Finding power in the "Man", not the "Super"

There are multiple hot takes that the character of Superman just doesn’t appeal to modern audiences. According to these critics, an unbreakable, overpowered goody two-shoes isn’t interesting. 

Director Zack Snyder leaned into the isolating nature of being a god among men with Man of Steel, starring Henry Cavill, but honestly, hiding in fear and shame over being a perfect, ultra-powerful being isn’t the most relatable emotional hook.

However, with the new Superman (2025), previously known as Superman: Legacy, filmmaker James Gunn finds an angle that works: that Superman isn’t perfect despite all his capabilities and desire to do good – and that you can explore this concept without wallowing in teeth-gritted angst.

Gunn’s film opens, shockingly, with Superman (David Corenswet), AKA Kal-EL, AKA Clark Kent, beaten and bleeding.

Again, the hero is not perfect and indestructible, despite being three years into his hero career, and despite his Achilles heel, Kryptonite, being absent from the picture. As an alien, Superman can be healed through concentrated exposure to the rays of Earth’s yellow sun, but that’s a painful process. Still, he goes through it to get his job done: defending the city of Metropolis (including its squirrels) from the threat of the moment.

Superman tries and tries again, but in Gunn’s film, this is someone who can’t control an unruly superpowered dog; who struggles to communicate with his girlfriend; who loses his temper when he’s forced to defend his good-intentioned actions; and who must still endure awkward, shouted calls from his tech-unsavvy parents about a visit to a burrito bar. We’ve all been there in some way or another.

A vein of enjoyable recognisability runs through Superman, which we can hope is the tone setter for the new onscreen DC Universe, under the stewardship of Gunn, along with DC Studios co-head Peter Safran. Because it can be argued that Superman (2025) feels like it is ripped straight from a comic.

If you read the stories in the 1970s and 80s, you’ll find loads to love here, whether it’s citizens’ blasé reactions to epic monster and metahuman battles around them, trips into visually striking, trippy pocket dimensions, or the first-time big-screen appearance of characters from yesteryear, like element-powered Metamorpho (Anthony Carrigan).

On that note, if you’re completely unfamiliar with Superman and the broader DC universe, you may have to consult a Wiki after watching the film. Although not inaccessible for newcomers, Superman does feel like it was made more for fans – such as with a joking nod to the irresistibility of ginger photographer Jimmy Olsen (Skyler Gisondo).

The film skips exposition and character backstories in general, dropping viewers into a movie where it’s simply outlined that metahumans have existed for centuries, but Superman is an extraterrestrial newcomer, and the most powerful being of all. Then again, the lack of momentum-slowing introductions means that the film can maintain its breakneck pace throughout, and immediately feel like it’s taking place in a fully functioning, pre-populated world.

There were legitimate concerns that the 129-minute Superman would be overstuffed with characters, but Gunn, who also helmed Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy trilogy and The Suicide Squad, has a strong grasp of his ensemble, even managing to find space for quiet, touching moments between Superman and his adoptive parents Ma and Pa Kent (Neva Howell and Pruitt Taylor Vince). 

It’s easier to identify underutilised figures who seem simply present, like Isabela Merced’s Hawkgirl and Mikaela Hoover’s columnist Cat Grant, than to pick one standout character. Contenders for the latter include the already mentioned Metamorpho, Nathan Fillion as infamously cocky Green Lantern Guy Gardner, and Edi Gathegi as brilliant but emotionally icy and irritable inventor Mister Terrific.

This isn’t even mentioning the scene-stealing Krypto, although the dog CGI is one of the weaker aspects of Superman, along with a couple of rubber-looking airborne fight sequences used to market the film.

As for the trio of characters and performances that are the foundation of any Superman film, Gunn has struck gold with the warm and emotive Corenswet as Superman, who enjoys laser-eyed chemistry with Rachel Brosnahan’s reporter Lois Lane. Lois also enjoys a more credible, less-glamorous journalistic treatment this time, living in a cramped apartment and rocking a funky, rule-breaking style to match her savvy attitude.

It’s notable that the new film skips Superman’s will-he-won’t-he identity reveal to Lois, although the secrecy now lies in the couple hiding their relationship from the world. 

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It’s Nicholas Hoult who arguably brings something new to the table as Superman’s arch-nemesis Lex Luthor. Previous film depictions of the genius industrialist have tended to see-saw between over-the-top egotistical and shouty maniacal. Hoult’s Luthor is far more restrained, and therefore sinister. There are no attempts to soften his nature as an awful, abusive and prejudiced human being, but he is nevertheless aware of his flaws, and has a point that Superman’s presence distracts from human achievement (largely his own).

One final thing to note about the new Superman film is that, as much as it looks back, paying tribute to the often cheesy comics of yesteryear, it also has something to say about the present, largely by digging down to the character’s Golden Age roots.

These roots are replanted in a recognisable modern context where nations shrug as other countries initiate violent invasions of their neighbours, social media bots inflame public opinion against the “other” with bizarre catchphrases, and any critical voices can just vanish (evidently from this plane of being) as the result of black-clad, masked forces.

On top of it all, our hero finds himself opposing a reckless tech bro in cahoots with a junk food-loving despot who needs his ego stroked constantly.

While the likes of comic creator Frank Miller have positioned Superman as a “big blue boy scout” towing the authority line, the character’s origins lie in fighting injustice, stepping up to defend the powerless, whether it be against slumlords, domestic abusers or corrupt officials.

Batman deals with criminals, whereas Superman routinely puts bullies big and small in their place. It doesn’t seem like a coincidence that Corenswet’s costume is closer to those worn in the character’s earliest on-screen days, complete with visible seams and a kind of chunkiness.

The point is that if stepping up to do good and showing kindness is political, then yes, Superman is political.

He always has been, despite what a certain peevish segment of the internet insists. His actions inspire others around him, which the film’s mix of mortals and superheroes helps to convey, following Supes’s lead during the film’s climax. And it hopefully adds a punch that pierces straight through the project, across decades of colourful comic book shenanigans, to the human audience watching today. DM

Superman is in cinemas from 11 July. This includes 3D and IMAX.

This story first appeared in PFangirl.