The new Superman trailer drops on May 14, and you can already feel the internet bracing for impact. James Gunn has been teasing this thing like it’s the cinematic second coming, with cryptic stills, emoji-loaded tweets, and a Times Square billboard bright enough to blind an alien. David Corenswet’s debut as the Man of Steel is just around the corner, and Warner Bros. is betting hard on this movie to reboot the DC Universe into something fans actually care about again. And yet, somehow, the thing people are talking about most isn’t the movie—it’s the meme war surrounding it.
Over the last few days, a bright yellow PSA-style image has been making the rounds on Twitter, Threads, and whatever other cursed app is trying to be the new Tumblr. It’s a set of instructions, decked out with Superman logos and red slashes through emojis, that tells fans how to handle the impending backlash from what it calls “toxic and negative” people online. “No reaction. No retweeting. No screen captures. No attention to toxic and negative fans.” It’s like a war-time blackout poster, except instead of bombs, it’s opinions. And instead of helping anyone, it’s basically telling you to shut up and consume.
Now, sure, I get the intention. On its surface, the image is trying to promote peace—“don’t feed the trolls” and all that. But the execution? That’s where it falls apart. Because this isn’t just about avoiding bad-faith actors or muting your timeline for self-care. It’s a dog whistle for silence. Don’t react. Don’t share. Don’t discuss. Just smile, nod, and tell the algorithm you’re happy. It’s fandom-as-brand-loyalty in its most dystopian form, and the fact that it’s being shared unironically is kind of wild.
What makes it even more hilarious—or depressing, depending on your caffeine levels—is that it’s being used in a very specific context: the long-simmering feud between fans of Zack Snyder’s now-defunct DC Universe and the newer, shinier, Gunn-led reboot. Snyder fans, understandably pissed that their vision of the DC world was cut off at the knees, have become a vocal and sometimes toxic presence online. But instead of acknowledging that nuance exists—that people can be both excited and critical—some fans of the new Superman have decided that any criticism must be snuffed out before the trailer even drops. Hence, the propaganda.
I made a parody of that image myself. Same yellow background, same crossed-out symbols. But mine read: “No questions. No criticism. No discussion. Trust the brand. Just consume and obey.” It’s not subtle. It’s not supposed to be. I cribbed the vibe straight from They Live, because that’s what it feels like we’re dealing with: a fandom so eager to avoid negativity that it’s embraced the same kind of brainless corporate loyalty it once mocked. This is how we get echo chambers. This is how we rot from the inside out.
Here’s the thing. You can like James Gunn’s Superman. You can be hyped for the trailer. You can even think it’ll blow Zack Snyder’s stuff out of the water. But the moment you start treating any kind of skepticism like a virus to be eradicated, you’ve left “fandom” and wandered into cult territory. And the worst part? These are the same fans who used to complain about how Snyder was treated. About how the studio didn’t respect artistic vision. About how critics didn’t “get it.” Now they’re doing the same thing in reverse, but with emojis and motivational posters.
It’s okay to have questions. It’s okay to be critical. Hell, it’s healthy. Engaged fans don’t just cheer—they critique, they debate, they care enough to argue. That’s what makes a fandom worth being in. But we’ve reached this bizarre point where disagreement is seen as disloyalty, and silence is mistaken for support. And that’s not just boring—it’s dangerous. Because once you stop allowing people to say “I don’t like this,” you stop evolving. You stop getting better stories. You stop hearing each other.
And yeah, look, I’m not pretending the other side is pure either. Snyder’s fans have had years to stew in bitterness, and some of them treat every DC project that isn’t Snyderverse like it personally kicked their dog. But being loud and annoying isn’t the same as being wrong. Some criticisms of Gunn’s Superman are fair. The casting choices, the tone shift, the narrative resets—there’s room to discuss all of it without descending into chaos. Unless, of course, you’ve already decided discussion itself is a threat.
Fandom these days feels less like a community and more like a battleground of curated brand identities. You don’t just like a thing—you pledge allegiance to it. And anything that challenges that allegiance, even a little, must be blocked, ratioed, or quote-tweeted into oblivion. But that’s not being a fan. That’s being a foot soldier in a content war no one actually wins.
So here’s my advice: watch the trailer. Get excited. Post your memes. Gush about the suit. Wonder what Lex is going to do. But also, keep your brain turned on. If something looks off, say so. If you’re unsure about the tone, talk about it. If you love it, explain why. Just don’t let some weird fan-made commandment list tell you that silence equals strength. It doesn’t. Superman deserves better than that. And so do we.
Hollywood After Dark 