You May Have Missed: Superman (Dir James Gunn, 2h9m, 2025)

Welcome to 2026 and, if you can believe it, year ten of the blog. 2025 has been an odd year for cinema - not only is there the increasing spectre of AI in an industry ever more focused on maximising profits whilst having to contend with the pesky downside of having to pay the people who create or appear what's in front of and behind the camera, but cinema must contend with increasing pressure on cinema chains, at least here in the UK, and the dominance of streaming platforms in a year where Netflix and Paramount warred over the takeover of Warner Bros. 

This is not to mention a year in which certain aspects of the multiplex appear to be floundering, in particular the now beleaguered Marvel Cinematic Universe, where Japanese and Chinese animation seems to be catching up with the likes of Zootropolis/Zootopia 2 and the inevitable live action Disney (and now Dreamworks) adaptions, in the form of the smash hits Ne Zha 2 and Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Infinity Castle and where save for the excellent Sinners, and the enjoyable Weapons, franchise cinema reigns supreme.

Into all of this flies James Gunn's Superman. Superman, it's fair to say, compared to his great compatriot, has not had the best of times in cinematic adaptions recently, and by recently, I really mean the last forty-five years. Snyder's DCCU never, in the director's estimation, knew how to use him, nor did it really know how to use Henry Cavill to portray him, the Moses-allegory put aside for something more messianic, Superman Returns has a likeable Clark Kent in Brandon Routh but must contend with the presence of both the disgraced Kevin Spacey and Bryan Singer in its production, and Superman III and IV: Quest for Peace are, despite Richard Pryor and because of Cannon Films, not very good at best. One must return to Richard Lester's Superman II (1980), and thus to Richard Donner's Superman (1978) for the last truly great adaption of The Man of Tomorrow

This is essentially what James Gunn's version does; much like Gunn's outings in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and with the DC "Suicide Squad", there is an unabashed comic book style to the film apparent from its first frame to its last via Gunn's script, and his usual DoP Henry Braham - there is a lighter touch here, an unapologetic love of comic book aesthetics that runs counter to the grounded realism of the Snyderverse that extends from Superman/Clark Kent (David Corenswet) outward, including the John Williams-quoting score by John Murphy and David Fleming. 

A (Super)Man for our age-Superman/Clark Kent (David Corenswet) and Krypto.

This is a Superman who -gasp- seems to have re-found colour in his iconic cape and costume, and he is far from alone in this, joined in the second and third act by the mismatched but assuredly comic book trio of "The Justice Gang" of Mister Terrific (Edi Gathegi), Green Lantern Guy Gardner (Gunn's oft-hired gun,
Nathan Fillion) and Hawkgirl (Isabela Merced), all of whom even by superhero movie standards are deep cuts, and in Gathegi's case, drolly threatens to steal the show from Superman, Mister Terrific acting as a smartly chosen foil to Lois Lane for the film's middle third.

This is to say nothing of how the rest of the film looks, from the portals between worlds that form the second half of the film's narrative MacGuffin, to the stark feel of The Fortress of Solitude to the look of Superman's world. This lighter, defter tone continues into the very fabric of Superman: this is not a world of origin stories, or of beginnings, but one in media res, and its Superman is no different, the film joining after he has been beaten for the first time by the brutish supervillain, the Hammer of Boravia. The first five or so minutes of the film, featuring his dog, Krypto essentially hauling him back to the Fortress of Solitude to be treated by his robotic caretakers, is more revealing, more vulnerable and more human than the character has been, at least on the big screen, for decades. 

Much like Matt Reeves' The Batman, this is a character in the midst of becoming themselves, but this is where the similarities end. Reeve's Batman is a figure trying to work out how to be human, Gunn's Superman is as human as the character has ever been. This Clark is more human and more gentle, particularly in scenes where the broad-shouldered Corenswet delicately picks his way, head and shoulders above a crowd, through it, whilst his relationship with Lois Lane (Rachel Brosnahan) is complex, best seen in  a tightly done two-hander that simply dares to have the two characters talk, as Lois interviews Superman on his beliefs and morals. It is this scene that essentially underpins the film; in terms of his beliefs and how he executes them as a superhero, this is a Superman we haven't seen before. A Superman, both character and film, that dares to be political.

A Familiar Threat: Nicholas Hoult's Lex Luthor is a dark reflection of Trump and Musk

Much of this comes on the shoulders of Nicholas Hoult's Lex Luthor: Lex has been many things over Superman's cinematic history but this incarnation, half jealous tech-bro-there is more than a little of Elon Musk's lacerating unpleasantness and crowd of sycophants in the cadre of technicians and hangers on that assist Luthor-and half something altogether nastier, more warlike, and something clearly influenced by the last few years in politics in the USA and beyond, puppeteering the media machine, and fanning the flames of a simmering, vaguely Middle Eastern conflict between a heavily armed American backed nation and what is, in brutally basic terms, pseudo-Palestine. This is a Lex Luthor where nothing feels cartoonish, as with Hackman's performance, or sly mockery of the Zuckerbergs and Musks of our world, but frighteningly plausible, a Trump-as-Luthor foil to Superman's ultimate good.

That Gunn manages to balance this heavy Aesop with the film's sense of fun - and this film is undeniably fun in the way no DC centric movie has been since, well, the last time James Gunn got to make one - is impressive, but as a reintroduction to one of the most iconic characters in comics, this stands up there with the 1978 original. Though the film can be accused of an embarrassment of riches, and of being a little overstuffed for barely two hours, it wins us over with charm, much of it from Corenswet and Brosnahan, and in embracing what makes Superman appeal to us. Yet, in these troubled times, to dare to make Superman bright and colourful and kind feels positively revolutionary - the Gunnverse may just be beginning but Superman bodes well for its future. 


Rating: Highly Recommended

Superman is available via BluRay and DVD from Warner Bros, and streaming from AppleTV

Next week, to Stephen Soderberg's short and taut thriller, Black Bag as we continue our look back at 2025