In James Gunn’s quest to bring back iconic Superman elements like the red trunks, will he include this important element that Zack Snyder left out?

James Gunn’s Superman has been all the rage this week after DC Studios released the first teaser trailer for the upcoming film. The film would begin the first chapter of Gunn’s newly launched DCU, which recently had a soft launch with the Max series Creature Commandos. The film is set to release on July 11, 2025.

From the color tone to the costume of Superman, Gunn’s film has already proven to be miles away from Zack Snyder’s Man of Steel with Henry Cavill. Gunn mentioned in an interview that he felt good about exploring Superman’s kindness (as opposed to Snyder’s exploration of power). He might also use one quality of Kal-El that Snyder deliberately left out.

Why did Zack Snyder deliberately exclude Superman’s ice breath in Man of Steel?

Henry Cavill in Zack Snyder’s Justice League | Credits: Warner Bros.

While Henry Cavill is now regarded as one of the best actors to portray Superman and fans were extremely sad to see him leave the role after James Gunn decided to revamp the DCU, his Superman debut Man of Steel was divisive upon release. Director Zack Snyder’s vision to go with a dark and gritty iteration was criticized by many in 2013.

Snyder’s iteration of America’s first superhero changed and left out some classic aspects of Superman’s mythology. Among many things, this also included the red trunks that he wears over his costume and the lack of ice breath. The superpower is an irreplaceable element of Superman’s mythos but it was only used once in Zack Snyder’s Justice League.

Zack Snyder | Credits: YouTube/Empire Magazine

While Snyder said that producer and co-writer Christopher Nolan moved them in a grittier direction, he claimed that the decision to exclude the ice breath was his decision (via Empire),

I did that a little bit…Look, I don’t know that he does not have ice breath. He just doesn’t use it, for instance in this…People were like, ‘Oh, there is no Kryptonite’. That doesn’t mean Krypotine does not exist. It just didn’t show up here.

Kryptonite did come back in a huge way in Snyer’s 2016 follow-up Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice. However, Henry Cavill’s Superman is still in his early stages during the events of Man of Steel, and still might not know the extent of his powers. Hence, the use of ice breath after his resurrection in ZSJL makes more sense.

James Gunn promised Superman would use all of the hero’s mythology

James Gunn | Credits: Inside of You podcast

So, Zack Snyder’s Superman was not perfect. It definitely had potential and his five-movie plan was interesting, to say the least, but it is over now and so are all the other issues people had with his take on Kal-El. Now, all the burden, criticisms, and appreciation lies on James Gunn to make a different Superman.

From its teaser trailer, Gunn has established that it will not be as dark and gritty as Zack Snyder’s version and will take a more hopeful tone. In a press review, the filmmaker and co-chief of DC Studios also mentioned why he felt good morally about the upcoming film. He also promised that they would be using all of the hero’s mythology (via Variety),

Superhero movies have taken these characters and said, ‘Okay, it’s Batman [or] it’s Superman, but it’s not any of the other stuff’. We’re embracing all of the Superman mythology…He has a lot of the things that we love from the Superman comics that we haven’t been able to see as much of in filmed media, and definitely haven’t been able to see in a grounded way, which is what I hope we’ve created.

Part of staying true to his mythology includes some of his powers like ice breath that may sound silly in theory especially while depicting in a film. Gunn has promised to make these elements as grounded as possible without them being silly. He even had a justification for why he chose to bring back the red trunks.