James Gunn’s Superman is a confident, often charming reboot that understands what makes the character resonate, but also occasionally leans so hard on familiarity and messaging that it forgets to dig deeper.
The film drops us into a fully-formed DC Universe, skipping over the usual origin story and opening instead on a bruised and bleeding Man of Steel mid-battle. It’s a smart move—Superman has been reimagined so many times that watching Krypton blow up again would’ve felt like homework. David Corenswet, thankfully, doesn’t try to reinvent the cape. He is Superman. Calm, upright, sincere, and—importantly—believable as both the iconic hero and the less-visible but still present Clark Kent. That’s no small feat.
The film wisely begins with Clark and Lois already in a relationship, giving Rachel Brosnahan room to play a more self-assured Lois Lane. She’s whip-smart and sharp-tongued without veering into caricature. Their dynamic clicks immediately. But the true standout here is Nicholas Hoult as Lex Luthor. He’s less cartoonish than previous versions and far more sinister. Hoult’s Luthor is cool-headed, brilliant, and terrifying in a way that feels more relevant than ever—a billionaire industrialist with media influence, military ties, and a God complex. Sound familiar?
There’s been chatter online about the film being too “woke.” I only noticed a couple of scenes that leaned into modern identity or immigration discourse. And even those were handled with a relatively light touch. The larger theme is empathy—Superman, an alien himself, chooses to care. Some might roll their eyes, but for a character created by two Jewish teenagers during the rise of fascism, it feels faithful to the source.
That said, the social commentary never digs in as far as it wants to. We get nods to nationalism, media manipulation, and militarized capitalism via LexCorp’s arms deals, but they float on the surface. Gunn seems to flirt with ideas of agency, otherness, and propaganda, only to pull back just when things get interesting. It plays more like an observation than an exploration.
Still, there’s plenty of fun to go around. Supporting characters like Mr. Terrific (Edi Gathegi), Hawkgirl (Isabela Merced), and Nathan Fillion’s hilariously obnoxious Guy Gardner all add flair without hijacking the story. Even Jimmy Olsen (Skyler Gisondo) gets a few memorable moments. And let’s not forget Krypto the Superdog, who steals more than one scene without turning into a punchline.
Gunn brings his usual flair for action and music to a few standout sequences, and while the stakes feel more personal than apocalyptic, that works in the film’s favor. This is less a grim battle for the fate of the universe, and more a reintroduction to hope—however complicated that may be in 2025.
So, is Superman perfect? No. Is it a much-needed course correction for the DC Universe? Absolutely. It respects the character’s legacy, offers a strong cast (with Corenswet and Hoult leading the way), and despite its safe play on deeper themes, still delivers the kind of uplifting, big-hearted spectacle that summer movies are made for.
It may not break new ground, but Superman flies high enough to remind us why we keep looking up.