On my Instagram page, The Daily Superman, I did a series leading up to the release of James Gunn’s SUPERMAN rating the previous live-action portrayals of the characters along with every motion picture. As I revisited the 77-year history of movies and television starring Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster’s creation (aka my all-time favorite pop culture icon), I had the sad realization that there had not been a good Superman movie since SUPERMAN II, which came out 44 years ago (with everything since then ranging from just okay all the way to terrible).
And despite my fervent desire to keep my expectations for Gunn’s reboot in check, it hit me that if I didn’t like this latest attempt to bring the character to life, I might have to give up on ever getting a good Superman movie again (which honestly, I kinda did after MAN OF STEEL).
Thankfully, that decades-long bad streak ended on July 11th when SUPERMAN came out and completely blew me away. Is it perfect? No. Is it my new favorite Superman movie? Nah, that top spot will always go to ‘78 (let’s face it, despite some flaws, Donner’s original is a classic, and there will never be a more perfect Superman moment in any medium than when Christopher Reeve answers Margot Kidder’s query of “Who… ARE you?” with a smiling, simple, “A friend.” Gets me every time.). But this new movie is a damn close second.
The marketing of the film promised a stark departure from Zack Snyder’s dark and dour DC Extended Universe, but I simply was not prepared for it to be such a complete 180. It’s not just the bright colors and the trunks and the dog, SUPERMAN is a comic book movie that—finally—is not ashamed of its roots; In fact, it embraces them with a grand, gloriously goofy sincerity, mostly lacking in Gunn’s usual wink-wink piss-taking on the genre. The new cinematic DC Universe is not deconstructionist, it’s not trying to show what superheroes would be like IRL (cough), it’s not trying to give a pseudo-scientific explanation for everything (except, for some inexplicable reason, throwing in the lame “hypno-glasses” reason for Clark’s successful disguise, taken from an instantly-undone 1978 issue of SUPERMAN).
The story is stuffed, but straightforward: As Superman embroils himself in an international conflict (which doesn’t help Clark Kent and Lois Lane’s struggle to define their complicated romantic situation of three months), Lex Luthor has hatched a rather elaborate plot to not only make himself the ruler of what would be a newly-established techno-autocracy in Eastern Europe, but also eliminate the one person whom he feels undeservedly has more power, fame, and veneration than he (three guesses). Luckily for Lex, he discovers something that turns the public against the hero, who now (in addition to being caged and kryptonite-poisoned in an other-dimensional gulag) faces an existential crisis regarding his place on Earth (but thankfully—unlike ALL of Superman in the DCEU—it doesn’t last long).
There are lots of sprinkles on the cupcake: Superman’s altruism is put in stark contrast with the corporate-funded, less-humane Justice Gang (not their name), comprised of the brilliant but irascible Mr. Terrific, the violent, short-tempered Hawkgirl, and Green Lantern Guy Gardner, who’s just an asshole. Lex forces Metamorpho, the Element Man to do his bidding by kidnapping his son, Joey. Superman’s got robots who downplay their sentience but in fact really care about him. The staff of The Daily Planet actually gets to do journalism! And the super-powered dog that Superman’s watching is a fucking nightmare. The pacing is somewhat frenetic, but there’s room to breathe, and it’s all in aid of world (and character!) building that doesn’t feel rushed ala the DCEU, but fresh and full of promise.
But (as with Donner’s first film) none of this would work without good casting, and MAN, did Gunn and his casting director, John Papsidera nail (almost) every character. Nicholas Hoult SEETHES with hatred, hubris, and disdain in every scene as Lex Luthor (aside from the curious choice of a few tears at one point). Edi Gathegi makes Mr. Terrific an instant breakout character. Nathan Fillion was born to play Guy Gardner. Anthony Carrigan looks exactly like Metamorpho even without makeup (although his personality doesn’t match the cockiness of the comic book version). The entire Daily Planet staff (who actually have things to do here) not only feel fleshed out (granted, I knew all of them from the comics, so your mileage may vary), they’re believable as not just coworkers, but actual journalists!
In advance of the movie, there were a few things that gave me hope, primarily the casting of Lois Lane. As a huge fan of THE MARVELOUS MRS. MAISEL, I was thrilled to see her take a stab at the part. Brosnahan’s got the pluck, wit, and brains to slip right into that purple sweater (it’s canon), and man, is she perfect. In fact, my favorite scene in the whole movie might be one in which she tries to explain to Clark that pop punk is NOT, in fact, punk. God, I laughed so hard at that scene (and it was an absolutely brilliant shorthand to explain the difference between them).
David Corenswet (the doomed projectionist from PEARL), like Christopher Reeve, understands the delicate balance of charm, strength, and humility required to portray the world’s most powerful man as just a sincere (if kinda nerdy) nice guy. Sure, he’s not quite as indestructible as previous versions, and maybe the squirrel scene was a bit over the top, but goddamn, I’ll take that over Routh and Cavill’s mopey Christ figures all day long.
Not every portrayal worked for me. I am decidedly not a fan of Bradley Cooper, and even though his perpetual smugness kinda worked for this version of Jor-El, it still made me wince. And it took me two viewings to accept Pruitt Taylor Vince and Neval Howell’s country bumpkin portrayals of Pa and Ma Kent (thanks to the fact that my old bladder made me miss the pivotal scene when Lois brings the injured Superman home to them when I saw it the first time).
When the first leaked image of the new \S/ was hinted at in a social media post showing actor placeholders at a read-through, I refused to believe that the film was going to actually employ the KINGDOM COME-inspired shield, not just because it’s actually REALLY “not an S” (more resembling “banned” signage), but because (at least in the source) the design has meaning, being that of a Superman who no longer feels connected to humanity… If Henry Cavill had worn it, sure, but everything James Gunn had said about the version of the character he was writing felt anathema to that. So, I guess it had more to do with giving the marketing department something unique to license. Wait, is there merchandise for the movie? I hadn’t noticed.
But If the glyph is (as retconned by the 1978 film and made canon) a symbol of the House of El, then wouldn’t Kal’s discovery of his family’s shitty intentions make the family crest a mark of shame? Perhaps a shift to a more traditional, classic \S/ might be in the cards? Hm? And less piping? Maybe? Please?
So, let’s talk about that controversial twist: I was one of the Superman nerds who was so wedded to the notion that Jor-El and Lara had to be selfless and noble that I didn’t listen to the MULTIPLE times the film tells us that the message they sent along with their son’s ship was indeed real; That they actually DID want him to grow up to take advantage of his powers by ruling the planet and spreading his Super-seed amongst a harem of wives in order to bring upon a New Krypton! Yikes!
Gunn is insistent that this message is not faked, so we have to deal with this enormous change to the mythos. But how will it play out in terms of Superman’s important relationship with his heritage.. I mean, Pa Kent didn’t help build that Fortress (and what does it do to Supergirl’s origin? Will we find out if her father shared his brother’s eugenicist attitudes?). I get that anyone who tackles this nigh-90 year old property wants to bring something new to it, but it’s going to take me a while to get used to Jerk-El and Lara (although it did perfectly set us up for the “nurture-over-nature” message and that beautiful, emotional final shot of the film).
In pretty much every interview with James Gunn that I’ve seen, he diplomatically insists that (aside from “kindness is the new punk rock”) there’s no intentional political metaphor in SUPERMAN, which is about as believable as Alan Moore denying that Batman murders the Joker at the end of THE KILLING JOKE.* I mean, I guess it’s possible that Superman being an “illegal alien”/refugee, Lex Luthor illegally imprisoning people in an other-dimensional gulag without due process, the Boravia / Jarhanpur conflict, the army of monkey Internet trolls, and Superman Robot #4 deciding he wants to be called Gary all just coincidentally align with real-world issues. Then again, it’s more possible that Gunn would rather show than tell (the guy’s gotten enough shit from the Right as it is).
But let’s talk about that.
Which is why I believe this movie is not just fun, it’s genuinely IMPORTANT right now. It gives an audience of people who are exhausted by the vitriol, duplicity, and selfishness that defines America in 2025 something ridiculously cathartic. It gives us someone with ultimate power for whom we can actually CHEER because he’s not a bad guy.
And, as a lifelong fan (to put it mildly) of the character, I’m also ecstatic that, with this movie, it seems as if people (well, most of them) FINALLY understand Superman. They finally get what’s made him mean so much to me as someone who can’t relate to much of humanity and often feels that we’re careening towards a well-earned extinction and NEEDS the escape of adventures starring a character who’s the opposite of the people who vex me on a daily basis. They finally see that Superman’s power doesn’t make him boring, it’s what makes him so fascinating precisely because it’s actually NOT what defines him. It’s his humanity.
So, nerdpicking issues aside, GodDAMN, am I in love with this new film and so, so excited for what comes next. SUPERMAN is bright and bold and silly and exciting and maybe most of all, it’s heartfelt and sincere. In fact, I recommend SUPERMAN to not just fans of the genre who are understandably suffering superhero fatigue, but to anyone who needs a balm for the insufferable reality in which we currently live.
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* Read it again. The entire book is utterly pointless without this ending and it was originally intended to be an Elseworlds book for a reason.
** The pathetic, small but loud army of screaming Snyder trolls pretending that this film is a flop and nobody loves it are a whole different issue that’s not even worth discussing.
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