The robot in the Superman trailer is more important than you think

There is a lot of information to process The first official trailer for “Superman” directed by James Gunnwhich will officially kick off the new DC Studios universe in a live-action event next July. This is our introduction to this version of Superman, played by David Corenswet, as he lies in the snow and whistles to his superhero dog, Krypto, to come help him get him home. There’s our introduction to Metropolis, villain Lex Luthor (Nicholas Hoult), the Daily Planet, reporter Lois Lane (Rachel Brosnahan), and much more. Heck, we even get to See some members of the Justice League. There’s a lot of stuff packed into the trailer, so it can be easy to miss some important parts — and one of them is very An important shot that deserves a special shout out.

We see Superman kneeling inside what looks like a Fortress of Solitude, with all its crystal structures, holding the hand of a very familiar-looking robot. Given his whereabouts and the robot’s appearance, it’s possible we’re getting a version of Kelex in the “Superman” movie.

Beginning with “The Man of Steel #1” in 1986, Kelex was introduced as a former robot servant of Jor-El, Superman’s father, on their home planet Krypton, along with fellow robot servant Kelor and a number of others. Kelex served Jor-El longer than any other robot and was a companion to Kal-El (aka Superman) when he was an infant, although it was assumed that the robot was destroyed along with everyone else on Krypton. Later, when the Eradicator, an ancient Kryptonian technology, ends up on Earth and begins trying to reshape Krypton, it only ends up creating what becomes Superman’s Fortress of Solitude, with Kelex inside it.

Kelex is to the Fortress of Solitude what Alfred is to Batman’s Cave and Wayne Manor, taking care of everything while Superman is away and helping him when he’s in need. Although Kelex has been around in the comics often, the robot’s appearances in films are much rarer – he last appeared in “Man of Steel” in 2013Voiced by Carla Gugino. Kelex being part of the story means we’ll get the Fortress of Solitude and some of the more bizarre comic book elements surrounding Krypton, and those are the rules.

Although the robot doesn’t look exactly like the Kelex in the comics, which honestly looks like a mix between Alpha 5 from “Power Rangers” and… No. 5 of “short circuit” If indeed Kelex points out some interesting things about “Superman.” Although it sets up the new DC Studios film universe, it doesn’t look like it will be a full origin story, instead giving us a Clark Kent/Superman who has already done some reckoning with his Kryptonian past. He’ll have a Fortress of Solitude, a right-handed robot, and he won’t just be a lost and confused farm boy trying to figure out what to do with his superpowers.

There are quite a few characters appearing in the trailer that we haven’t seen much of in cinema (if at all), but Killex hints more at the kind of Superman story we’ll be getting.

“Superman” hits theaters on July 11, 2025.