We are less than a month away from James Gunn’s Superman hitting the 2025 movie release schedule, and yet the “fandom” is still arguing as if we are at the beginning of another Supes casting cycle. This week, a new wave of online discourse took off and took no prisoners when fans reignited the age-old debate: muscle suit or no muscle suit? Somebody pass me the popcorn in my movie-themed popcorn bucket.
The latest round was sparked by the X (formerly Twitter) fan account @NOCsuperman, who shared a collage of Superman actors, which you can see embedded below, and posed the question: MUSCLE SUITS or NO MUSCLE SUIT? The post, featuring images of Henry Cavill, Christopher Reeve, Tyler Hoechlin, and David Corenswet, has racked up over 1.7 million views and counting.
Zack Snyderverse stans to defenders of the OG Reeve, the comment section quickly turned into a superhero-themed Thunderdome.
@angelus1755, argued that “Cavill is built like a statue” and never needed a suit, while another pointed out that Reeve made audiences believe a man could fly without looking like he benched a pickup truck. Others, like @MidtownMysterio, posting a side-by-side of Dwayne Johnson’s turn in Black Adam, offered a third option:
There’s another option but requires Hella gym time.
No moment got more traction than the swarm of users posting shirtless Cavill GIFs from Man of Steel in response to claims he wore a muscle suit. Multiple commenters clapped back with photos, videos, and even behind-the-scenes footage of Cavill’s grueling workouts. “Cavill was not a muscle suit,” one fan insisted. “He was the muscle.”
Among the hot takes, here are a few standouts:
- “Superman & Lois was so great but that suit never managed to grow on me. esp after they showed us what we could’ve had” – @marxacist
- “Superman doesn’t need his muscles to be strong, right? No muscles actually makes more sense since you need to train them to get them amd with everything being light as a feather, how would he actually train them?” – @bos_arjan
- “Frankly, never understood the biology behind Superman being muscular. The yellow sun just affects his cells on a molecular level. Would he even have muscles? Like, what does he even lift to train? Reeves.” – @ApeMiyagi
- “The irony is that David is probably bigger than Henry was. (and much taller) Henry was just hella shredded” – @unicorntrainee
- “The 2025 suit is bad.. simple I’ll choose every other suit here accept David’s – @SunnyKng67
- “Muscle suits. Make it look more like the comics. These dudes have great physiques and it’s a shame to make it not look like they do. Suspend disbelief and showcase these heroes as ripped, just as the sun fuels his muscle cells” – @MoJus23
No matter how you rank the best Superman costumes, or whether you’re team practical muscle or team actor-first, the conversation around Superman’s look isn’t slowing down, especially with the upcoming DC Movie and latest iteration of the Man of Steel gearing up for release. David Corenswet’s new take on the iconic suit has already divided fans, and with the new superhero movie releasing on July 8, the costume discourse is likely just getting started.
Until then, keep the popcorn close and the takes hot. Because when it comes to Big Blue, even a thread about spandex can become kryptonite for peace on the timeline.