Rating of
3/4
Gunn Makes DC Super Again
Chris Kavan - wrote on 07/27/25
I have been a big fan of James Gunn ever since Slither and the underrated subversive Super. He turned The Guardians of the Galaxy to household names and I much preferred his version of The Suicide Squad. He has a great way of incorporating humor and music along with emotion. After the very uneven DCEU with Zack Snyder trying his best to make things work (spoiler: it mostly did not), Gunn is now in charge of rebooting the other superhero universe and he gets off on the right foot with this new iteration of Superman.
I do realize that, yes, Peacemaker and the animated Creature Commandos did come first - and he is keeping some other previous DCEU things canon - but for the big screen, this is a huge first step. At first I wasn't sold on David Corenswet as the new man of steel, but I have to say, he fits the mold perfectly. Moreso, Rachel Brosnahan as Lois Lane keeps things grounded (she essentially seems to be playing herself) and she has some great chemistry that just feels like a typical couple. Nicholas Hoult makes an excellent foil as Superman's enemy #1, Lex Luthor and Gunn mainstay Nathan Fillion - along with Edi Gathegi and Isabela Merced have a lot of fun as the Justice Gang of Guy Gardner (Green Lantern), Mr. Terrific and Hawkgirl. Finally, I'd be amiss if I didn't mention Skyler Gisondo as the inexplicably successful chick magnet Jimmy Olsen and Sara Sampaio as the influencer extreme version of Eve Teschmacher. The casting is fantastic - with even smaller parts from Wendell Pierce, Zlatko Buric, Frank Grillo, Pruitt Taylor Vince and Neva Howell all adding to the great flavor.
I also like the fact that Superman skips the origin story. Look, by now most people are familiar with how got here - Krypton destroyed, baby sent to Earth, raised by farmers, Clark Kent, Daily Planet - and it has been reiterated time and time again. We just jump right into things with Superman having stopped a war - but, in doing so, has gotten himself into hot water by overstepping his role. He just wants to be the good guy - but with a world in differing shades of gray, that's not always easy. As it opens, in fact, he has to be saved by the overly rambunctious Krypto the Superdog after getting his butt kicked by The Hammer of Boravia - a super soldier sent by the country he stopped from invading its neighbor - preventing all-out war and certainly many deaths. But Boravian leader Vasil Ghurkos (Buric) accuses him of meddling where he isn't wanted - and he's getting hammered both by politicians and online.
Unsurprisingly, however, Superman's predicament is not a fluke as Lex Luthor (Hoult) has it out for the resident alien he perceives as a great threat to humanity. Luthor has his own army, which includes The Engineer (María Gabriela de Faría) and Ultraman (who is, in fact, The Hammer of Boravia). After Superman retreats to his Antarctic fortress to recuperate, The Engineer is close behind and Luthor finds his ace in the hole when he uncovers a message sent by Superman's parents (cameos from Bradley Cooper and Angela Sarafyan). Superman has only ever heard part of the message and thinks his parents have always wanted him to protect humanity but the full message is clear they wanted him to dominate the "weak" Earth. Using this, Luthor completely turns the world against the hero - even as the war begins to heat up again. But he uncovers a much more sinister plot - a pocket dimension Luthor has built and when a breach occurs it could spell the end of Metropolis - and much, much more.
Gunn is a master at making you both care about characters - but also having a lot of fun in the process. It's what made Guardians of the Galaxy so effective and what makes this new Superman much better than the rather dour Snyderverse version. From Krypto acting like a crazy dog to Guy Gardener's efforts to make "Justice Gang" work to the dry wit of Mr. Terrific - the film knows when to throw in a gag. But it also knows when to pull on the heartstrings - a heart-to-heart with Pa Kent, the struggle of Metamorpho (another great casting choice in Anthony Carrigan, even if he's under heavy makeup/CGI) or his relationship with Lois - it gives a human touch to the whole thing that feels right.
I also appreciate that Gunn still uses John William's original theme throughout - though David Fleming and John Murphy add to the mix. And while he doesn't quite have the soundtrack of a Guardians film, he still throws in some nice music cues. While it's hard to say how this fits in yet with the bigger picture, he does give us a quick Peacemaker cameo from John Cena and an ending teaser from future Supergirl Milly Alcock. Considering he's not going the usual route - I mean we're getting a horror film (true horror) in Clayface and the aformentioned Supergirl (with Jason Momoa trading in his trident to play bounty hunter supreme and fan-favorite Lobo) while leading up to his own version of Wonder Woman, Batman and I'm sure the eventual Justice League itself.
As with any popular film, some people claimed that Superman was divisive because of its apparent pro-immigration messaging and that the war in the film seemed like it was a reference to current events (either the war between Russia and Ukraine or the more recent conflict between Israel and Palestine). For once those voices were shouted down and it did not seem to affect the popularity of the film one bit. For what it's worth, I wasn't bothered in the least.
While the film does jump around a lot - overall, Gunn's first big-screen entry into a new DC universe is on solid ground. If this is a vision of things to come, perhaps DC could finally give the MCU a run for its money and if they take notice, well, it can only mean good things for both studios going forward.
