Fans were recently treated to a new commercial marketing for the upcoming Superman film, but it took a rather unorthodox approach. Some footage from Superman has already been revealed to the public through a teaser trailer and a near-five-minute clip, but the official trailer has not yet been released.
DC Studios recently teamed up with the NBA to release an official crossover commercial featuring Superman. The commercial included footage from Superman's teaser trailer, but mainly focused on Jayson Tatum, the star of the Boston Celtics. With many thinking that the next marketing material for Superman would be a full trailer, this commercial was likely quite unexpected.
Since Superman is slated to premiere in theaters on July 11, 2025, the fact that a crossover commercial has already been released was rather unexpected. There are still two months between the release of the commercial and the movie's public debut, and many would expect something like this to be released closer to the movie's release date.
The contents of the trailer were rather unique as well, as the commercial seemed to be more about Jayson Tatum and the NBA than it was about Superman. Essentially, the commercial's story featured a missing Superman and asked who could fill his shoes.
In the commercial, many different sources, including ESPN, asked whether Tatum had what it took to take over for the Man of Steel while he was away.
At the end of the commercial, Tatum pulled back his dress shirt and jacket, revealing a Superman tank top underneath. This indicated that Tatum would act as Superman for the Celtics during the NBA playoffs (which is ironic considering Tatum's poor performance in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals).
The commercial did feature elements of Superman (read about the first official reaction to Superman here), such as a newspaper from the Daily Planet about Superman taking the day off. It also included a few snippets of footage from the film's teaser trailer. However, as mentioned, it was lighter on the DC material than it was the NBA.
The full Superman and NBA crossover commercial can be seen below:
It is worth noting that this is not the first time the NBA teamed up with Superman for a commercial. In February, another commercial was released, with that one featuring Shaquille O'Neal (who often referred to himself as Superman during his days in the NBA), David Corenswet, and James Gunn. That commercial put more emphasis on Superman than it did the NBA, which could explain why the most recent promo featured more of the NBA.
This is also not the only time Tatum has been tied to Superman. While making his tunnel walk before Game 1 of the NBA's Eastern Conference Semifinals, Tatum carried a Superman-themed pair of his Jordan Tatum 3 shoes alongside him. The colorway featured Superman's blue and red, while also including the upcoming film's Superman logo.
Superman will be the first official film in James Gunn and Peter Safran's new DCU, kicking off the interconnected franchise. The film stars David Corenswet as Clark Kent (aka Superman), Rachel Brosnahan as Lois Lane, Nicholas Hoult as Lex Luthor, and Skyler Gisondo (who said that he didn't read any Superman comics to prepare for his role) as Jimmy Olsen.
Why Is Superman and the NBA Putting Out a Commercial Now?
Many may believe that the timing of this Superman commercial is extremely weird. As mentioned, the official trailer for Superman has not been released yet, but it is expected to come sometime very soon.
Since that trailer is not out yet, and it has been several weeks since any substantial Superman marketing has been released to the public, this commercial was very unexpected.
However, it is important to remember that the NBA Playoffs are currently ongoing, so it would have been just as awkward if the commercial had been released closer to Superman's premiere date.
It is also worth noting that the Boston Celtics (Tatum's team) are currently down two games to zero against the New York Knicks in the Eastern Conference Semifinals. If the Celtics were to be eliminated, and then the commercial would have come out about Tatum being similar to Superman, a lot of NBA fans would have a field day on social media (although considering the Celtics' back is up against the wall in the series and the commercial was released just after Tatum turned the ball over to lose the Celtics the game, the timing is still ironically bad).
Although the new commercial wasn't something many likely expected, it still gets Superman out to more people than if there were no commercial at all. Fans can expect more promos and crossovers to happen as the movie's premiere date gets nearer.
