Superman (2025)

Most of the scenes with the dog in the film were shot in a studio on greenscreen. The dog was present for visual effects reference only and will be CGI in post-production. When the dog runs over to Superman and licks his face or tugs on his cape, most of the action was created through CGI. Production recorded the dog’s movements in studio then used those movements as a base for the CGI/VFX team. In the studio, everything was cleared to make sure the dog could work with the trainer freely. The trainer had the dog do things like tug on something, run around, pant, etc.

In the scene where the dog barks at a monster before Superman flies in and holds the monster’s foot in the air as the dog continues to bark, the scene was filmed on stage with a fountain placed in the middle of it. Prior to shooting the scene, the trainer placed the dog near the fountain, in about an inch of water. The trainer stood off camera making sure the dog stayed on his mark. On action, she cued dog to bark looking up at the camera. The trainer used food to reinforce barking.

In the scene where Superman rescues a squirrel from a monster’s tail, swooping it up and placing it on the ground, a squirrel was brought to a studio where it was filmed in a plexiglass with holes in it. Visual effects filmed the squirrel in the plexiglass on a table with a handheld camera. Prior to filming, the trainer fed the squirrel walnuts through the holes in the bottom of the plexiglass tray to keep it comfortable inside the glass enclosure. She placed the glass crate on an apple box in front of actor playing Superman. On action, Superman places his hand towards the squirrel inside the glass crate. They also filmed the squirrel eating. They used these images to create a visual effect as if Superman were holding the squirrel.

In the scene where the dog is in a plastic bubble before he jumps on Superman and licks his face, again the dog is only used as reference, and will be enhanced by CGI in post. Prior to filming the scene, the trainer walked the dog to set. The actor playing Superman lied down on the ground and the trainer placed the dog on his chest. She naturally kissed him as he petted her.

In the scene where we see Mrs. Kent on the phone in the front yard and there are several cows in the background, prior to filming the trainers placed cattle in deep background performing natural behavior roaming in a grass field. The field was contained and cut off from traffic or the public.

In the scene where Superman pets dog on the moon, they filmed dog on stage, then used the image to create CGI imagery.

In the scene where the crowd crosses the bridge and three people walk with dogs on leashes, the extras were placed strategically at their marks. Prior to filming, the three extras walked dogs to set on leash and were placed in the crowd on the sidewalk. On action, the crowd starts to spring up the bridge towards the camera. Between takes, the dogs were given water and shade.

In the scene where we see people running from the city and there’s a quick shot of a woman removing her cat from the windowsill, prior to shooting the trainer acclimated her cat to the set. The windowsill was located on a closed set. Prior to action, trainer placed cat food in a dish to keep the cat on the windowsill. On action, the actress picks up her cat and places him inside a cat carrier.

In the scene where we see a young Clark Kent running in a field alongside the cattle, prior to filming, wranglers brought the cattle closer to the fence line for the shots. On action, the actor ran alongside the fence next to the cows.