kingdom that didn’t look too dissimilar from the opulent medieval palaces of Earth.
Man of Steel, on the other hand, hammered home the alien nature of Superman’s origins, proving that the DCEU, from the jump, would be as dissimilar as possible from its rival cinematic franchise. It is additionally unusual to open with the birth of a flagship hero, immediately centering on Kal-El as a particularly important character by having the audience witness the hugely consequential moment of his birth. Looking back, this now seems more unusual than ever in the context of the modern iteration of the same character.
Looking Back Now, The DCEU’s Opening Scene Only Seems All The More Unusual
The Tone Is Decidedly Different From What’s About To Come
The DCU is taking a decidedly different route with Superman.Supermanwill take place in a world where the eponymous hero has operated for several years and where metahumans are a dime a dozen. The DCEU, on the other hand, opened in such a way that it hammered home the notion that its debut superhero was the first ever, rendering him all the more otherworldly by design. Furthermore,the fraught atmosphere and muted tones now contrast more than ever in a cinematic landscape where bright colors and lightheartedness are the norm.
Supergirlwill be the next movie to release in the DCU on July 03, 2025.
Of course, whether for better or worse,the decisions made by the DCEUdidn’t exactly work out. To some,Kal-El’s intense origins and characterization inMan of Steeland beyond flew in the face of the hope that he was supposed to represent. To others, this more grounded depiction of Superman was more believable and easier to take seriously than what James Gunn seems to have lined up forSuperman. Whatever the case, I doubt we’ll ever see an opening sequence likeMan of Steel’s in the DCU.
