The iconic Superman is back, entrusted this time not just to save the world from itself as usual but also probably Warner Bros, DC and comic book movies themselves. It is the first production for Warners under its newly minted DC Studios and the new management of writer-director-producer James Gunn and producer Peter Safran, who have been given the Herculean job of reconstituting the flailing cinematic DC universe, starting with perhaps the greatest character within it. It is not like we needed another Superman movie, but this one isn’t pretending to be any kind of origin story and counts on the audience to already know where this guy came from, who his alter-ego Clark Kent is, and exactly who has played him in the past half-century in movies and television spinoffs.
Quite frankly, leaving the small screen stuff at home, the big-screen franchise hasn’t gotten it better than the first big movie incarnation of the Man of Steel in Richard Donner’s 1978 monster hit Superman The Movie, which cemented Christopher Reeve as the GOAT in terms of this character, one he would play however to diminishing results in three sequels ending in 1987. It is no accident that Warner Bros released the startlingly fine and BAFTA-winning 2024 documentary Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story to remind us of the late star’s emotional power on and off the screen.
After Reeve we got Bryan Singer’s single turn at bat with 2006’s well-reviewed Superman Returns with a game Brandon Routh in the title role, even if audiences weren’t quite as enthusiastic. In 2013, Zack Snyder took him to the dark dark side with the help of a perfectly cast Henry Cavill in Man of Steel, and then disastrously in 2016’s Batman v Superman: The Dawn of Justice which has an awful 28% rotten rating at Rotten Tomatoes, the lowest ever in the series. It got only a little better for Cavill’s return in 2017’s Justice League, only to see Snyder reconfigure that film and double its two-hour length in 2021’s Zack Snyder’s Justice League, a movie that pleased that director’s rabid fan base, a group of internet dwellers I predict will be gunning for Gunn, even sight unseen, just for the audacity to try to bring this superhero franchise back to glory and give it some light and comic book color.
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And thus we now have the first film to be ironically and simply named not Superman ANOTHER Movie, but just plain Superman. How come nobody thought of that at Warner Bros before? It certainly indicates a new beginning for a hoped-for revitalized franchise with new star David Corenswet who, like Reeve, is a Julliard-trained actor out to carve his own unique take on a superhero who supposedly stands for truth, justice, and the American way. Except … well as we first meet him on screen this time it is in the middle of the frozen Arctic somewhere, flattened and defeated, his face dripping with blood. Superman, say it ain’t so! The preceding Star Wars-like credit roll explains where he has been over the past decades right up to informing us that this invincible man, albeit alien from Krypton (and please let’s just skip the recent interview where Gunn tried to portray him as just another immigrant to America and sending Fox News into a tailspin). He has just lost his first battle ever to the Hammer of Boravia after he got involved in a foreign conflict taking sides with the underdog (think Russia vs. Ukraine). Racing into the situation with no sympathy whatsoever is his ever-active caped superdog Krypto, who is all over him like a cheap suit, clearly on his own hyperbolic trajectory. This pooch gets him back to his sort-of batcave, an icy wonderland with all his mementos (like the Titanic) called the Fortress of Solitude (shot in Norway), where the Superman robots will bring him back to life from humiliating defeat.
Right away we know this is not your father’s Superman. However, it isn’t long before we are back in Metropolis and get a brief glimpse of a TV reporter played by none other than Good Morning America‘s Will Reeve, whose father was Superman — a nice homage here. But have no fear, Corenswet finds his own way into the role in a very different America that will be lining up to see this new take. Living in times where Truth and Justice seem imperiled to say the least and what we think is the “American Way” is in danger of becoming a relic of the past as no less than democracy could be on the chopping block, it does not seem a stretch to try and define this version as one that is right for the times with a heroic character who simply stands for the good in people, even to the point of rescuing an innocent little squirrel. This Superman may be a bit of a fantasy for these divided times, where even what is really “good” is subject to interpretation, but no doubt kindness is his mantra.
Thus the ever-present villain of the piece is again Lex Luthor (Nicholas Hoult), but he too is one for the world we live in, a tech billionaire with big plans for the planet, no matter how nefarious, that he believes will bring genuine improvements for humanity — but of course believes his nemesis Superman is out to destroy the world he is trying to create. Elon Musk should see this movie. The popularity of this caped hero is too much for Lex and he will stop at nothing to stop him and those who support him. In fact, it was through his tech genius that he was able to control and aid the Hammer in his fight, and by extension get our hero the kind of negative publicity and social media criticism he is not used to receiving. Luthor, picking sides, is also in sync with the President of Boravia, and has created a weird kind of portal called a “pocket universe” that he employs to no good end, all in the effort to paint the planet with his preferred colors and take charge.
Of course Lois Lane (Rachel Brosnahan) is around, working at the Daily Planet and trying to thrive in a digital news world where print in endangered. Nevertheless she is a scrappy reporter and savvy enough to know a good scoop, so she convinces colleague Clark Kent, who usually is the one to get scoops with his other guise, to do an interview that doesn’t go so well. Yes, she is his girlfriend so that complicates things. An early scene between Lois and Clark beautifully sets up the conflict in their relationship between his positivity and sunny outlook for the world and her downright cynicism. Both stars play off each other superbly.
Gunn has loaded this flick with tons of action, some quite ludicrous, and takes his cues from any number of inspirations including the past movies, TV shows and particularly Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely’s All Star Superman book that has informed much of his script. Corenswet is the real deal, a hero for a better time trying to spread old fashioned values of the good that has disappeared from the planet. In a way, Frank Capra could have made this film minus all the CGI. Brosnahan is a swell Lois Lane. Give her a slot on MSNBC! As for Hoult, bald, bold and bad but also smart and determined, he could be channeling frightening current ideological power-hungry figures like Stephen Miller and Silicon Valley billionaire Peter Thiel (Google them). Lex is a bit too real for comfort, and that is why Hoult is so on the money here. I bet Gene Hackman would approve.
Among the large cast are the three who make up the so-called superheroes-for-hire Justice Gang: Nathan Fillion as Guy Gardner/Green Lantern, Edi Gathegi as the intelligent Mr. Terrific, and Isabela Merced as the colorful Hawk Girl. They all have their moments, but generally to add humor. Skyler Gisondo’s lively Jimmy Olsen is all you would hope he would be, and new character Metamorpho, who teams with Superman after a meeting in prison, is nicely played by Anthony Carrigan. Maria Gabriela de Faria as The Engineer/Angela Spica, the main facilitator for Lex’s evil designs along with Ultraman, is striking in her looks and abilities, even though the character is pure comic book. Credit casting director John Papsidera for coming up with an all-new cast that more than fits the bill. He didn’t cast Krypto since the scene-stealing dog is a marvel of CGI wizardry, but if this film offers nothing else for you, his addition is a pure-bred winner.
Overall, Gunn might be trying to do too much here, basically throwing everything against the wall and hoping some of it sticks. More than enough does in this entertaining new direction, but at times Superman suffers from overload, much like Gunns’ Guardians of the Galaxy trilogy, which wore out its welcome with Vol. 3 where Rocket unfortunately got the Babe: Pig in the City treatment. Nevertheless he is a talented and skilled director, no question, and one with optimism himself. It will be interesting to see where the future lies for DC under his (and Safran’s) more hopeful vision. As Marvel has been showing of late, comic book movies are on the wane, so it will take ingenuity. I have to admit I actually really liked the last stand of the old DC, 2023’s The Flash, every bit as much as I liked this one (sue me, I don’t care) that is tasked with launching it into a new era. This new flight for an old staple is by and large a promising beginning, though no doubt it will have its detractors.
On the production side, give major credit to production designer Beth Mickle, cinematographer Henry Braham and costume designer Judiana Makovsky, all regulars for the Gunn films. Music by John Murphy and David Fleming does what is expected, but the snippets we hear of John Williams’ immortal score for the 1978 classic just remind of the emotional power that is missing from this Superman which doesn’t try to compete, but plays in its own field. Whether it reignites the franchise or turns out to be another one-off remains to be seen. For me, in addition to its strong entertainment value, I see it with something to say about who we are, what we are becoming, and what we should aspire to. In that regard this could be the most political Superman of all, a good thing in a time where you really wish there was a Superman to save us all.
Title: Superman
Distributor: Warner Bros
Release date: July 9, 2025 (international); July 11 (domestic)
Director-screenwriter: James Gunn
Cast: David Corenswet, Rachel Brosnahan, Nicholas Hoult, Edi Gathegi, Anthony Carrigan, Nathan Fillion, Isabela Merced, Skyler Gisondo, Sara Sampaio, Maria Gabriela de Faria, Wendell Pierce, Alan Tudyk, Pruitt Taylor Vince, Neva Howell, Mikaela Hoover, Beck Bennett
Rating: PG-13
Running time: 2 hr 9 mins
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