Superman is a character that’s been around for generations throughout history.
The character has had several iterations across several decades of media, whether it be comics, animation, and live action films. If you asked 50 people about their interpretation of Superman, you’d probably get about 50 different answers. The Son of Krypton has been a part of pop culture for so long, just about everyone has a version of him they like the most.
It could be the charisma of Christopher Reeves’ Superman, or it could be the bruting aura of Henry Cavill. One thing is for sure, David Corenswet will officially go down as one of those iconic iterations of Superman that will be remembered for generations to come.
2025’s Superman movie is not only a new take on the character, but it’s a new start to DC’s universe entirely. The film has Clark Kent in his seemingly newfound rhythm of balancing his life as journalist at the Daily planet, and as the world’s leading superhero. The story picks up about 3 years since Clark began his adventures as Superman, and the world is still getting used to an invincible man flying through the sky enforcing justice wherever he pleases.
This is the first film under the heels of writer, director, and head of DC films: James Gunn, formerly known for his work on Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy trilogy. This new reboot of the DC universe did mean the more recent universe of films from the past 12 years or so is no longer around. It’s a choice that has left fans in a more divided position. You have one group of people who are boycotting the movie for its lighter tone and the other large group of people who are just hyped to see one of their favorite childhood superheroes on the big screen again. So where do I fall in this category? Is the Superman 2025 film something I believe is worth not only watching, but worth investing into as I’m sure this will turn into a more expanded universe, similar to Marvel?
Here’s my spoiler free thoughts….
The Good
The short answer is…. I loved this movie.
I think there are two main themes when it comes to this movie, the first one is more to convince the audience that not only is this a universe worth investing your time into, but a universe full of characters you will love and enjoy seeing on screen.
I think this movie is one of the freshest takes on not only DC movies, but superhero movies in general. When I initially heard James Gunn was taking over DC, I was not only excited, but I was actually relieved to hear someone who has proven to be driven to understand the characters he’s bringing to screen. Gunn was asked in an interview about superhero movie fatigue and how Superman plans to combat the fact that audiences aren’t totally digging these types of films as much as they used to. Gunn responded in the most honest way he could, saying he believes the world isn’t suffering from superhero movie fatigue, but from mediocre movie fatigue. It was a response that many, including myself, resonated with. I have never been sick of superhero movies, but I am sick of bad superhero movies. (Marvel I’m looking at you on this one)
When I saw that response from Gunn, I knew whatever was coming our way, I was excited to see whatever DC had cooking in the oven, and boy did it not disappoint.
Like I said, we find Clark relatively early in his adventures as Superman, and I believed it. I believe Clark is new to his role as the planet’s biggest hero. I even enjoy the fact that he’s not totally aware of the ramifications he has when enforcing his version of justice in foreign territory. It brings a very real approach to the concept of Superman that I feel hasn’t been explored enough in his films.
Can you imagine if a man with no publicly known weaknesses, and based out of America went to a foreign country, and enforced his policy of justice? The story brings this to a head, and I think Gunn did this very well. Meanwhile Clark, who’s a relatively new Superman, doesn’t think about what his actions could be construed as. Clark only sees his actions as “doing good for the greater good.” It’s something we haven’t seen in a Superman in a long time, and it shows just how much more growing Clark has to do. While he will always do what’s right for the life of humans, I feel a seasoned Superman might think twice before enforcing his justice before civilly discussing with a nation’s leader.
Meanwhile the government is concerned that Superman has the potential to be both the world’s savior, and its destructor. It sets off a chain of events from several characters that gives us the central theme of this movie that asks the question “what is it that makes you a good person?”
I think the story, while a bit cluttered at first, ends up with a home run when it comes to getting these themes across. Clark really struggles during the film to find out what determines if he’s a good person, and if the world has the right to decide that for him.
I actually want to give praise to the characters in general and say there was not only a good performance from the characters, and not only do I like just about every character in this film, but I think the characters were just about as good as it could get when it comes to casting.
David Corenswet in my opinion finds the perfect balance when it comes to marrying the Clark Kent and Superman characters together, because they essentially are separate characters.
Superman is this larger than life superhero and Clark is a nerdy, but likable dork that you know hates to swear.
Nicholas Hoult I think captures Lex Luthor perfectly in amplifying his god complex, and making his life’s mission to kill Superman by any means necessary.
Lois Lane is perfectly cast by Rachel Brosnahan, and finds an amazing dichotomy as a story hungry journalist, and Superman’s love interest. One thing I knew would be tough to nail is the chemistry between Clark and Lois, but instead of trying to convince the audience of an established dynamic duo, the film treats their relationship the same way we are. Without spoilers, Clark and Lois are very early in their relationship and the film focuses on testing their willingness to be a couple who also has to balance dealing with the fact that one of them is Superman. I think the chemistry and dynamic between Brosnahan and Corenswet is amazing, and better than any interaction we’ve seen from the two characters in a long time. You can see that these two people care deeply about each other, yet have major commitments to their professions as a journalist and superhero. It’s exactly what I wanted out of the couple, and it was delivered very well.
Even more, I enjoyed just about every side character in this story. Everyone has a chance to shine and I loved every second of it. I was a little confused when I saw some of the heroes announced in the film were Hawkgirl, a Green Lantern that’s NOT the one everyone cares about, and… Mr. Terrific… a character I’m sure practically none of you knew going into this movie, but came out absolutely loving by the end.
I also have to touch on Krypto the Superdog, who is not only an amazing introduction for a character to the big screen, but is also the most lovable character in the entire film.
I think I could hear the “awe’s” and chuckles whenever that little guy was on screen, most of them understandably coming from my girlfriend.
Either way, you can see the groundwork being laid for future films through the characters and the settings. Rather than seeing it as a blatant advertisement, it feels like a natural part of a story and something you can’t wait to see get paid off in coming stories. (Marvel I’m looking at you on this one)
I think however overall the best part of this movie is the action, and rightfully so. James Gunn was known for having some of the coolest action scenes in Marvel history with the Guardians of the Galaxy films, and he plugged that style right into Superman, and it worked immaculately!
You’d think the film would just have Superman flying around and punching at bad guys, but every superpowered character gets an action sequence that makes you want more. Especially the trio of lesser known heroes being Hawkgirl, Green Lantern, and Mr. Terrific. You feel a sense of creativity with the action that I feel hasn’t ever been seen with Superhero films. The action plays to Superman’s strengths a lot, with the camera flying around with him, almost like you’re following him along while he’s soaring through the sky. Every fight scene has such a unique style to them, that I can recall every single action scene and pick out something I liked about it. None of it felt like blind violence or unnecessary fight scenes simply to have a random fight scene. (Marvel I’m looking at you on this one)
The Bad
All jokes aside, as you can clearly see, I have a lot of praise for this movie, and I feel it rightfully deserves it. However the small gripe I do have with this movie is very present. That gripe being the beginning of the film. Without spoilers, you are thrusted into the life of an already active Superman. I know I gave it praise for bringing the themes of the film together, however the beginning of the film gets off to a bit of a bumpy start. You are thrown several pieces of Superman lore within the first 10 minutes of the story, and without having much comic book knowledge, I can see many people thinking this is a bit of whiplash for the start of a new universe. The movie doesn’t have time to catch everybody up on who Superman is, and it makes that very known through some text at the beginning of the film that the audience has to read. I’m never a fan of this method of storytelling because if I need to read several pieces of text to set up the story, I feel you have already lost a lot of my trust for the story itself. This is a multi-million dollar movie, and I feel there could have been SOME other way to set all of it up that flows within the story. I’m not saying I could do better, I’m not a scriptwriter, but I know what a good setup for a story looks like and I think this could just be a bit better.
Despite that, I feel the movie gets over this bumpy start fairly quickly, and gets you immersed in the story to the point where you forget about it by the end of the movie. Again, this by no means makes this a bad movie, but I feel I had to mention it nonetheless.
The Financials
I’ll keep this section brief as there’s not much to go on just yet as at the time of me writing this, the opening weekend isn’t over yet. However I want to tough on the financials for one main reason.
This movie has a lot riding on it, not only for the future of James Gunn’s new DC universe, but for DC films entirely. Let’s be honest, it’s no mistake the past few films for DC weren’t performing the greatest at the box office, or with critiques. “Aquaman 2″, and “Shazam 2″ severely underperformed at the box office, and after the disaster that was “The Flash” in 2023, many people weren’t too keen to see more DC content.
However as it stands right now, Superman is on track to have around $122-125 million domestically, and $225 million worldwide in its opening weekend. That’s on track to be the highest grossing Superman movie of all time. Just as some background, Captain America: Brave New World and Thunderbolts, two of Marvel’s most recent releases, tracked $80 million or less on their opening weekends.
I just want to emphasize to you the sheer magnitude of how much of a win this is for DC. With a rumored budget of $220-225 million, this film is already in track to make a good profit for DC.
I feel that a box office return like this only proves Gunn’s initial theory that people aren’t feeling superhero fatigue, they’re likely only feeling “bad movie” fatigue.
Final Thoughts
I could go on even further on what I liked or didn’t like about this movie, but at that point, I feel you should go see it if you want to hear more after reading all this. Like I said, the film does a great job at conveying the two main themes to the audience. The first is the film’s central theme of what it means to be a good person, despite your background or where you come from. Meanwhile the second theme is convincing you that this universe is worth investing your time and attention into. DC still has a lot of ground to cover in order to establish itself as the massive universe Gunn wants it to be. However if this movie is any indication as to what’s in store, I feel there is a lot more good to come from DC. Superman is a character that stands for hope. He stands for truth, justice, and a better tomorrow, and this movie I feel captures that perfectly. If you’re waiting to see Superman because you’re on the fence, I feel you’ll have an overall great time if you go see it, especially if you’re looking for a superhero movie that’s not your run of the mill adventure.
In short, Superman 2025 is “super” good.
Pun intended.