James Gunn's 'Superman' Restores Heart and Humanity to a Beloved, Iconic Superhero

It also feels like the second film in a series. That's not necessarily a bad thing.

This review discusses details that have been revealed in the trailers for Superman (2025). I’ll try hard not to discuss the main plot of the movie, which I believe has been largely withheld from the marketing.

James Gunn’s Superman inserts viewers into the story of Superman in medias res. A big chunk of opening text on the screen tells us that this version of Superman (plus the general concept of Metahumans) is already well-known on Earth and lays out the stakes of the story we’re about to experience. It becomes obvious pretty quickly that we’re not going to see Jor-El send his baby son Kal-El off a dying Krypton, nor will we watch Ma and Pa Kent raise the little guy. This is not going to be another origin story.

This opening is indicative of how Gunn approaches the entire film. One of the things I really appreciated about Superman is the economy of the script. There is very little exposition (arguably too little!). Instead, Gunn assumes that you are already familiar with all of the basics of Superman’s history, including his job at the Daily Planet, his weakness against kryptonite, and his basic iconography. In relegating all these elements off screen, Gunn is free explore some deeper aspects of Superman’s psyche. What is his relationship with Lois Lane like? How does he feel about the fact that his parents sent him off to another planet? And what is it like for him to walk amongst regular humans?

The biggest accomplishment of Gunn’s Superman is that it restores the heart and humanity to one of our most beloved and iconic superheroes. Henry Cavill did an amazing job capturing the physicality of Superman but I don’t think Zack Snyder understood the assignment. Superman is supposed to be fun, aspirational, and awe-inspiring, not mired in the brooding self-seriousness that were so pervasive in Snyder’s take on the DC Universe. David Corenswet’s version of Superman is relatable, flawed, sweet, and funny. In many ways, it’s a version of Superman that we needed after this character has spent so much time wandering aimlessly in WB’s version of the Phantom Zone.

Superman’s relationship with Lois Lane (Rachel Brosnahan) is another high point in the film. While it’s a bit underwritten, Brosnahan and Corenswet have actual heat and chemistry together, which is missing from the strangely sexless world of the MCU (when’s the last time two people kissed passionately in that franchise?). Come to think of it, the entire cast of the new film is pretty great. Nicholas Hoult is pitch-perfect as Lex Luthor, a ridiculously rich man with shockingly young and naive acolytes who worship him despite his descent into pettiness and madness (remind you of anyone?). Nathan Fillion, Edi Gathegi, and Skyler Gisondo are also super fun in this film — I won’t say anything more about why I liked them to preserve the surprise.

Of course, I have to talk about the action in the film. In general, I had a blast watching Superman and I was never bored. Gunn has adopted a relatively new and (in my opinion) innovative style of shooting using a constantly-moving camera, a wide angle lens, and long continuous takes. Remember the hallway fight scene Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (above)? Most of the film — including dialogue scenes! — felt like it was shot this way, which some people might find tiresome but I found refreshing after countless MCU films that use a more subdued approach.

Superman reminded me of Luc Besson’s Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets.

I know that might sound like I’m slamming the film, as Valerian wasn’t well received and bombed at the box office (side note: I actually liked it and thought it was treated unfairly by both critics and the general public!). But the reason it came to mind is because Valerian is a film that introduced fantastical sci-fi concepts to the viewer at a rapid clip. Elements that would be the basis of an entire film, like a marketplace that you can only see if you put dimensional glasses on, are introduced and then spectacularly realized before the film moved onto its next set piece.

Similarly, Superman introduces characters and concepts to the audience at a dizzying pace. Here’s an army of robots that help Superman to heal! Here’s X Metahuman who has Y outlandish powers! Here’s a goober that can tear the fabric of space/time! Here’s a random creature who could probably destroy Earth if left to their own devices! If there’s one flaw of Superman, it’s that it feels as though Gunn might’ve thought he only had one bite of the apple and felt compelled to put as much into this movie as possible.

I’ll have more to say about this film after its release but at the end of the day, Gunn’s version of Superman is one that represents hope. Hope that we can be self-aware enough to recognize our own flaws. Hope that we can be better than we would otherwise be. Hope that we can that we can honor the dignity of everyone and everything around us.

I think it’s a message that’s sorely needed.

Superman (2025) is in theaters everywhere this weekend.

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Check out my other work

• For YouTube, I made a video about my top 10 films of 2025 so far. You can also watch a shortened version on Instagram or Tiktok.

• On The Filmcast, we reviewed Jurassic World Rebirth, which we all kinda liked!

• On Decoding TV, we reviewed the final few episodes of Ironheart, which feels like a relic of a different era of Marvel television.