Bryan Singers 2006 movie Superman Returns is infamous. A lukewarm, direct follow-up to a 30-year-old superhero franchise from none of the same creative team feels like an idea out of the 2020s, not the 2000s. Returns did halfway decent business in theatrical release, with a $390 million international box-office take. That wasnt bad enough to call it a flop, but wasnt good enough to warrant a sequel especially not after Singer hugely overran his budget on a troubled production. Warner Bros. moved on to reboot Superman with Zack Snyders Man of Steel, and the rest is history.And yet. With James Gunns Superman on the horizon, Im inevitably thinking about one of my favorite Superman movies, one that stirs my emotions and gets my heart going pitter-pat every time I return to watch it. Im not embarrassed about this, because Im right.Not Superman Returns itself hell no. Im talking about the first teaser trailer for Superman Returns.I dont know what studio grunt edited this trailer together back in the mid-aughts, but Great Scott! The shot compositions! Sunrise over the Kent mailbox! Young Clark Kent leaping through a Kansas cornfield! The expert timing of it all, interwoven with Marlon Brandos voice and John Williams music!Its a minute and a half long, the first 20 seconds are just logos, and its still a work of art.This can only barely be attributed to the actual movie Superman Returns. What makes the trailers array of footage work, emotionally, rests 99.9% on the shoulders of one of the most universally acclaimed actors and most universally acclaimed film composers of the 20th century, and a suite of screenwriters whose work includes The Godfather, Bonnie and Clyde, and Kramer vs. Kramer. The recombination of Brandos Fortress of Solitude monologue, recut for brevity and impact, with the opening of Williams The Planet Krypton from Richard Donners 1978 Superman? That bird would still sing if it were played over footage of paint drying.In bringing this up while people are still picking apart every second of the teaser for James Gunns Superman, Im not trying to suggest that Gunns movie could beef it as bad as Superman Returns, where poor Brandon Routh does his best to play absentee father Superman in a sympathetic way. Im just thinking about how it isnt hard to cut a bad Superman movie into an all-time great trailer and I think thats because of Superman himself.Even though hes often eclipsed in pop culture by more stylish guys like Batman or Spider-Man, Superman has never completely left the public consciousness since his 1938 debut. Thats because the basic idea of him, and the standard imagery associated with him, are so tremendously iconic and moving. His comics can inspire great artists like Brando, Williams, Donner, Christopher Reeve, and Margot Kidder to make great work. And when that work is cut together just right it can elevate other material to heights it might not deserve on its own.Im looking forward to seeing what Superman inspires Gunn to do in his movie, and his take on the DC Universe. Especially when hes already giving Williams Superman theme the trailercore treatment hes playing the same tunes as the Superman Returns teaser, literally and figuratively. As far as Im concerned, thats a great sign.But while Im waiting for Gunns movie, I wont forget the lesson that 2006 teaser taught me: We shouldnt be swayed by the siren song of John Williams. The real proof is in the pudding, and the pudding doesnt hit theaters until July.