Superman is a 2025 superhero movie from Warner Bros and DC Studios directed by James Gunn, and starring David Corenswet, Rachel Brosnahan, Nicholas Hoult, Skyler Gisondo, and Edi Gathegi. This was the beginning to the reboot of the DCU which is going to be mainly ran under James Gunn I’m pretty sure and to me, this was the perfect way to start and the perfect character to start with. I may be a bit biased because I am a Superman fan already and have been anxiously waiting for a comic book like, classic adaptation of Superman again and that is what was given to us here, but I truly think this was an excellently done film. Not to give my review away too fast, but there won’t be a lot of hiding it anyways once I dive into the breakdown and start gushing over and word vomiting about how much I enjoyed it. I feel like this movie is already creating discourse and a clashing of heads online and it’s been released in theaters now just over 24 hours, and I cannot understand why. I have found myself to be a bit more nitpicky and cynical at times with entertainment within the last few years and I’m not sure if that’s because I’m getting older or I have this blog so I find myself watching things on a more critical level or if it’s just because there’s so much entertainment coming out constantly now that there’s just a higher volume of junk as well. But I am happy to inform that I walked out of this experience with nothing but smiles and positive things to say about it, I really liked it. Granted I saw it in one of the best ways possible as well, with a big group of friends in a packed theater in IMAX 3D on opening night. Not that I’m bragging or anything, but that was one of my neater theater experiences as well.
Getting into the breakdown, like I said if you are like me and you have wanted the more classic, bright red and blue, comic booky, whimsical take on Superman again then strap in because you are given that here. This took a similar formula to the 2006 film Superman Returns (which I also really enjoyed and never understood the hate for) where the film starts with Superman already being a grown and established figure in society as a superhero. I like that, not that I don’t enjoy Clark’s backstory, but we’ve seen it a dozen or more times, there’s an 11-season series over it for God’s sake, so let’s just get into the meat and potatoes and they do here. David Corenswet was a great casting for Superman, he looks the part and can be Superman but can also portray a believable Clark when he needs to and that’s just as, if not more important as an actor when playing this character. Superman always takes more of a beating than I’d like in all of his adaptations considering he’s practically indestructible and ridiculously powerful, but I understand it for storytelling purposes so that’s more of an unavoidable nitpick if anything. Nicholas Hoult portrays one of the most hateable and despicable Lex Luthor’s of all time in this movie. He’s a tech billionaire with a mega corporation and a lot of sway politically and he uses that strictly for his own evil and nefarious purposes and to try and destroy Superman’s image on a daily basis. Makes for a great villain though because he is really intelligent, but he’s so reckless and evil that you can’t wait to see him get his comeuppance. Rachel Brosnahan was a good Lois as well. She played her typical abrasive and rough around the edges reporter, but she had a soft spot for Clark and seeing their fresh and blossoming romance was a sweet side story as well in the midst of all the intergalactic battles. Outside of some of the usual characters within the Superman universe though, this is clearly going to branch into the Justice League universe eventually because we got some of the other DC heroes in the movie here.
Isabela Merced was a great casting for Hawkgirl, her character in ‘The Last of Us’ annoyed me quite a bit, but she’s a good actress and fits the look of a superhero so I was a fan of Hawkgirl here. Nathan Fillion played Guy Gardner’s version of the Green Lantern, and he was a fun time, but I wasn’t sure exactly how I felt about him entirely. He was there for comic relief mainly and I won’t say I didn’t laugh at him multiple times throughout the movie, but I don’t know how I feel about Green Lantern being a mainly humorous character. Mr. Terrific was probably my favorite character from the “Justice Gang” in this movie though, I am not too familiar with Edi Gathegi but he did very well in the role. It’s funny that Mr. Terrific was a character that I’d never heard of coming into this movie and he was likely one of my favorite ones in the film by the end of it. He had a couple cool action sequences, some humorous moments (but not too over the top), and played overall one of the more important roles as a hero outside of Superman in the movie. This movie was rightfully named Superman though, as a fan I’m pleased to say that this finally felt like HIS movie again regardless of the Justice Gang’s role in the film as well and we honestly saw a lot more Superman in this movie than even Clark Kent and I kind of feel like that’s how this take on the character is going to go. As I mentioned, this is a very comic book like movie and leans into the more whimsical and fun sides of Superman, while still being very action heavy and creating big stakes within the movie. I really like that kind of Superman, but if you were more of a fan of Zack Snyder’s ‘Man of Steel’ kind of more rooted in reality version of the character then that’s not really what this is. It felt more in line with ‘Superman Returns’ if anything but created a whole new and fresh vibe on its own and serves as a very hopeful kickoff to what will become a new universe of films. I recommend everyone to go check it out. If you’re a superhero fan or even more specifically a Superman fan, it’s definitely worth the time and money to see on the big screen with the surround sound. Even if you’re not the biggest superhero movie though, this is a fun summer blockbuster that will leave a lot of people entertained even outside of the most hardcore fans.
