David Corenswet’s Superman – and by extension Clark Kent – sets off in the first trailer for “James Gunn” shortly after he literally hits the ground Superman. What better way to open the cinematic sector of the DC Universe than with an opening shot of the superhero moaning in pain and dripping crimson blood across the white snow surrounding him?

“Krypto, home,” the hero says to his super dog. “Take me home.” This is the only moment of dialogue in the trailer, aside from the moment where a small child desperately wants to summon Superman by repeating his name. In cinemas from July 11th Superman tells the double life of Superman and Clark Kent, a young journalist at the Daily Planet. They share a burden of responsibility that operates on different levels but is nonetheless intertwined.

At home, Clark Kent rushes through crowded streets and hugs Rachel Brosnahan’s Lois Lane. Meanwhile, Superman protects children from explosive explosions, gets trash thrown at him by angry onlookers, and mourns a fallen Kelex.

The Superman The trailer also introduces Nicholas Hoult’s Lex Luthor, the hero’s future nemesis, who does his best to channel his inner James Bond while brandishing a gun. Throughout the clip, Gunn nails the DCU with appearances from Edi Gathegi as Mister Terrific, Isabela Merced as Hawkgirl, Nathan Fillion as Guy Gardner/Green Lantern, and Anthony Carrigan as Metamorpho. He decided to skip an origin story and instead dive straight into the story.

“It was about really putting ourselves in the middle of the action from the beginning,” Gunn said in a press conference earlier this year. “And there are a lot of these things in this film, after making it for over a year now, that I think are normal. But when you bring it up now, I say, “Oh yeah, that’s pretty unusual.” We’ll just start in the middle of the action. Superman already exists. Lois and Clark already know each other. Lex hates Superman from the start, even though they don’t know each other personally. So we start in the middle of the action. It happens in a short period of time.”