Judging by online conversations (itself a dangerous thing), James Gunn’s Superman might be 2025’s most-anticipated and riskiest movie. Rebooting DC’s comic book movie-verse just a couple of years after the prior, polarizing one fizzled out is a tall order. Pleasing everyone is an impossible task. But by pairing some heady themes with a real sense of high-flying fun, this Superman should make an awful lot of people happy.
When we join the action, Superman has just been defeated for the first time — by “the Hammer of Boravia,” ostensibly a powerful metahuman angry that Supes stopped his country from “liberating” (aka — brutally invading) a small neighbor. Of course, that’s not the whole story, and Superman finds himself increasingly targeted, all while Lex Luthor will stop at nothing to further degrade his foe.
Superman Centers a Hero with Heart
The very concept of what it means to be “human” is at the heart of this Superman – and at the heart of Supes himself. As played with old-Hollywood charm by David Corenswet, this Clark Kent/Superman has his very sense of self shaken. He’s earnest and boyish to a fault, but he’s deliberately imperfect. He can be impulsive and lead with his emotions, getting him (and others) into sticky situations. But that big heart is also his — and the movie’s — greatest asset.
Speaking of “the heart,” Rachel Brosnahan’s Lois Lane truly feels like this Clark’s perfect match. She’s a dry-witted, determined, active character who drives key plot developments, not a bystander. Corenswet and Brosnahan’s chemistry is alternately playful and sizzling, with the kind of giddy spark we don’t get nearly enough in blockbusters these days.
Of course, being “human” doesn’t mean being “good.” I’m sure Nicholas Hoult gave a wonderful audition for the Man of Steel, but he feels born to play this unapologetically nasty, entitled, three-steps-ahead Lex Luthor. A vicious and petty billionaire with layers of contingencies, he seems unstoppable despite being “just” a regular human.
The movie isn’t afraid to put the worst tendencies of humans on display. One of the most disturbing plotlines involves Luthor’s minions executing his dastardly plot with the whoops and giddy fist-pumps of video game players. Yes, there’s the obligatory (and silly) gag about online trolls, but this is more sickening. It’s an all-too-real depiction of humans happy to take a tiny kernel of truth, mix it with vicious insinuations, and use it to attack someone sufficiently dehumanized — all while treating it like entertainment.
We’ve already seen plenty of ink spilled about the movie’s “politics.” And, yes, it is unapologetically a movie for decency and generosity and against “othering” and greed. It does, however, present a more complicated portrait than you might think. Themes of assimilation, identity, and nature-vs-nurture play a big role in Clark’s arc. Yes, a few moments hit you over the head with the symbolism, but others are quite thoughtful. A villain’s excuse for why Superman can’t be trusted but other metahumans can; humans wondering aloud what happens when metahumans are unrestricted; unpleasant revelations about supposedly-heroic figures — they’re fundamental themes of the genre for good reason.
Flashy, Splashy, Sprawling, and Fun
Gunn’s approach feels like a comic book brought to life: big, vibrant, and just on this side of too much. The structure feels almost like a TV three-parter, with three very distinct acts that link together but remain episodic. Your mileage may vary as to whether it works; I liked it but can see the argument against.
More importantly, Gunn makes the smart, if risky, choice to drop us into an already-established world. Instead of rehashing one of pop culture’s most famous origin stories, this world already knows about metahumans and Superman. It does require time and focus to settle in, and it can be chaotic at times. But it thankfully avoids feeling stale.
It also gives a chance to introduce several supporting heroes, with varied results. Guy Gardner/Green Lantern (Nathan Fillion, with the world’s goofiest haircut) and Hawkgirl (Isabela Merced) add texture to the world. And yet, they’re thinly-sketched on their own. On the other hand, Edi Gathegi’s Mister Terrific is one of the movie’s standouts. He’s wry, deadpan, and brilliant, with marvelous on-screen charisma and unforgettable line deliveries.
With so much setup happening, some pieces and characters inevitably get short shrift. I wish we could have spent more time with the Daily Planet crew, although Skyler Gisondo as Jimmy Olsen and Wendell Pierce as Perry White make a solid impression despite limited screen time. María Gabriela de Faría’s Engineer — Lex’s bio-engineered second who can create anything she imagines — is also clearly being set up for a bigger arc. Like Gisondo and Pierce, she holds her own despite being mostly a battle-sequence character with motivations barely hinted at.
And, yes, there’s Krypto the Superdog. This is a Superman unafraid to be kind of silly, and a mischievous, rambunctious, super-powered dog is part of that! It’s emblematic of the sweetness that lies beneath the movie’s wannabe-punk-rock edge.
That, ultimately, is the biggest takeaway from this Superman: making hope cool again. Yes, it’s a strong popcorn flick that uses its exceptional cast to elevate decent-but-crowded material. But while we may groan at Clark’s farm-boy insistence that being kind and hopeful is, itself, “punk” and counterculture… we also can appreciate that he’s not wrong. Or at least — we can hope so.
Superman is playing in theaters from July 11.
First Featured Image Credit: ©Warner Bros.