With his take on the legendary DC Comics titan Superman – the superhero that begat almost all superheroes to follow – writer-director James Gunn has crafted a film that pleasingly has something for everybody. If you want an earnest depiction of Krypton’s greatest surviving son in all his inherent goodness, Gunn has viewers covered. If you want a self-reflexive take on a genre that has gotten stale as of late, Superman has you covered, too. If you don’t like the character of Superman because he’s indestructible and not all that vulnerable, Gunn has more than a few surprises up his sleeve. If all you want is a dumb and silly summer blockbuster that blows a lot of things up and gives some good natured chuckles along the way, look over here. And if you want a movie that can distract from the awful nature of this world at the moment in a meaningful way, dang it, Superman obliges. Sure, being all things to all people can make Gunn’s film somewhat of a chaotic, overstuffed mess at times, but if there’s one character that can handle that burden, it’s Superman.
Gunn doesn’t burden the viewer with an origin story here, preferring to dive into proceedings already in progress, approximately three years after Superman (David Corenswet) outed himself publicly as an alien visitor sent from the destroyed plant of Krypton to act as humanity’s saviour and defender. It also starts with Superman losing his first ever battle, and for the remainder of Gunn’s film, the cape wearing do-gooder is always on the back foot. War profiteer, tech industrialist, and all around jerk Lex Luthor (Nicholas Hoult) has studied Superman enough over the years to know his nemesis’ every move. With the help of his right hand woman, The Engineer (Maria Gabriela de Faria, playing a rage fuelled fury teeming with shape-shifting nano-bot technology), an army of well trained mercenaries, and a hulking behemoth dubbed Ultraman, Lex is poised to ruin Superman’s reputation in the public eye, painting him as an evil presence instead of a peace loving protector. The endgame for Lex is to become a major player in a global dispute between two fictional countries, a situation that Superman recently meddled in and might’ve made a mistake in doing so.
There’s a lot more to Superman than that. So much more. Inarguably, too much more, especially in the character department. If DC Studios wants to use Superman as a launching pad for a much bigger franchise, a lot of moving parts have to be put into place. Similarly, to appease the fans, an effort has to be made to introduce the core characters that populate the comics. Gunn (brought over from the rivals over at Marvel after his success with the Guardians of the Galaxy films) understands that there has to be a balance between spectacle and substance with this sort of thing, so his approach is akin to a speed run. There’s a major action sequence of suspenseful beat every ten minutes or so, and between those moments are playful, colourful introductions to a wide array of characters. From the word go, Superman never lets up longer than necessary, both clocking in with a shorter running time than most of its superhero brethren, while also making sure that the story itself is cohesive and self-contained. The connections that could be made to other DC IP would be pleasing and wrapped up nicely even if they chose not to go ahead with another one of these.
Gunn and Corenswet place Superman – and by extension his reporter alter ego, Clark Kent – at his most vulnerable point. Everything that could be going wrong for Superman has by the halfway point of the film. His decisions are being questioned. His character has been ruined. Lex’s schemes are succeeding. His status as the preeminent superhero is in danger of slipping thanks to a reckless trio of corporate backed metahumans (Nathan Fillion, Isabela Merced, Edi Gathegi). His relationship with sweetheart and fellow reporter Lois Lane (Rachel Brosnahan) is showing some cracks. The alien dog, Krypto, that he’s taking care of his more of a nuisance and liability than he would like, but he still can’t leave the thing alone. Oh, and he’s going to have to question every aspect of his identity. Talk about a rough week!
The plot of Superman is a lot, but Gunn makes that feel okay because the viewer is going through this overwhelming period along with the character, not just watching as random series of events get worse and worse. Gunn knows that it’s not enough these days for a character to stand up for truth, justice, and the American way (ideals that grow fuzzier in the world outside the silver screen). Gunn has to humanize Superman in a way where people feel for a plight where no amount of strength, speed, or ability will help him overcome the nightmare of his life at the moment. This is a Superman made with the current, bombastic, overwhelming rhythms of the modern world at the front of its mind.
Online outrage culture, the ineffectiveness of modern journalism to cover geopolitical events fairly, the outsourcing of governmental dirty work to private companies, and an inability for people to be good to one another without it also benefiting themselves are all topics Gunn places at the forefront of Superman. At times, Gunn can get a bit heavy handed with the visual and subtextual symbolism, but there’s also an understanding that Superman is pitched at a level of pure fantasy. All of these attempts to make the character relevant are well intentioned and implemented, but it often comes at the cost of nuts and bolts plot machinations being poorly explained, but also insisted upon as being of equal importance. (I hope you like hearing about the dangers of “pocket universes” a lot and still not really knowing how they work.)
The best Superman stories focus on the human element the hero empathizes with and wants to protect; the side of the titular character that would love to be the everyman reporter he uses as a disguise. Gunn’s take is no exception, and he has done it better on the big screen than anyone else has before him. Corenswet’s performance in the lead captures the character’s internal conflict and confusion, rounding out the character’s squeaky clean edges with a sort of learned cynicism that comes naturally from having been on Earth for so long. Corenswet’s chemistry with Brosnahan’s Lois Lane – the best and most substantial on screen depiction of Clark’s female counterpart to date – is magical, whether they’re arguing or agreeing.
Hoult imbues a bit of camp into his portrayal of Luthor, which is natural since the character is a megalomaniac bent on world domination, but there’s also a calculating, cold hearted ruthlessness that is able to make Superman’s greatest villain into something chilling. The supporting cast is an embarrassment of riches on paper, but a lot of them are window dressing used to underline the epic tone. The ones who fare the best and shine brightest are Skyler Gisondo, as the Daily Planet’s unlikely ladies’ man, Gathegi, as the most capable member of the aforementioned superhero trio, and Anthony Carrigan, as a prisoner Lex brings in to further put the screws to Superman.
Superman hums along with few lulls, thanks to some outstanding editing and large scale visuals that are always giving the viewer their money’s worth. (It’s definitely worth shelling out extra to see it in the largest, loudest format possible.) There’s also a good updating of John Williams’ original and iconic Superman theme from composers David Fleming and John Murphy. But the lack of let-up leads to some exhaustion down the stretch, particularly during the finale, where there’s so much going on in so many different places that the viewer starts to get worn down trying to keep track of every new crisis. But such is the life of a superhero during a time of global crisis, both on screen and off. Superman has always been the prototype for these kinds of films and characters, and Gunn does an excellent job of showing why the character’s status matters so much and remains endearing.
Superman opens in theatres everywhere on Friday, July 11, 2025.
