Forget The Dumb Superman Controversy – This Movie Is A Truly Great Superhero Film

David Corenswet, who plays Superman, "fits the role better than any other actor since Christopher Reeve," says the author.The word “Marvel” wasn’t always followed by “Cinematic Universe”. Once upon a time, Marvel was a comic book company on the verge of bankruptcy. Then came Iron Man and a last-ditch effort to transform its remaining intellectual property into a profitable business. We all know what happened next — the Avengers, a Disney buyout, massive profits, superhero fatigue — but even in that very first movie, the seeds of a sprawling, 36-film saga were already being planted.Superman needs to accomplish something similar. The first movie in director James Gunn’s new DC Universe (a sparkling clean slate to replace the dour DC Extended Universe helmed by Zack Snyder) has to bring us into a new superhero world, establish a tone that’s different from both Marvel’s quippy franchise and Zack Snyder’s grimdark films, and set up the next few years of box office profits for Warner Bros. Discovery.In other words, there’s a locomotive’s worth of pressure riding on Superman. A concocted anti-woke political controversy isn’t helping, either.So it’s nothing short of a miracle that James Gunn’s take on the Man of Steel feels more like a self-contained movie – and a good one, at that – than the first step toward building a new “cinematic universe”. To be clear, the building blocks for a fresh franchise are evident in almost every frame. A new world full of metahumans (the movie’s term for superheroes), winking cameos from recognisable actors in iconic roles and a recurring gag about the inevitable formation of the Justice League are all littered throughout Superman. But what carries this film is undeniably a focus on developing its main characters and telling their story right now, rather than the promise of what’s coming next.Diving Right InSuperman cleverly skips the origin story we already know and begins three years into Kal-El’s tenure as protector of Earth. The timing couldn’t be worse. Superman (played by the previously unknown David Corenswet) just lost his first fight ever against the Hammer of Boravia, a metahuman apparently sent by the fictional European country as retribution for meddling in their affairs. However, it soon becomes clear the Hammer is actually a laboratory-made metahuman created and controlled by Lex Luthor (Nicholas Hoult) as part of a complex plot to destroy Superman once and for all.This basic premise is established within the movie’s first 15 minutes, and it provides much of the fuel for its two-hour runtime. We watch as Luthor’s plan unfolds methodically (often with disturbing cruelty), while Superman and his various allies attempt to stop the villain and save the world.Those allies fall into two major categories.First, there’s the Justice Gang (though that name is hotly debated among the group), a trio of sponsored superheroes consisting of Green Lantern (Nathan Fillion), Hawk Girl (Isabela Merced), and Mr. Terrific (Edi Gathegi). We don’t spend enough time with any of them to really get a feel for their characters, though they’ll all likely return in an inevitable Justice League movie. In the meantime, all three are intriguing enough, with distinct personalities and powers that left me wanting more. (Casting Nathan Fillion does feel like a bit of a cheat code for James Gunn, who relies on the actor’s penchant for bluster to quickly establish his take on the role.)Meanwhile, the journalists at The Daily Planet feel nearly as important as their crime-fighting counterparts. The newsroom, led by Lois Lane (Rachel Brosnahan) and Jimmy Olsen (Skyler Gisondo), works alongside our hero’s alter ego, Clark Kent, to help take down Lex Luthor through some good old-fashioned reporting. At the same time, Superman acknowledges a changing media landscape in which viral videos and talk show pundits wield just as much power (if not more) than traditional newspapers.Superman & Lois (And Lex Luthor)At the heart of Superman is its trio of stars: David Corenswet, Rachel Brosnahan and Nicholas Hoult. David, who was seemingly plucked from a Kansas cornfield to play the Man of Steel, fits the role better than any other actor since Christopher Reeve. His version of Superman is simultaneously self-assured and riddled with self-doubt, never wavering in his mission to protect the innocent even when public sentiment turns against him. It’s a refreshing break from Zack Snyder’s cold and alien vision of Superman, who always seemed one second away from snapping someone’s neck or subjugating all of humanity.Meanwhile, Rachel portrays Lois Lane with the same scrappy energy that made her a star in The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel. She’s even more confident here, frequently acting as Superman’s moral compass while outclassing Clark Kent as a journalist. The duo’s romantic relationship, which is already several months in when the movie begins, provides an emotional bedrock for the film. The chemistry is there, but we never see quite enough to confirm there’s genuine love between the two characters, rather than mere infatuation.And then, there’s Lex Luthor. Nicholas has made no secret of the fact he auditioned for the role of Superman before getting cast as the villain, but was there ever really any doubt he was almost meant to play Luthor? Every smarmy, self-satisfiedcharacter we’ve seen Nick embody over the years feels like preparation for Superman in hindsight. He nails the character and his dynamic with Superman — envious, domineering and terrified all at once. His Lex Luthor is a highlight of the movie and a clear contender for the DC Universe’s big bad. Nicholas Hoult as Lex Luthor is a highlight of the movie.Luthor is also an obvious metaphor for the tech bro oligarchy currently attempting to consume American democracy. Hoult doesn’t play the character as an obvious stand-in for any specific billionaire (although his bald head screams Jeff Bezos), but there are clear allusions to Elon Musk in the way that Luthor wields his power to influence the government and international politics. The legions of employees who follow him enthusiastically and blindly (some of whom are young enough to still have braces and acne) would seem right at home working for Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency.‘Superwoke’Gunn’s vision of Superman isn’t inherently political, but he can’t help but gesture at current events in his globe-spanning epic. Luthor’s “pocket dimension” prison, where the U.S. government attempts to confine Superman, evokes ICE and its black site prisons. Meanwhile, the movie’s central military conflict between Boravia (a technologically advanced American ally) and its impoverished neighbor Jarhanpur could easily be read as a metaphor for Israel and Gaza. However, none of these similarities seems strong enough to be intentional. It’s not Gunn’s fault that the real world suddenly resembles a Saturday morning supervillain’s fever dream.Then again, Gunn has never been afraid to spark controversy, and Superman is no exception. While the movie is relatively tame, the director hasn’t held himself back in interviews. Speaking to The Times, he put it bluntly: “Superman is the story of America. An immigrant that came from other places and populated the country … obviously, there will be jerks out there who are just not kind and will take it as offensive just because it is about kindness. But screw them.” In response, Fox News ran the chyron “Superwoke,” while co-host Jesse Watters joked, “You know what it says on his cape? MS-13.”Of course, Gunn is right. Superman has always been an allegory for the immigrant experience, and there’s probably no way to tell that story in 2025 without pissing off the Fox News crowd. But, as per usual, the movie itself is ultimately way less politically charged than the airheaded debate surrounding it.A Strong Start Before we wrap this thing up, a few other highlights: The action is heavy and fluid in the way you’d expect from the world’s strongest and fastest superhero. The special effects are convincing and well-designed (except for a giant dragon that looks too fantastical to seem real). The city of Metropolis is gleaming but somewhat underdeveloped; this isn’t a movie about Superman’s adopted hometown, and it shows in the way its primary setting sometimes feels more like a sketch than an actual, well, metropolis.But while there’s still plenty of colour and detail to fill in, Superman undeniably feels like a fully formed movie. There are no tell-tale signs of a rushed production, unfinished CGI or haphazard reshoots meant to stitch the story together.Instead, Superman is a complete film with a strong start and an even stronger finish. Whether that leads to a sprawling cinematic universe or another failed franchise in need of a reboot remains to be seen. But either way, Gunn has delivered a great superhero movie capable of standing on its own two feet. In the age of endless sequels, prequels and crossovers, that’s nothing short of a miracle.MORE FILM NEWS:This Wild Scene Was Removed From The New Superman Film After Controversy During Test ScreeningFormer Superman Star Has A Tiresome Response To New Film's Progressive TakeSuperman Fans Are All Saying The Same Thing About Henry Cavill's Successor

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