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James Gunn was unsure about Superman's trunks in the DC Studios flagship movie until the the night before filming

Costume designer Judianna Makovsky dishes on the hottest behind-the-scenes Superman gossip: the underwear over the pants debate: Grab your popcorn

Come at me with your pitchforks and torches, comic fans, but this opinion I simply will not change: Trunks on a superhero costume still work, even in the modern day. They're a nice way to break up a monocolor bit of spandex/armor, making the figure of the character stand out visually. But if you're coming at me for this deeply-held belief, know that I have plenty of folks who worked on the Superman movie on my side...

As do you, if you're opposed.

We found this out thanks to Superman costume designer Judianna Makovsky, who recently spoke to Omelete about the juiciest creative controversy surrounding the 2025 James Gunn-directed Superman: whether or not to put him in his comic-accurate trunks.

Or as Makovsky calls them, underwear.

"There were a lot of people who didn't want the underwear," Makovsky reveals, "and a lot of people who did. And James was very torn. And I have to say, I refused to give up."

Well I salute you for fighting the good fight, Judianna! And apparently thta fight is one that continued up until the very last second.

"It's one of those things where you want to see if you can actually pull it off," Makovsky continues, "We didn't have this iteration of the underwear until right before we shot. The decision to use the underwear wasn't made until the night before we started shooting."

Oh to be a fly on the wall in that eleventh-hour discussion about how a pair of underwear will affect a potentially billion-dollar cinematic universe. What Makovsky doesn't get into is what led to the pro-underwear camp winning at the very last second, although she did mention that on that side was a very important member of the team: Superman himself.

"David [Corenswet] has always been pro-underwear," she says. "He always wanted the underwear."

Now, why Corenswet is so pro-trunks may be something we never find out... oh wait, we already have the answer? Well, how about that. 

Superman, sporting the bright red trunks of justice, flies into theaters July 11. 


 

Grant DeArmitt

Grant DeArmitt: Grant DeArmitt (he/him) likes horror, comics, and the unholy union of the two. In the past, and despite their better judgment, he has written for Nightmare on Film Street and Newsarama. He lives in Brooklyn with his partner, Kingsley, and corgi, Legs.

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