Let's revisit that James Gunn poll about the subject one more time. Some of the more fervent voters might have missed the little disclaimer he tweeted after it. "Btw this is for fun," it reads. "We're not going to decide whether Superman has trunks or no trunks based on an egregiously non-scientific Twitter poll."
Gunn has long since proved himself as a smart guy who's well-informed on the subject of superheroes and their fandom. Since he's tackling Superman, he must be aware of the more controversial corners of the character's fandom, including the trunks debate. There's a perfectly good possibility that he's simply indulging fans with the poll. If he decides to go with a trunkless Superman design — which he should, because as has been established, the trunks are pointless in every way — he now has the opportunity to shrug and say that while he knows that many people wanted trunks, that design aesthetic just didn't work in the DCU context.
Of course, losing the trunks may lead to a whole different brand of internet weirdness. Maybe the more toxic fans figure out that witty hashtags won't sink the good ship DCU, and find a new way to keep their blood pressure up by orchestrating a #trunkgate that conveniently forgets that Henry Cavill's version didn't wear a pair, either. It'll probably be pretty awful, but still, the band-aid must be ripped at some point ... especially when said band-aid comes in the shape of a big ol' pair of red superhero shorts.
