'Superman' (2025) Review: The Man of Steel Grapples With a New Age of Superhero

Director James Gunn tries to deal with the questions of being a superhero in the age of harsh geopolitical times...and fanboys are gonna be big mad

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The Superman franchise, more than any other, has seen some epic highs and lows over its cinematic legacy. Every person comes to the character with their own preconceived notions and idealization of the character, or personal history that influences things. This means there’s a heavy bar to clear for any creative attempting to take on the character. They have two paths they can follow: create something so in tune with the diehard fanbase that’s unafraid to offend them. Or smash everything and create something new from the ashes. James Gunn’s Superman does the latter, and it soars because of it.

Set three years after Superman aka Clark Kent (David Corenswet) revealed himself to the world, the Man of Steel becomes enmeshed in the issues between two warring countries: Boravia and Jarhanpur. The war is merely a distraction created by Lex Luthor (Nicholas Hoult). When Lex invades Superman’s Fortress of Solitude and reveals a secret about Superman’s origins it causes the city of Metropolis to turn against the superhero. And yet it is up to Clark, alongside his girlfriend and colleague Lois Lane (Rachel Brosnahan) to save humanity.

There will be a subset of people angry at a bit of retconning of Superman’s origin story, most famously laid out in Richard Donner’s 1978 feature but Gunn utilizes that to examine the nature of humanity, what makes a person who they are: their DNA or their upbringing. It’s not the film’s main narrative focus but it sets the precedent that this is a different Superman story and, honestly, it works. Gone is the grim dark world of Zach Snyder’s universe and in its place is a movie that threads the needle between a comic book and a standalone cinematic feature.

It’s weirdly refreshing not to see a Superman movie in love with reminding people about the obvious things. The movie immediately establishes this is a landscape where people are already aware of Superman and, by proxy, the audience should as well. Gunn’s take on Superman is how much it focuses on how the character would live in a world that, dare we say, is realistic to our own? In an interview with Lois, wherein Clark as Superman believe she’ll understand his logic, she pushes him to emphasize that, in many ways, he is a lone person who thinks he knows what’s best for people and eschews working with the government.

And, boy, does much of what the character struggles with mimic what we see today. Luthor decries him as an “alien” or a possible spy whose goal is to infiltrate and take over. Hoult’s Luthor is a wild-eyed loner with a gamer mentality, content to have his robotically enhanced soldiers fight Superman as he screams out game moves like he’s playing Call of Duty. Heavily influenced by the likes of Elon Musk and, more specifically, Peter Thiel, Hoult’s Luthor finds Superman reprehensible as he appears to emphasize a dependence on physical strength rather than intelligence. Hoult’s performance is the right blend of over-the-top incel mixed with the hyper-intelligent deification we’re seeing today.

That’s not to say Superman is a fantastic exploration of geopolitics. For every moment where Superman shows his ability to help, Gunn gives us overwrought scenes of the brown residents of Jarhanpur begging for Supes to save them. One little boy holds up the Superman symbol and closes his eyes as military surrounds him. Again, much of this is thinly veiled social critique, right down to the Eastern European authoritarian president of Boravia, but the movie knows when to eventually move away from things.

Corenswet and Brosnahan make a good pairing. Corenswet, in particular, doesn’t attempt to mimic Christopher Reeve or Henry Cavill’s performances but takes pieces from both. He has the same awkward manner as Reeve when he’s Kent, as well as Reeve’s ability to turn Superman on and off when needed. He also has Cavill’s determination. But, really, Corenswet makes Superman his own. As the character he’s a man trying to find his place and a sense of identity, a man frustrated that even when he does the right thing it’s perceived as wrong. A man that definitely knows the hashtags about him online. (A joke about a monkey bot army works so well.) Brosnahan gets some good opportunities to shine as Lois, particularly in the interview scene with Clark. There is an emphasis on her doing the journalism that, coupled with Skylar Gisondo’s fun Jimmy Olsen, makes the scenes worth watching.

That being said, there are a lot of characters in Superman, and the sheer abundance of them means several get thrust aside. Superman gets a variety of metahuman friends this go-round, though the one that steals the show is Edi Gathegi’s Mr. Terrific. His quiet tones and awareness that he’s the smartest man in the room makes you want him and Superman to team up more. However, Nathan Fillion’s Guy Gardner and Isabela Merced’s Hawkgirl don’t have much outside of a few one-liners. Ma and Pa Kent (Neva Howell and Pruitt Taylor Vince) are delightful, but have about two scenes in the grand scheme of things.

Gotta shout out the adorable Krypto, the Super dog. No notes. He is a very good boy.

Are there moments that are hokey? Of course, but then again this is a franchise wherein Superman turned the world backwards to save his lady love, baby Superman was a thing, and that’s to say nothing about Superman IV: The Quest for Peace. There’s a slickness and fun to this Superman not unlike the first Guardians of the Galaxy (no surprise considering the Gunn factor). It’s a movie that’s content to be colorful, to be funny, to be heartfelt when needed.

It’s far from a perfect movie and isn’t even necessarily a great one, but it’s the funnest time I’ve had watching a Superman movie in a while.

Grade: C+

Superman is in theater Friday.

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