James Gunn’s much-anticipated reboot of Superman simply hit theaters as a part of the 2025 film lineup, and everyone seems to be saying it’s an superior technique to kick off the brand new DC Universe. The movie holds its personal up towards a number of the greatest Superman motion pictures on the market, however when the trailers dropped, lots of people have been choosing aside this one shot—the snowy barrel roll. Because of some behind-the-scenes footage, I lastly discovered how they filmed that scene, and truthfully, it’s not what I anticipated in any respect.
The Slither filmmaker lately posted a behind-the-scenes video on his Instagram exhibiting the solid and crew filming a shot that’s gotten a whole lot of flak. Within the clip, Supes actor David Corenswet is strapped right into a rig on a soundstage at Trilith Studios. A crew member spins him round to create a cool mid-air roll impact whereas large LED screens show a snowy mountain backdrop that was filmed in Svalbard, Norway. Test it out beneath.
The footage reveals a mix of basic sensible results and fashionable digital backgrounds, placing to relaxation earlier concepts that the shot was totally CGI. It’s fairly much like how Disney’s The Mandalorian (streaming with a Disney+ subscription) and the Recreation of Thrones spin-off, Home of the Dragon, are filmed. They use this cool tech referred to as “The Quantity,” or StageCraft, which replaces conventional inexperienced screens with a large curved LED wall and ceiling. This setup shows real-time, tremendous reasonable backgrounds which can be created utilizing Unreal Engine.
This flying sequence particularly obtained individuals speaking when it first confirmed up in a Superman TV advert earlier this 12 months. Some followers thought it regarded a bit “off” and even claimed that Corenswet’s face had been digitally altered. However James Gunn cleared all of it up with a behind-the-scenes look some time again. He straight-up addressed these rumors and complaints, revealing that there was “zero” CGI used on Corenswet’s face, however the distinction followers have been choosing up on was due to the wide-angle lenses, which are likely to warp individuals’s faces when shot in profile.
The brand new video reveals that the Pearl performer is definitely on a bodily rig, with actual components within the shot, opposite to what many individuals thought. Gunn’s reveal offers us a peek into the inventive course of that makes Superman’s flight really feel so actual. It’s not the primary time he’s achieved this, although; he used the identical tech for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 through the Adam Warlock flying scenes, which now look like a little bit of a trial run for a way he approached Supes.
It is price noting that the particular barrel roll sequence that prompted a lot on-line dialogue doesn’t seem within the movie because it did within the trailers and TV spots. The film’s workforce used some visible results to reinforce the shot, making it seem a lot much less jarring within the ultimate movie. In case you in some way missed it, I encourage everybody to see Superman, because it’s terrific, nonetheless enjoying in theaters, and serves because the kickoff for DCU Chapter 1: Gods and Monsters.