James Gunn has shared a new “rehearsal” image from Man of Tomorrow, but the shot comes with a pretty glaring problem that is hard to ignore once you see it.
Update: The image is apparently from Gunn’s Superman, which may mean it’s actually a part of the film and/or Gunn posted a botched image months after the film’s release.
Previously:
The image is meant to spotlight David Corenswet as Superman and Rachel Brosnahan as Lois Lane, yet what stands out most is how badly Brosnahan’s face reads in the composition.
Gunn posted the image himself with the caption, “Rehearsal. #Superman,” but that only goes so far.
Whether it is unfinished effects, sloppy compositing, bad staging, or just a terrible visual setup, the end result is the same. The image looks completely off, and it is surprising that Gunn shared it publicly, apparently, without checking.
Rachel Brosnahan’s face looks visually broken
The biggest issue is the way Lois Lane’s profile lines up with the window column behind her.
Brosnahan is seated in silhouette, but the vertical line from the window frame cuts across her face in a way that makes it look like the background is sitting in front of her instead of behind her.
It creates a strange visual effect where her face appears broken, distorted, or poorly separated from the background.
There should be no excuse for Gunn posting it
Gunn is not simply the director of Superman and Man of Tomorrow. He is the co-head of DC Studios.
A guy in that position should know better than to post an image that contains such an obvious visual problem, especially when the whole point of a “first look” image is to build confidence in the movie and the new DC brand.
This is not some tiny issue buried in the corner of the frame. It is right there in the foreground. Once you notice it, it becomes the main thing your eye goes to.
That raises an obvious question. How does an image like this get approved and posted by the head of a studio?
Rehearsal image or not, it still looks bad
Calling it a rehearsal image does not really change anything.
Once Gunn posts it to social media as an official tease, it becomes part of the public presentation of the film.
People are not going to stop and make excuses for unfinished work, especially when superhero movies already get hammered over questionable visuals and rushed effects.
If the image is unfinished, then it should not have been posted. If it is finished, that is even worse.
And it begs the question, why would his VFX team give him an unfinished image? Another question: is it AI-generated?
