Wondering about what the Superman robots are in James Gunn’s 2025 film? The automatons in the Fortress of Solitude — specifically, Robot 1, 4, 5, and 12 — have been featured in several teasers and trailers for the movie already, and they have actually received quite a few lines of dialogue. Readers of the modern Superman comics will know what these robots are, but many might not know what their inspiration is and how they relate to the superhero. Gunn also has a soft spot for the robots too, decided to build them from scratch without using CGI.
Who are the Superman 2025 robots in the Fortress of Solitude?
The robots in the Superman 2025 film are assistants that maintain the Fortress of Solitude and are most likely inspired by automatons from the All-Star Superman comics (2011). Robot 4 is voiced by Alan Tudyk and Robot 12 is voiced by Grace Chan (the voice actors for Robots 1 and 5 are still unknown at the time of writing).
Let’s start with what we know from the nearly 5-minute extended sneak peek released by DC. After Superman’s dog Krypto drags the wounded superhero into the Fortress of Solitude, he is lifted by a team of four automatons with blue capes and a diamond-shaped logo similar to the superhero’s with numbers in the middle. We learn from the main automaton named Robot 4 that they aren’t sentient and that Robot 12 is new to the group, suggesting that there’s a facility in the Fortress of Solitude that can build or repair them. That said, it’s unclear where the other numbered robots in the base.
The team of robots then haul Superman to a patient bench and decide that he requires accelerated healing through intense magnification of the yellow sun. The technology they use to diagnose the hero’s injuries are also substantially advanced. This suggests that the robots are indeed based on Kryptonian technology. It is possible that they might be enhanced given the advanced technology that exists on the film’s version of Earth, based on the fact that the prequel book saw Lex Luthor create Metallo and Mister Terrific create T-spheres.
At the very least, the robots don’t seem to be too far out of the place in the film universe. They have also been seen destroyed with one shot in the teaser trailer showing Superman bending down and holding the hand of a robot whose lower half has been severed.
James Gunn shared on Threads that one of his inspirations for the film was All-Star Superman (that’s image number 2), which is why that looks to be where the robots are drawn from. There are other comics that feature Superman robots too, particularly some that act like body doubles for the hero.
