‘Superman’ Delivers Hope for the DCU
- Jared Huizenga
- Jul 10
- 4 min read
Stop me if you’ve heard this one before: tech bro billionaire uses his vast resources and self-proclaimed brilliance to infiltrate every aspect of everyday life and manipulate new media and politicians to screw everyone he doesn’t see in the mirror every morning.
Sure, that could be the lede to any number of real life 2025 news stories, but it’s actually an important theme in the latest incarnation of “Superman,” the first film in the new DC Universe helmed by James Gunn.
In “Superman,” our titular hero, played this time by David Corenswet (“Pearl,” “Twisters”), is already 30 years old and three years into his Man of Steel tenure. The world, except for forever arch nemesis Lex Luthor (Nicholas Hoult, “X-Men: Days of Futures Past,” “Warm Bodies”), loves their hero and what he stands for … at least until things go off the rails and the tables turn.
With the world suddenly against him and self-doubt setting in, will Supes battle the odds to preserve truth, justice and the American way? It’s Superman, of course he will.
While I’m sure some “purists” will take umbrage in Gunn choosing to pick up the story in present day rather than telling the origin story again, I found it refreshing. I’m 46 years old and have never lived in a time where there wasn’t an on-screen Superman. I’ve known about Krypton and Kansas, and Martha and Jor-El for as long as I can remember, and I couldn’t tell you how. My mom wasn’t into superheroes so it didn’t come from her … I just knew. Everyone knows. No need to rehash it yet again.
I also appreciated the cast, after questioning the casting of Corenswet and Rachel Brosnahan (“The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel,” “Patriots Day”) as Lois Lane. While both are fine actors, I just didn’t see Superman/Clark and Lois when I looked them. Much to my (very pleasant) surprise, both completely transformed into those iconic characters and made them their own. They have great chemistry, whether they’re on friendly or bickering terms, and the scenes where the two of them share the screen are hands-down the film’s best. We’re not to Reeve-Kidder territory, but by far the best duo since.
I had similar skepticism about Hoult, but that was admittedly because I’m tired of the same actors getting recycled through both the MCU and various DC projects – Hoult played Beast four times, in my head he’s forever Beast. But because he’s such a versatile actor, he was able to make me forget his mutant past. By looking like the love child of Elon Musk and Joe Rogan and acting like the annoying, petulant manchild video game prodigy played by Joel David Moore in “Grandma’s Boy,” Hoult brought Luthor to life and made him as loathsome as humanly possible.
The cast is rounded out by Edi Gathegi (“X-Men: First Class”) as Mr. Terrific, Isabela Merced (“Dora and the City of Lost Gold”), as Hawkgirl, Nathan Fillion (“Castle,” “Firefly”) as Guy Gardner/Green Lantern, María Gabriela de Faría (“Deadly Class”) as The Engineer, and Anthony Carrigan (“Bill & Ted Face the Music”) as Metamorpho. Gathegi is utilized the best/most of this crew, but all are solid or better in their roles. Some will likely be unhappy with these characters playing such small roles, but I like that Gunn chose to introduce people we’ll see down the road in ways that make sense to the story, rather than forcing things and taking focus off the main character (and the kickoff of Gunn’s DC Universe).
There’s also some fun cameos and blink and you’ll miss them easter eggs to keep your eyes and ears tuned in for throughout the credits. And once the novelty wore off, I was pretty indifferent at the inclusion on Krypto the Superdog.
The story isn’t overly deep and doesn’t tell us anything we didn’t already know, but it does tap into things that are prevalent in today’s world – social media, immigration, blind worship of public figures, etc. – and ties them into the narrative. Some of those themes have actually been present since 1938, but the timing of this release makes the reminder of them especially poignant.
Unsurprisingly, “Superman” is irreverent and at times downright hilarious, Gunn trademarks, but it also handles sensitive topics in a (reasonably) sensitive tone and plays up the more serious moments. It very much feels like “Guardians of the Galaxy,” except everyone knows the characters from the jump.
As much as I enjoyed the lighter tone compared to what Zac Snyder gave us the last time we saw Superman on the big screen, I do wish some of the jokes could’ve been pulled back a bit to allow more time for either additional character development or to see more of the Clark-Lois dynamic at play. With Chapter 1 of the DCU being titled “Gods and Monsters,” I’d like to see a bit more of the monster side coming through going forward.
Overall, “Superman” checks all the boxes for me when it comes to superhero movies – it’s fun, it’s true to the stories/characters I grew up with, its actors are entertaining, and it drew me in (more than) enough to be excited to see what the future holds for the DCU.
★★★★ of ★★★★★
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