SUPERMAN (2025) review

written by: James Gunn
produced by: Peter Safran and James Gunn
directed by: James Gunn
rating: PG-13 (for violence, action, and language)
runtime: 129 min.
U.S. release date: July 11, 2025

The future of superhero movies is riding on whether or not James Gunn can pull off his iteration of Superman. The writer/director is co-leading DC Studios with fellow producer Peter Safran, which will create animated and live-action stories based on DC Comics characters. This initiative kicked off earlier this year with the animated series “Creature Commandos” on HBO Max. “Superman” is the studio’s first feature, one that will properly kick off this new DC Universe (DCU) to the world. Gunn is definitely focusing on the “Man” in Superman here; yet, there are times when that focus strays from the Last Son of Krypton due to the numerous supporting characters. Some of Gunn’s decisions don’t feel right, but overall, this is a thoroughly enjoyable movie that captures the tone and vibrancy of Silver Age comics. Its genuine corny heart is in the right place.

The movie opens in much the same way a comic book often begins. Just as a comic may start with a preface, providing the reader with some context, title cards on the screen offer us an understanding of the world Gunn is building here. Metahumans, or individuals with superpowers, have been around for 300 years, and three decades ago, a lone Kryptonian landed on Earth. He goes by Superman (David Corenswet), and his global debut was only three years ago, with the intention of helping mankind. Right before we witness a bloodied and battered Superman crash-landing in the snowy tundra of Antarctica, we learn that three minutes ago, he lost his first battle against the Hammer of Boravia, a mysterious metahuman who is threatening Metropolis. Three weeks earlier, the Man of Steel interrupted an invasion of defenseless Jarhanpur, a neighboring country to the United States’ Eastern European ally, Boravia, causing an international crisis.

Rather than opening “Superman” with the iconic character making a heroic save or protecting citizens from danger, Gunn shows him defeated. It’s a great way to show viewers something they haven’t seen before. Gunn knows we don’t need another origin story. We know the drill.

This, however, is the first time we see Krypto on the big screen. The super dog (who just about runs away with the movie) comes to Superman’s aid and drags him home to his Fortress of Solitude. The location emulates the same ice structure we first saw in Richard Donner’s classic “Superman: The Movie” with a few updates. Superman and Krypto are greeted by a quartet of emotionless Superman Robots (voiced by the likes of Alan Tudyk, Michael Rooker, Pom Klementieff, and Grace Chan) who nurse the Kryptonian back to health by bathing him in solar radiation. He is soothed by listening to what is left of a damaged recorded message from his biological parents, Jor-El (Bradley Cooper) and Lara Lor-Van (Angela Sarafyan). It’s a message that Gunn will use to play a critical role in his screenplay, but it unfortunately fades away and goes unaddressed by the titular character.

Once Superman returns to Metropolis, he resumes his day job as Clark Kent, journalist for the Daily Planet newspaper, working alongside fellow reporter Lois Lane (Rachel Brosnahan), whom he’s been secretly dating for three months. Unlike previous iterations, this Lois knows he’s Superman, and one of the best moments in the movie is when Clark and Lois discuss their ideologies after he allows her to “interview Superman” in her apartment. It’s a great way to introduce the natural chemistry between Corenswet and Brosnahan.

Meanwhile, tech billionaire Lex Luthor (Nicholas Hoult) remains obsessed with demonstrating to the world the threat he believes Superman poses. The CEO of Luthorcop has aligned himself with the President of Boravia (Zlatko Burić), government operatives such as Rick Flagg Sr. (Frank Grillo), and developed a group of world police called Planet Watch, consisting of Ultraman, The Engineer (María Gabriela de Faría), and an army of armoured Raptars guards. Luthor has made it his life’s ambition to study and destroy Superman, and finds a way to publicly denigrate his reputation. This allows Luthor to imprison the Man of Steel in a “pocket dimension” – where he keeps a variety of other prisoners, such as Rex Mason/Metamorpho (Anthony Carrigan), who can transform his body into any element, including Kryptonite – while an international incident he’s instigated causes a clash between two fictional nations.

Superman has help from other metahumans in this story, which overall makes one wish for more time with the titular character. There’s the obnoxious Green Lantern, Guy Gardner (Nathan Fillion), the grumpy Hawkgirl (Isabela Merced), and the brilliant inventor Mister Terrific (Edi Gathegi), unofficially called “The Justice Gang”, who are funded by tech billionaire businessman, Maxwell Lord (a brief albeit hilarious Sean Gunn). These supporting characters are a lot of fun, with Fillion clearly relishing being an abrasive prick and Gathegi just about stealing every scene he’s in, yet Merced is sort of relegated to…flying. Ultimately, the biggest battle Superman must fight is his own internal struggle, which stems from a major revelation that shakes the foundation of his heritage. 

Some of the other supporting characters in “Superman” are played for laughs, and they either hit the funny bone just right or come across as kind of tone-deaf. Out of all the live-action iterations of the Daily Planet’s Jimmy Olsen, the one played by Skyler Gisondo here is refreshingly funny. He’s written as a babe magnet who uncannily attracts all the female gaze of his coworkers, and someone whom Eve Teschmacher (Sara Sampaio), Luthor’s poorly treated girlfriend, is obsessed with. It’s hard to tell if he’s aware of it or just uncomfortable with it. Either way, it’s a humorous portrayal and one that’s integral to the narrative, rather than just being there for laughs. On the flip side, there’s Ma and Pa Kent, played respectively by Neva Howell and Pruitt Taylor Vince. They’re in about two scenes, and in both scenes, they come across as stereotypical country bumpkins instead of fully-realised out people. It’s supposed to be funny that Ma is yelling into her smartphone’s speaker with her face all up in it, while she’s on a call with Clark, but it just comes across as a tired cliche. There’s a scene where Pa has a sit-down with a forlorned Clark at their Smallville farmhouse, but the delivery is so drawn out and the message is so obviously on-the-nose, that it seems redundant. The actors are fine, but the dialogue and direction here just feel off.

The highlight of the movie is watching Corenswet and Brosnahan embody their new roles. Clark and Lois have been around forever, so it’s nice to see them written and portrayed in different ways here. Granted, we see more of Superman with Lois, since she knows who Clark really is, and that in and of itself is something different. Corenswet embodies the character with a Midwest “punk rock” kindness, often seeking alternative methods of taking out a foe rather than lethal force. That being said, his superhuman capabilities are on full display just when needed. Brosnahan’s Lois is a scrappy, independent woman who never needs rescuing in this movie. In fact, she figures out a way to rescue her boyfriend. Their chemistry together is undeniable, and I look forward to where future movies take them.

Like the recognizable James Bond theme, John Williams’ Superman theme is synonymous with the character, and composers John Murphy (reuniting with Gunn after “The Suicide Squad” and “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3”) and David Fleming (“The Last of Us”) integrate it throughout “Superman”. The theme is employed in various ways by the composers, utilizing both acoustic and electric guitars to offer a distinctive take on the unforgettable music. Orchestration is employed throughout, with synthesizer accents that add a unique touch to the score. Some of the musical pieces are wonderfully contemplative, especially the moments with Superman and Lois. Of course, being a James Gunn movie, there have to be some needle drop moments, and thankfully, there are only two licensed songs: “5 Years Time” by Noah and the Whale and “Punkrocker” by Teddybears & Iggy Pop, both of which are quite catchy.

Gunn is influenced by just about all the Superman movies from the past, as well as a handful of comic book resources. Sometimes those influences are a bit too obvious, but overall, it’s great to see a colorful and vibrant depiction of Superman in this new DCU. Gunn’s depiction of Superman is that of an alien immigrant who was raised on a Kansas farm with the values of kindness, decency, and empathy. However, the movie in which this Superman appears is one where apathy, selfishness, and capitalism are prominent. All the more reason to root for a hero who sees the value in all living beings and knows he has the potential to save and/or protect them from harm.

RATING: ***