The 2025 Superman movie revealed eight alternate logos as part of some recent concept art. James Gunn's big-screen DCU debut, which earned over $400 million globally in its first two weeks and set the new interconnected DC universe off on a good note, has been wowing audiences for several weeks. However, the movie was a long time coming, being the efforts of years of work on behalf of Gunn, his cast, and the DC Studios team.
One has to remember that this movie was initially announced in late 2022. At one point, it was even called Superman: Legacy before settling on its simple Superman title. All that is to say, this is likely a film that was heavily scrutinized behind the scenes before fans got what they ultimately did. And this fact has been demonstrated no better than by some recently surfaced concept art from the film.
New concept pieces from James Gunn's Superman revealed eight alternate movie logos that were being considered for the film at one point or another.
The unused Superman logo treatments were posted online by a designer on the movie, Justin Claus Harder, showing off some of what could have been in Superman's super-powered return to cinemas.
Some of these alternate logos are relatively simple in their approach to Superman's iconography, while others steeply depart from what was ultimately presented in the movie itself.
The first looks similar to something that could have been used to market 2006's Superman Returns. It sports a modern, bold look with a slight tilt to symbolize Superman flying across the screen.
The next is all blue. It is the first in a series of these Superman designs to harken back to the character's early film days, looking like it was pulled right out of the 1970s.
Number three sticks with that 1970s-inspired design but changes the font and blue gradient on the lettering, giving it this almost extraterrestrial look.
Next is a logo that almost perfectly resembles the 1978 Superman logo used in Richard Donner's original film. It uses a similar font design to the second of these designs, but it is all black except for a splash of color on a gradient outline on each letter.
Number six is interesting. It adds a curve to the Superman lettering, giving the iconic comic book hero a sweeping feeling of flying across the page. It also sports a blue-to-white gradient that makes it feel unique to the rest of these alternate logos.
The next two look like they were pulled right from the pages of DC Comics. The first is an italicized take on the iconic Superman title treatment used in the comics for decades, with a gradient on the letters and a colored streak behind the letters giving the title a feeling of motion.
The other comic-inspired logo is the closest to the character's iconic comic book title treatments, with red block lettered elements making the title look more three-dimensional.
The last of these alternate logos is very close to the one fans ultimately got on all of Superman's marketing, with a flat, squared-off font choice and no flashy change of perspective or 3D highlights.
Superman is now playing in theaters worldwide. The new film from Guardians of the Galaxy director James Gunn follows David Corenswet's Clark Kent three years into his journey as the caped superhero Superman, as his credibility is put into question following a global smear campaign by the villainous business magnate Lex Luthor (played by Nicholas Hoult).
The Logo Inspiration of Superman 2025
Just seeing this handful of 2025 Superman movie logos, it is pretty clear what James Gunn and the DC Studios team were going for and hopefully succeeded at in the new film.
While each alternate logo is quite different, they all harken back to classic iterations of the character from comics, TV, and movies.
Judging from the movie's final cut, Gunn's mission statement for Superman must have been to contextualize the Superman character for modern audiences while calling back to the core tenets that made the hero a comic staple over 80 years ago.
Each of these logos is meant to inspire hope and demonstrate the almost pristine quality that Superman embodies.
While some may have felt too other-worldly for this relatively human take on the Man of Steel, they all carry the kind of awe-inspiring wonder that made audiences believe a man could fly when the first Superman movie debuted in 1978.
Superman 2025 at its heart was meant to instill that same feeling for a new generation, and its logo had to make that clear right from the outset.
