Before I begin this review, there are a few things I must get out of the way:
I am a long-time Superman fan. That character’s 80s and 90s adventures particularly formed the backbone of my childhood and adolescent reading.
I thought Zack Snyder’s trilogy of Superman-forward films got a bad rap, and I found them, respectively, refreshing if too drab (Man of Steel), ambitious but hobbled by studio need (Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice), and, by and large, a triumph of creative intent (Zack Snyder’s Justice League).
I understand why it didn’t work in the face of Marvel Studios’ unbelievable success, and picking off the most individualized voice of that roster in James Gunn, and making him the braintrust of the newly rebooted DC Universe, makes total sense.
So now we have a new Superman movie, written and directed by Gunn, with a new leading man in David Corenswet, and a very pumped-up cast that includes an entire Daily Planet staff, a bunch of new superheroes, a boatload of henchmen, and just the weight of the world on this production’s shoulders. There’s already a full season of a Green Lanterns television series shot, as well as a spin-off Supergirl movie in the can, and that’s before we know if this thing is going to land with the moviegoing public or not.
Well, I can’t speak to that, but here’s what I can say: I think Superman, this James Gunn version, is the best Superman movie we’ve ever gotten and a perfect distillation of the character’s world and his adventures as they appear on the page.
Big words I know, let me try to elucidate a bit on why:
This is a Superman (Corenswet) who is three years into his career, so we’re not dragged through Kal-El’s origin story yet again. Instead, the approach is similar to Matt Reeves’ take on Batman as far as time-placement. Early career, just far enough along to have a deep antagonism with Lex Luthor (Nicholas Hoult) in place. Lois and Clark are already an item, and there’s already another superhero team grabbing headlines and working alongside Superman: a proto Justice League called The Justice Gang made up of Green Lantern (Gunn regular Nathan Fillion), Hawkgirl (Isabella Merced), and Mr. Terrific (Edi Gathegi, playing a character that will hopefully not be confused with Mister Fantastic in a few weeks). It’s an established world that Gunn has crafted and it fits like a velvet glove on the character as he’s been portrayed in the comics by such luminaries as Grant Morrison, Mark Waid, Dan Jurgens, Louise Simonson, you name it.
Superman, now far along enough in his attempt to dish out truth, justice and the american way, has begun to move into the international space. At the film’s outset, he’s begun to interfere with a conflict between the invading nation of Boravia (think a very generic Russia) and Jarhanpur (an even more rubbed off serial number take on…Palestine?) and some murmurs of criticism have begun to surface. Lex and his henchmen, a cgi goop lady called The Engineer (María Gabriela de Faría) and a masked brute known only as Ultraman, use this opening to plot a wedge between Superman and the people, and the US Government. But intrepid reporters Lois Lane (Rachel Brosnahan) and Jimmy Olsen (Skyler Gisondo) have big blue’s back and that’s when the adventure really kicks into high gear.
This is not Gunn angling to echo his Marvel success over in the DC playground (which I would argue was the case with The Suicide Squad), instead this is the director attempting what hasn’t been done before: translating the comics as they actually exist onto the screen.
To wit, the Fortress of Solitude has helper robots, Superman has his trusty pet dog Krypto who also has powers and wears a little cape, Lois Lane actually gets something to do and commands the plot for much of its running time, Jimmy Olsen is an undercover ladies’ man which also serves the plot. It’s all these little connecting pieces that speak to how much love Gunn and his team have for the source material and how it can be woven into a greater tapestry that builds to the kind of Superman movie fans have been looking for forever, really (unless, of course, they idolize one filmmaker’s take, but that’s a slim minority nowadays).
Other than how much a superdog is going to win over audiences this summer, the big takeaway is just how good Hoult is as Luthor. We’ve had some okay Luthors in the past, from Gene Hackman’s real estate obsessed schemer to Jesse Eisenberg’s reedy tech bro, they’ve all been interesting, but none of them (film or television) have ever quite felt right. Hoult perfectly embodies the Luthor that I’ve wanted to see on screen my whole life, the Luthor that’s become singularly obsessed with this alien that has arrived and stolen all of his adulation and threatens the very core of his own self-worth. For this kind of source material, equal parts soaring and corny by design, it’s a powerhouse performance that further underscores everything about Gunn’s instincts here that land perfectly. It should be noted too, as my partner reminded me, Hoult was almost Superman in this project and she found herself wondering what might have been had Gunn decided to go that route instead.
Corenswet is a good, functional Superman. He’s tall, great looking, has a commanding voice, and basically what you’d imagine if you pumped a prototype out of the Superman Factory. He looks the part more than Henry Cavill, even. But I think she’s right in that he’s likely the least interesting thing about the movie, but that’s also true of the comics sometimes (I can’t believe it, but somehow Mr. Terrific is the character find of 2025). Would Hoult have been a better, more memorable Superman? Possibly. On the other hand, this film is such a finely moving piece of parts that I’m loathe to move much around, and I certainly would not want to lose this version of Lex. And there’s some specific terrific interplay between both actors in the film’s back-third that’s particularly riveting and clever in its delivery. A little more of Corenswet in the doofus Clark disguise would have gone a long way though, but as the movie is juggling so many other narratives and characters, there just wasn’t room. But it’s just an ongoing balance problem in Superman movies: we get a lot of the character in costume, but not enough of his attempts to blend in. The romantic sequences with Brosnahan’s Lois helps there, as does a brief sojourn to Smallville with his adopted parents (Pruitt Taylor Vince and Neva Howell), but what can I say? It’s a Superman movie, I want as much of him as possible.
There’s little other nits one could pick, the third act combination of ticking time bomb, international relations and a slugfest is a bit of an overload, and the script gilds the lily just a bit much on the whole “this Superman saves people” aspect. But really, who needs the grumpy stuff? It’s the Superman you’ve always wanted, Lex, Lois, Jimmy, Krypto, and just a pure blast of good vibes. I can’t wait for more.