James Gunn’s new take on SUPERMAN is the best since the great 1980 film SUPERMAN II (which is the best of the Christopher Reeve era). It’s also the best superhero film since AVENGERS: ENDGAME. Now that we’ve got those important details out of the way, let’s dive in.
I’m a Batman girl, always have been, always will be. When I was a toddler, I had a hand-me-down Batman plastic bike with training wheels that was made to look like a Batman motorcycle. I watched reruns of the ’60s BATMAN TV show at my grandmother’s house as often as I could. 1989’s BATMAN furthered my love for the iconic character. I was 15 at the time, and my then-boyfriend and I met up at our town’s movie theatre to see it wearing matching Batman t-shirts completely unplanned. Around the same time, I started reading Batman comic books, and now, 36 years later, I have 2 cats named Batman and Catwoman. He will forever be my favorite superhero, even when movies about him come out that I don’t much enjoy, like THE BATMAN or most of Snyder’s takes on him.
When I was a toddler, like millions of other kids in the late 1970s, I also had a Big Wheel. Mine happened to be Superman-themed (NOTE: Both this and my plastic Batman motorbike were handmedowns). The first Christopher Reeve SUPERMAN movie came out when I was 4 years old, and I’m pretty sure I didn’t see it in theatres then. But at some point, I did see both that and its superior sequel, and it cemented in me at the time a strong enjoyment of this character, but still not one that ever measured up to Batman. As I grew older, I started to resent Superman because he was too nice. He was “boring” and “vanilla”, two words I’ve used in my lifetime about him. I wanted someone a bit edgier – a bad boy, if you will. Someone who could kick ass and take names and look extra cool while doing it.
Then, in the early 2000s, a friend from college was hired to co-write a Superman reboot, SUPERMAN RETURNS. Unfortunately, we’ve come to learn a lot of terrible things about the director of that movie, but it’s no less exciting that someone I knew had a big part in bringing it to the screen, and to this day, it’s a film I enjoy. This was right in the middle of the period when I was a devoted watcher of SMALLVILLE as well. Live-action Superman content was filling a void for me in the years leading up to Christopher Nolan’s 2005 BATMAN BEGINS. Then came the Zack Snyder years, starting with 2013’s MAN OF STEEL. I’m not going to debate the Snyder vs. Gunn stuff; you can find 100 other writers doing that elsewhere. I’ll just say that I didn’t enjoy Snyder’s takes on either Superman or Batman, even though I do believe that both Henry Cavill and Ben Affleck were well cast, respectively.
It’s 2025 and James Gunn has moved from the MCU to the DCU (DCEU?) and a brand new SUPERMAN is currently playing at your local movie theatre. I’ve wanted this movie to be good because the hype surrounding it had me as excited as I was 20 years ago. I’m generally a fan of Gunn’s as well. I enjoyed 2 of 3 GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY films (Vol 1 & 3), and thought his takes on THE SUICIDE SQUAD and PEACEMAKER were a lot of fun. But I still wasn’t convinced he was right for taking on such a significant character that means too much to people. I was very wrong.
First, David Corenswet IS Superman. I’ve liked a lot of the Superman movies in the past, but David is the best since Reeve. I forgot I was watching an actor and felt like I was watching a real-life superhero on screen. His chemistry with Rachel Brosnahan as Lois was incredible. I will always have a soft spot in my heart for Margot Kidder’s Lois, but this new one is just so much better written. She has agency, she’s a career woman first, and maybe she just needs a minute to think about her relationship with Clark Kent. Nicholas Hoult’s take on Lex Luthor is right up there with Gene Hackman’s, and honestly, I like Hoult’s more. Hoult originally auditioned to be Superman, but thankfully ended up in the right role. Luther’s update to what a maniacal billionaire would be like in the present day is absolutely perfect.
The supporting cast is wonderful too. Nathan Fillion is the best Green Lantern we’ve seen in live-action so far. Edi Gathegi as Mr. Terrific is one of the film’s VIPs, and it was so lovely to see Isabela Merced from THE LAST OF US as Hawkgirl. She was kicking ass and taking names and looking oh so cool while doing it. You might be thinking, “Well, that’s a lot of heroes to have in the first movie of a new franchise”, because that’s what I thought when it was announced. But these three were the ideal balance to the star Superman. Oh, Superman, you have indeed won back my heart.
This movie finally made me believe that being kind and optimistic isn’t boring or vanilla. It’s the fucking coolest. Especially in the world we live in now, where everything is awful, our country has a bully as a President, and being mean is celebrated. We need more honest-to-goodness kindness, and truly, maybe there isn’t anything more punk-rock than that. The message at the heart of the film is: Do good, not because you need to, but because you want to, and the world will show you where and when it’s needed. Don’t take advantage, take care. Being an optimist doesn’t mean you’re walking around with rose-colored glasses. You can still see all the bad and choose to be the light. And that’s what Superman truly represents. He’s the pure good in all of us, and it’s time to let that shine.
I wrote all of this and didn’t even mention Krypto! He’s really THE BEST boy.
SUPERMAN is now playing exclusively in theatres. See it on the biggest screen you can find.
