by Has the world outgrown Superman, nearly fifty years after Christopher Reeve’s portrayal of Clark Kent in Action Comics #1, which originally appeared on newsstands more than 87 years ago?
That’s the question that drives flame wars in dark corners of the internet and keeps Warner Bros. execs up at night. James Gunn, the filmmaker and DCU architect, uses it as the main question that drives Superman, the official relaunch of the DC Universe.
Over the course of two enjoyable hours, the answer is unequivocally no. Metropolis’s neurotic, cell-phone-dependent populace has not only not outgrown Superman, but they now require him more than ever.
Before launching the caped hero (David Corenswet) into action, Superman opens in media res, outlining the hero’s well-known origin story with a few lines of onscreen text. A masked attacker has briefly overtaken him, and the first pictures we see of him show him recuperating while listening to a recording from his Krytponian parents and enjoying the life-giving sun.
In addition to being more brittle than previous iterations, Corenswet’s Superman is also more approachable. It should come as no surprise that Gunn’s script for Guardians of the Galaxy has some amusing one-liners for Clark Kent, but it goes beyond that. This Superman cooks breakfast and dinner for his lover, Rachel Brosnahan’s character Lois Lane, his favorite band, and a dog—albeit a superpowered one. Reading derogatory remarks about himself on social media irritates him, and he weeps when a civilian is slain without cause. He’s human, to put it briefly.
Nicholas Hoult’s Lex Luthor, a billionaire who resembles Andrew Tate but has the intelligence, demeanor, and drive of a Silicon Valley technocrat, contrasts sharply with Superman’s compassion. Lex is using every possible tactic, whether it’s voicing his feigned indignation on cable TV or whispering in cabinet members’ ears behind closed doors. Following Superman’s successful intervention to prevent an American ally from invading its impoverished, unarmed, and oppressed neighbors, Lex puts forth extra effort to secure the ultimate power to eliminate the spandex-wearing danger to American hegemony.
The fact that Gunn was permitted to release a film with this level of empathy and societal significance after ten years of irate fanboys calling any superhero endeavor more humane than Zack Snyder’s Nietzschean vision of Superman as awake is simply astounding. Scenes in which hundreds of political prisoners—including immigrants, anti-Luthor bloggers, and metahumans who have been separated from their children—are imprisoned in cages and extradited to another dimension demonstrate how cruel and predictable history is, even though the film’s production was completed in early 2024.
The sheer amount of extra superheroes that are dragged into the conflict to aid Gunn in developing his cinematic universe is Superman’s worst flaw. Among the metahuman crime-fighters in the movie are Hawkgirl (Isabela Merced), Mr. Terrific (Edi Gathegi), Green Lantern (Nathan Fillion), and Metamorpho (Anthony Carrigan), all of whom successfully acquit themselves. Then there is Krypto the Superdog, Clark’s flying, biting, tongue-lolling canine companion, who received the most amusement at my preview showing but is ultimately a cliche. They make Superman feel overstuffed, along with a few others I won’t name to avoid giving anything away. If the film’s ultimate objective had been anything other than bringing the DCU production line of spinoffs and sequels up to speed, one or two of these heroes undoubtedly would have been left on the editing room floor.
Superman, however, is a positive beginning for the DCU that doesn’t play it safe in spite of the decades and billions of dollars of entertainment that lie ahead. It is obvious that the company made a wise decision in giving Gunn one of its most significant heroes. As he demonstrated with Guardians of the Galaxy, Gunn demonstrates with Superman that the human element, not computer-generated imagery or intellectual property, is what distinguishes the best superhero movies from the worst.
*** (out of 4) is the rating.
On July 11, Superman will be released in theaters.
Kevin Slane writes about culture and entertainment as a staff writer for Boston.com. Movie reviews, streaming guidelines, celebrities, and Boston activities are the main topics of his work.
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