 By Jacob Jones I love Superman. Ever since I was a child, when I saw Richard Donner’s original 1978 film for the first time – the first superhero movie I ever saw – I have loved Superman. Throughout the character’s 87-year history, the Man of Steel has undergone any number of changes whether to his look or to his method of heroism or to the essence of how his dual identity is divided. He’s fought and grappled with a wide variety of foes both average and bizarre, continued to spark debate amongst comic book and superhero fans regarding every facet of his existence, and continued to grow as a wider variety of storytellers and artists have sought to reflect the times in which he evolved. And yet, a few things remain consistent about the Big Blue Boy Scout that have endured through every power set change, outfit alteration, or new show-runner/director/artist at the helm: he’s an alien from the planet Krypton, he was sent to Earth as a child by his parents, his home world is gone, he was raised on a farm by a kindly couple, he has incredible superpowers, he helps people – always putting the needs of others over his own – and he never gives up on anyone.
Over the course of the past decade or so, Superman has been in a bit of a state of flux. While I won’t pretend to be knowledgeable enough about the comics side of things to be able to fully flesh out exactly what every change has meant, both the New 52 and DC Rebirth universes have altered the character in ways significant enough to affect the film side, chiefly in the storytelling of what’s been known as the DCEU (“DC Extended Universe”), which began with Zack Snyder’s Man of Steel in 2013 and wrapped up with Blue Beetle – one of its most underrated inclusions – in August of 2023. To say that the DCEU yielded mixed results would be an understatement, as despite some healthy box office returns for certain of its entrants, its cultural impact leaves a significant amount to be desired as it failed to coalesce into anything meaningful, often feeling lost amongst the scramble to become an answer to the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s zeitgeist dominance. And, of course, the question of Superman’s place in all of it was constantly left up to question. Whether one does or doesn’t like Zack Snyder’s version of Superman is inconsequential to the results of the DCEU project; it failed, and so a reset was in order. Enter the newly-birthed DCU, now under the stewardship of The Suicide Squad director James Gunn and creative partner Peter Safran, which begins with – of all characters – Superman. Superman (2025) has no interest in re-examining the Man of Steel’s origins (well, in a sense…), so there’s no fundamental changes to the bones of how Clark Kent becomes the world’s most powerful hero. James Gunn dispenses with these points in order to set up the film’s story, which concerns a military conflict between the fictional nations of Boravia and Jarhanpur – their middle-eastern-sounding names are not a coincidence – in which Superman interfered, sparking controversy surrounding the hero’s ultimate motivations in a world which views his “truth, justice, and the human way” persona as not only old-fashioned but naïve in the context of its political consequences. In this sense, Gunn isn’t especially fascinated with who the character of Superman is – that much is abundantly made clear through David Corenswet’s frankly immaculate portrayal of this more modernized Kryptonian icon – so much as what he means to the world around him, what he ultimately represents, and how he can help humanity chart a new, more hopeful path forward. It’s the same mission that propelled comics like “All-Star Superman” and “What Ever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow?” to top-list status among comics fans, and enabled those and other comics to serve as this film’s primary inspirations. To that end, the spirit of Superman is alive and well in Gunn’s DCU launch-pad, as the emphasis of his abilities lies not with who he can beat in a fight, but who (or what) he can save in the face of disaster. Superman is the kind of hero who saved Frisky the cat from a tree in 1978, and in true Superman fashion, takes the time out of a Kaiju fight in Gunn’s film to save a helpless squirrel from being crushed to death. That said, there are plenty of thrilling fight sequences to behold as Superman squares off against foes like the Hammer of Boravia, Ultraman, the Engineer, and of course, the aforementioned Kaiju. And he’s not alone. Importantly, though the focus still rests on Superman’s capable shoulders, an abundance of fellow DC characters such as Green Lantern (Nathan Fillion), Hawkgirl (Isabela Merced), and Mr. Terrific – who in this film are workshopping the moniker of the “Justice Gang” – as well as the superstar journalists of the Daily Planet (Lois Lane, Jimmy Olsen, Steve Lombard, Cat Grant, and Perry White), also join the film’s sprawling cast of characters joining the fight (or at least observing it) against Lex Luthor (Nicholas Hoult) as he tries to destroy not just Superman himself but his reputation as a protector of the planet. Of these supporting players, it’s Lois Lane, Mr. Terrific, and the Justice Gang that get the bulk of the non-Superman focus (at least on the hero side), with Edi Gathegi’s Mr. Terrific being one of the film’s unexpected bright spots, as well as an underused but wonderfully fun first live-action appearance of one Krypto the Super-Dog. As to Superman’s love, Lois Lane, those who knew Rachel Brosnahan from her time on The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel will hardly be surprised that she’s note-perfect for this part, and the film gives her plenty to work with, especially given her palpable chemistry with Corenswet during what turned out to be the performers’ chemistry read scene (the apartment interview, another Superman: The Movie callback). A common (and often understandable) strike against James Gunn’s films by those who enjoy them but would not necessarily call themselves super-fans is that he tends to over-rely on humor to get his movies across the finish line, and that humor doesn’t always work or sometimes gets tired by the time the third act kicks in. For my money, Superman’s humor works in lock-step with the film’s ultimate goals, and never seems to actually tire itself out despite how much of it the film contains. Where the film does stumble a bit is in regard to its story, the plotting of which is a tad convoluted for how simple the reveal of what’s going on turns out to be, and as to that reveal – while I won’t spoil any significant details – I’m not sure that treating real-world analogous subject matter in the way this film ultimately decides to makes a whole lot of sense or indeed does much good given how much the film already has to prove in terms of its necessity to the world we currently live in. There’s also the matter of the film’s villains, chief among them Superman’s arch-nemesis, Lex Luthor. There’s nothing particularly off about Nicholas Hoult’s portrayal of the bald technocrat – Hoult is a brilliant actor who continues to impress, inflecting little bits of vulnerability even where none are required – but when it comes to his motivations, which are often spelled out through exposition-heavy dialogue which Hoult is asked to make sound believable despite how clunky many of the lines are in nature, the film never quite brings them into focus in a way that lands. Alongside an Engineer whose characterization leaves a bit to be desired in a film that’s already trying to do a few too many things at once, Lex is the film’s singular weak point, to the degree that one major character can be. There is one major plot development in the film which will either definitely work or definitely won’t, but given the heavy spoiler nature of that development, I’ll save discussion of it for another time. Is Superman a perfect movie? No, not by a long shot, but the flaws it does contain may not ultimately be enough to keep it from creating the same feverish obsession around the hero that Richard Donner’s original film did when it first released in 1978, although there are quite a few more characters in here that have the potential to generate some of that fever for themselves (looking at you, Krypto). James Gunn’s introduction to his new DCU is full of the same spirit that propels the best versions of the titular character, with greater emphasis on Kal-El’s motivations as part of his human side than ever before, and David Corenswet is more than up to the task of embodying those aspirational qualities that Superman has always been about. If this is to be the launchpad for a new era of superheroism, there’s only one direction Gunn and Safran are pointing the genre towards: up, up, and away. I’m giving “Superman” an 8.6/10 - The Friendly Film Fan
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