The theatrical trailer for Richard Donner's Superman: The Movie is one of the most important pieces of superhero marketing ever produced, arriving in 1978 at a moment when the genre barely existed as a commercial proposition. Moving from the destruction of Krypton through the wheat fields of Smallville to the gleaming towers of Metropolis, it carries a visual ambition and emotional sincerity that place it firmly in the register of a major Hollywood epic. Donner's primary obligation was to make the audience believe, completely and without reservation, that a man could fly, and the trailer meets that obligation with a mythic grandeur that feels like a genuine creative statement about what the genre could aspire to. John Williams' theme is given its full orchestral statement here, a piece of music so perfectly matched to the character that it has become inseparable from him, conveying heroism, warmth, and a melancholy grandeur no subsequent composer has fully replicated.
First Impressions
The trailer is epic in the truest sense, establishing the film's three-act sweep and tonal range with a confidence that signals a production entirely secure in its ambitions. Williams' theme at full orchestral force gives the footage an emotional authority that spectacle alone could not have provided. The overall impression is of a superhero film with the production values of a major Hollywood epic and the sincerity of a classic adventure story: something the genre had not previously managed.
What the Trailer Reveals
The trailer glimpses Marlon Brando's Jor-El and Glenn Ford's Jonathan Kent, introduces Margot Kidder's Lois Lane, and gives the first extended look at Christopher Reeve in the suit, establishing his physical authority and quiet dignity as the character's defining qualities. Gene Hackman's Lex Luthor is introduced with wit and menace that hints at the film's more comedic register without fully revealing it, and the flight sequences are shown with enough clarity to make the tagline's promise feel not just credible but inevitable.
Music and Sound
Williams' Superman theme is the trailer's defining element, its use giving the footage an emotional weight that makes the spectacle feel genuinely earned. The destruction of Krypton and the roar of Superman's flight are rendered with a physical force that makes the production's ambitions legible from the first moments. No subsequent trailer in the franchise would deploy the theme with quite this degree of authority.
Most Memorable Moment
The first extended flight sequence, with Reeve soaring above the clouds and the Williams theme at full orchestral force, is the trailer's defining image and one of the most purely joyful moments in superhero marketing history. It delivers on the tagline's promise completely. Watching it, you believe. That belief is the film's greatest achievement, and the trailer captures it with a precision and joy that make it feel like the most important thirty seconds in the genre's history.
Trailer Verdict
One of the great superhero trailers and one of the most consequential pieces of genre marketing ever produced. Superman: The Movie established the template for superhero cinema and demonstrated that the genre could aspire to genuine epic grandeur without apology or irony. The trailer promised something the genre had never previously managed. The film delivered on every word of it, and both remain as thrilling as they were in 1978.