Even though I’ve seen every single iteration of Superman on film, I wouldn’t call myself a fan. Growing up, I always gravitated more toward Batman (from the campy early stuff to the broody Frank Miller/Alan Moore era) and Spider-Man. I’ve always found tragedy more compelling than invincibility. Superman, with his perfect boy scout routine — the guy who never falters, never really loses — just never clicked with me. Even when stories tried to twist that image, like Red Son or Injustice, I still couldn’t get into it. A god with no real stakes is just not my thing.
But one of the things I really liked about James Gunn’s Superman is that it leans into that god-like presence in the right way. It treats him like a walking cosmic event — someone who can casually swat away disasters that would be a movie-ending crisis for anyone else. There are moments here that, in a different superhero film, would be massive climactic set pieces and here they’re just a 20-minute gag or background content. Hell, there’s even a bit where Superman’s literally chilling while absolute chaos unfolds behind him.
So apparently that’s the trick… use Superman’s ridiculous power level as a way to allow insane, comic book nonsense to happen. It makes the movie feel like flipping through an actual comic run — big, messy, and episodic. Sure, you could argue it adds clutter, with Metropolis constantly needing to be saved from some new apocalypse, but I think that’s the point. It wears him down. So when the real threat shows up, even Superman starts to buckle, and that makes the climax feel earned.
Now, probably my favorite thing in this movie? The look of it. From the ultra-wide shots to the color grading, it actually feels like a creative vision — not just a green-screen safety net for a CGI team. I was especially impressed by the use of the RED V-Raptor IMAX camera paired with the Leica Tri-Elmar lens. You get this clean, crisp 8K resolution that just feels different. It made me realize how many action scenes in other movies rely on fast cuts and shaky cam to fake intensity. Here, Gunn just lets Superman exist in long takes and full-frame glory. It was jaw-dropping at times, especially one particular fight scene with a lot of fast flying. So much so that I actually went and looked up the gear they used, which is… not something I usually do.
And yeah, some people dunked on the trailers — I get it, some of those early shots (especially the close-up flight stuff) weren’t doing anyone favors — but in the actual film? It works. I’ll take stylized comic book visuals over another drab, “gritty” colorless slog any day.
The cast is fantastic across the board. I’ll admit, it took me a while to warm up to David Corenswet as Superman — I’m a big Cavill guy, even if his movies were just okay — but on screen, he really nails it. He’s got that playful, charming energy that reminds me of Reeve, maybe even goofier at times, and his Clark/Superman switch-up has just enough subtlety to work. There’s a great moment with Lois that shows it off perfectly.
Speaking of Lois — I absolutely loved Rachel Brosnahan’s take. Her Lois is sharp, cynical, and a great foil to Clark’s golden retriever optimism. Their chemistry works, and she gets some strong character beats without being shoehorned into the typical “damsel” slot. She’s not a plot device, not some emotional crutch Superman needs to save — she’s just part of the world, doing her job, which happens to matter. That said, there’s so much going on that she does kind of fade into the background at times. Her role basically boils down at some point to: she’s a good journalist. But hey, that is what Lois does best.
And man… Nicholas Hoult as Lex Luthor? He devours this role. It’s such a great balance of cold genius and fragile ego. You can tell he’s terrifyingly smart, and strategice but also deeply pathetic in this very human and embarrassing way. Hoult plays him like someone who desperately wants something and will stop at nothing to get it, making his decisions delightfully petty and stupid. He’s easily my favorite live-action Lex (and no, I’ve never watched Smallville).
If I have a big gripe, it’s the writing sometimes slips into that annoying MCU “nothing can be serious for more than 10 seconds” mode. Gunn has always leaned into the absurd, and it usually works, but a couple of moments here land with that same smug, insincerity that’s infected modern superhero writing. It’s like the movie’s afraid the audience might actually feel something, so it cracks a joke just to stay safe. It’s not enough to derail anything, but there were definitely a couple lines that made me roll my eyes.
Still, Superman was a great time at the theater and a solid first step for Gunn’s DCU. There are some deep-cut characters introduced here that I never thought I’d see in live-action, and it’s cool knowing those weirdos are about to become household names. Gunn’s got this deep respect for the bizarre, campy, over-the-top world of comics — and that shows.
I liked the Guardians of the Galaxy movies fine, but it always felt like Gunn was being helding back a bit in the MCU. With The Suicide Squad and Peacemaker, and now Superman, you can tell DC is just letting him go wild and if this is the direction we’re headed in, we might be looking at the start of something really special.
And that’s incredibly exciting.
