‘Superman’ review: James Gunn puts his own stamp on the iconic Man of Steel

Dir/scr: James Gunn. US. 2025. 129mins

James Gunn’s comic-book films are crammed with irreverent humour and quirky tonal shifts, however at their core is a profitable sincerity — and a perception within the energy of people to make the world a greater place. So it is smart the Guardians Of The Galaxy author/director would flip his consideration to the Man of Metal, essentially the most earnest and goodhearted of all superheroes. Though overstuffed and uneven, at its greatest Gunn’s Superman combines essentially the most admirable attributes of each character and director, leading to an formidable, often stirring movie that’s weirder, nervier and extra considerate than most blockbusters.

Corenswet offers audiences with essentially the most likeable model of Superman since Christopher Reeve

Opening July 11 throughout the globe, this Warner Bros launch isn’t merely one other daring try to reboot the property, which was relaunched in 2013’s Man Of Metal ($670m), with Henry Cavill donning the cape and, earlier than that, in 2006’s Superman Returns ($391m), starring Brandon Routh. Superman additionally serves as the primary chapter in a brand new iteration of the studio’s DC Universe that’s being overseen by Gunn and his producing accomplice Peter Safran. Clearly, a lot is at stake commercially, and the reboot doesn’t boast big names within the solid, with the comparatively unknown David Corenswet (Twisters, TV’s Girl In The Lake) now portraying the mighty Kryptonian.

On this model of the story, Superman (Corenswet) has been combating crime in Metropolis for 3 years, changing into an adored native determine. However no-one realises he’s additionally Clark Kent, a reporter at The Each day Planet secretly courting his coworker Lois Lane (Rachel Brosnahan), who alone is aware of his true id. This burgeoning romance is interrupted, nevertheless, by Superman’s ongoing battle with the tech billionaire Lex Luthor (a suitably egomaniacal Nicholas Hoult), who will cease at nothing to persuade the US authorities that this alien is a menace needing to be eradicated.

Gunn had nice success with the three Guardians photos, which grossed roughly $2.5bn worldwide and celebrated a loveable ragtag group of misfits who change into a de facto household. With that trilogy — and 2021’s underrated, bloody and vulgar The Suicide Squad — Gunn managed to deliver an auteurist sensibility to superhero movies, combining heartfelt sentiment with very good spectacle and a powerful sense of the weird.

These qualities additionally seem in Superman, though Gunn lacks the positive hand he dropped at these earlier photos. A part of the issue is that this risk-taking reboot has an excessively sophisticated plot that includes a lethal standoff between two fictional nations, the warmongering Boravia and the peaceable, outgunned Jarhanpur, and Luthor’s scheme to discredit Superman and switch the world towards him. As well as, Gunn introduces a number of supporting superheroes — together with the smug Inexperienced Lantern (Nathan Fillion) and the wryly hilarious Mister Terrific (Edi Gathegi) — who, initially, pull focus from Superman’s story however change into essential to the central narrative within the closing reels.

Corenswet sports activities a modest sweetness as Superman, who Gunn envisions as a self-effacing superhero missing the gee-whiz boyishness that Christopher Reeve exuded endearingly almost 50 years in the past. Not as charismatic as Cavill within the position, Corenswet performs the Man of Metal as a dutiful crime fighter who desires to make sure no bystanders get damage throughout his epic tussles. If the newcomer isn’t completely arresting, viewers will be capable to perceive why this Superman is considerably taken without any consideration by Metropolis — that’s, till he goes via a collection of ordeals that can problem his picture of himself, finally rising as a extra assured and assertive hero. To that finish, Superman introduces a serious twist to the character’s background, which shouldn’t be revealed. However whereas the shock is, at first, dealt with awkwardly, it finally proves fairly shifting. Gunn specialises in outcasts and screw-ups and, refreshingly, finds a option to view Superman via an analogous lens.

The movie’s jokey humour is decidedly hit and miss — and the emphasis on Superman’s rambunctious, cute canine Krypto has solely blended outcomes. However the place different superhero photos really feel as if they’ve been constructed by committee, Superman bears Gunn’s fingerprints. They are often seen within the unusual, lovely beasts that pop up randomly — to not point out within the visuals’ beautiful bursts of color and the story’s trippy various realms. However, most significantly, they’re felt in Gunn’s funding in Superman’s goodness, which turns into a rallying cry for the extra cynical round him — comparable to Brosnahan’s charming however underutilised Lois Lane.

Reeve stays the quintessential Superman, however Corenswet offers audiences with essentially the most likeable model since. Regardless of the movie’s flaws, he and Gunn assist make the Man of Metal slightly extra human, with out denying the unwavering decency and heroism which have stored him hovering within the collective consciousness.