Superman can be regarded as one of the most remade, reboot, reimaged characters in the DC or basically the comic universe. Countless actors have been cast for the role, and every time we said you can’t find a better superman, and then the next one came along, and the cycle continues.
So, I wasn’t much fussed about another Superman reboot. The only interesting part for me was that this is directed by James Gunn, who brought us the almost flawless Guardians of the Galaxy trilogy to the now seemingly box office struggling Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) (I emphasized on the box office struggling because quality wise, both entries in 2025 – Thunderbolts* and Fantastic Four: First Steps were both New* and Fantastic from the storytelling and production perspectives).
One thing I think James had taken a page out of the MCU book is that he did not try to do another origin story, as I think at this point everyone is sick of watching another Superman origin story. So, the movie started after he became the Superman living in a world where metahumans (beings with superpower in the DC comics) are just normal day to day occurrences, be them good or bad. When you have Superman, you naturally have Lex Luthor and Lois Lane. Lois is already Clark Kent’s girlfriend, but they are still figuring things out like all new couples. Lex Luthor, on the other hand had already developed immense hate towards Superman, and for most of the movie you wonder why so single dimensional.
As a movie, Superman is not bad at all. You can see the consistent James Gunn style of film making, which is a comfort in most ways. All the new cast for the old roles were spot on. David Corenswet does look like the classic Superman, and still youthful and hopeful about life (after he was still new to this superhero life in the movie), Lois played by Rachel Brosnahan was smart and it was a relief that she is not another damsel in distress, but played an active part in doing what she could do as a person living around superhero without being seen as a lesser counterpart. Nicholas Hoult as Lex Luthor was menacing, but I just couldn’t figure out whether this is the version of Lex I wanted to see. He was great and he played the part well, but that single dimensional hate, even justified later in the movie, just didn’t click with me. Lex is without a doubt a villain but at the same time he had the charisma for you to understand him as a villain from his point of view. I personally would like to see more of a version like Ian McKellen’s Magneto or Josh Brolin’s Thanos. You understand them and you gradually stopped judging them. But then that’s my personal preference, not an assessment of Nicholas’ performance.
Superman is supposed to kick of the DCU franchise as a fresh start (the Monster Commandos was technically the first, but it was not the first live action movie), so it is just normal that they dropped in other cameos and roles so there is space to expand. Apart from Green Lantern, Hawkgirl and Mr Terrific, we saw John Cena’s Peacemaker making a short cameo paving way for his upcoming HBO show and other characters whom you know are going to show up in the future. Nonetheless, while James Gunn tries to start something new, he did not forget to pay homage to the past, which is something I really liked. That feels more like something complete to me.
I don’t know how successful this reboot of DCU will work. But for me, as a start, at least it does not look as depressing as the Zack Snyder’s version. I personally did not want to see more of his Justice League after knowing the story. The Star Wars formular was a great one when it came into being, but we, as audience, have moved on. As both an actor and a writer, I personally wanted to see something new and creative while building on a solid foundation and lore. When it comes to DC, I preferred this more colourful (both in terms of world and characters) version than the really dark and depressing version that Zack Snyder had. That is even though I love his ‘first episode’ of his originally planned Justice League trilogy. I just don’t need to see more that.
Would I look forward to seeing more of DCU because of Superman? At this point, maybe not, as it really depends on what could pitch my interest. After the whole MCU multiverse saga, I am running out of energy to catch up with homework before going to see each movie or series. I want to be able to just watch something to enjoy it. I am fine for them to be interconnected, but not to the point of if I missed A, I would not understand B, C and D. Superman is a good start for James Gunn’s vision and ambition, but for me, I haven’t been convinced to dive deeper into another cinematic universe yet.
That’s just me.
