Superman
Director: James Gunn
Writer: James Gunn
Based on: Jerry Siegel‘s and Joe Shuster‘s comics chararcter
Cast: David Corenswet, Rachel Brosnahan, Nicholas Hoult, Skyler Gisondo, Mikaela Hoover, Wendell Pierce, Edi Gathegi, Nathan Fillion, Isabela Merced, Neva Howell, Pruitt Taylor Vince, Alan Tudyk, Grace Chan, Michael Rooker, Pom Klementieff, Bradley Cooper, Angela Sarafyan, Frank Grillo, Sean Gunn, Milly Alcock
Part of: DC movies
Seen on: 26.7.2025

Content Note: genocide

Plot:
Superman (David Corenswet) just lost his first fight and had to withdraw to the Fortress of Solitude to recover. Getting pummeled by the Hammer of Boravia not only bruised his ego, but was a direct reaction to his intervention when Boravia was about to commit genocide. That Superman got involved has drawn some criticism from people who are convinced he overreached and did more harm than good by causing political tension between Boravia and the USA. Having to face questions from everybody, including his girlfriend Lois Lane (Rachel Brosnahan) makes Superman doubt. He is convinced that his Kryptonian parents sent him to Earth to help, and that his human parents gave him a good sense of right and wrong. But Lex Luthor (Nicholas Hoult) is determined to prove to the world that it isn’t so.

I am not the biggest fan of James Gunn’s movies, but I really loved this take on Superman that finally moves us past the grimdark, nice is boring kind of Supermen we got in the most recent iterations.

I have always loved Superman as a character, and I never really understood the people who were saying that he is boring because he is nice. And nice in this context seemed to mostly mean having a clear moral compass and treating everybody kindly. First of all, this shit is hard, it is much easier to be a douche canoe than to be kind, and in a complex world, sticking to a moral compass isn’t actually a simple thing. There is a reason he is a symbol for hope, he is inspirational and aspirational because what he does is not basic and easy. Second, there is so much to say about an immigrant that becomes the symbol for the country he ended up in, who might be more USAmerican than people born there – in both the good and the bad ways. And third, we rarely get characters who have this much personal power and think so much about the responisbility that comes with it.

Anyhow, James Gunn gets it. James Gunn gets Superman. James Gunn gets that Superman as a (natural) genocide survivor would not only stop a genocide, even if it is around the globe (to Superman that’s basically the neighborhood anyway), he would also take the five seconds out of a fight to save a squirrel because he knows the value of all living things. And he makes this iteration of Superman not only true to the character‘s origins, he also gives us a plot twist that I really did not see coming – and that casts a new light on the character that I found really interesting. The film is also very openly and obvioulsy about opposing fascism, and we really can’t have enough of that these days.

Not only that, James Gunn also gives us a great iteration of Lex Luthor, a white supremacist tech bro who fights tooth and nail to continue to be able to believe that he is actually better than everybody else. And finally, James Gunn knows that we know who these characters are by now, and that even if it is a reboot, we don’t need an origin story anymore, thank you very much.

The cast is absolutely fantastic, with Corenswet and Brosnahan having great chemistry and a good dynamic as Lois and Clark (and Lois and Superman). The film has some gunn-ish moments of silliness that I could have done without (a little less of the Justice Gang would have been just as good) and I feel like he loves the ditzy woman trope a little too much, but I was thoroughly entertained and want more of this kind of Superman.

Summarizing: what a satisfying, wonderful take on Superman.