Superman Review: Earnest but Overburdened, Can Barely Fit in its Suit

Earnest But Overburdened, James Gunn’s Superman Can Barely Fit in Its Suit

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James Gunn’s Superman is adequate but unnecessary. It is the first major motion picture for his DC universe scheme with WBD. It comes after the superhero wave seems to have crested, the comet flown through the sky, but that comet has a long, wispy tail. Superhero movies have gradually transitioned away from origin stories in their first outings, dropping fans right into action. Studios and creatives are apparently wary that audiences are weary, especially when the origins of heroes like Batman and Superman are already deeply entrenched in the zeitgeist. It’s a kid’s movie with some adult moments and lots of nerdy references, along with new interpretations of familiar characters, just as you would expect.

Our Superman (David Corenswet) is already saving civilians and preventing catastrophes when we meet him, in a relationship with reporter Lois Lane (Rachel Brosnahan) who knows he’s Clark Kent, and has aspiring Superfriends. Isabela Merced’s Hawkgirl (apparently a human version rather than a Thanagarian alien) is here alongside Nathan Fillion’s Guy Gardner/Green Lantern (Fillion has been portraying Hal Jordan/Green Lantern in cartoon movies since 2011), Edi Gathegi’s Mr. Terrific (the one of these with the most plot impact), and eventually Anthony Carrigan’s Rex Mason/Metamorpho. The characters might add another level of expectation to Superman’s responsibilities, dimension to his personal conflict, but their main purpose is to make the world feel further down the comic book fantasy road away from reality; like Black Adam but more narratively, thematically, and visually successful. The obvious overarching tension echoing from the Snyder movies with which this is in spiritual continuity is Superman’s role in world affairs. This Superman is thematically loaded, perhaps bloated, as James Gunn nearly avoids making a fifth Guardians of the Galaxy movie (after the main three and The Suicide Squad).

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Like the Richard Lester/Richard Donner Superman II, this Superman includes Lex Luthor finding the Fortress of Solitude in the first act, though not the first scene. It also has Sara Sampaio reprising Valerie Perrine’s role as Eve Teschmacher, Lex’s assistant/girlfriend. As in Zack Snyder’s Justice League, Superman must team up to destroy an otherworldy threat from Lex Luthor (Nicholas Hoult, whose most interesting monologue is interrupted for comedic violence). As in Snyder’s films (and other Superman material), Luthor is perturbed about a superpowered alien, which weighs on American politics as government administrators have to manage a super-being intervening in world affairs according to his own moral compass. The film is over its head trying to depict geopolitical conflict analogous to ongoing wars in Palestine and Ukraine – while clear in its final declaration that those with power should protect those without, the use of fictional nation-states allows for ambiguity and obfuscation.

Superman wants to save absolutely everyone, struggling with the weight of responsibility he feels he was entrusted by his Kryptonian parents (Bradley Cooper’s Jor-El and Angela Sarafyan’s Lara), living up to the love and trust of his human parents (Neva Howell’s Ma Kent and Pruitt Taylor Vince’s Pa Kent), and trying to maintain his romance with Lois. The writing of Ma and Pa Kent feels at first like someone grasping at trying to depict salt-of-the-earth folks and ending up in an unflattering place, but there’s one very heartwarming scene before the pivot to the climax that works well. One thing the film has going for it is that Superman’s internal and external conflicts culminate in a sort of arc of positive masculinity for which Pa Kent is the central conduit.

Corenswet is endearing as a flawed, human, deeply optimistic and perseverant Superman, while Brosnahan is compelling as his scene partner and leading her own. Skyler Gisondo is the most prevalent of the rest of the Daily Planet crew and the one that functions as more than comic relief (though given neither space nor material to shine as he does in The Righteous Gemstones), but EIC Perry White (Wendell Pierce, able and inadequately deployed), Cat Grant (Mikaela Hoover, a Gunn regular as a character we see bounce around but don’t really know), and sports reporter Steve Lombard (SNL’s Beck Bennett) make up the other named staff.

The citizens of Metropolis often seem none too bright, turning on a dime for and against Superman (with Michael Ian Black’s night show almost reminding me of Wanda Sykes and Bob Costas in Pootie Tang). The film tries to be clever in its incorporation of TV news and social media (there is one good gag here), but can feel haphazard. There is a snappiness to the film’s dialogue that is at its most economical when at its least emotionally persuasive. Despite one moment of particular brutality to showcase the villain and a climax that makes me wonder how sequel stakes can be higher, almost no one Superman cares about ever feels in real danger (the film can convince me he cares about everyone, but it fails to convince me to care about everyone). Superman is so much about Superman’s earnestness, and it deeply frustrates me that it still undermines moments of drama and emotion with comedy. It is not as dire as the last Thor movie, but it doesn’t always take its own stakes seriously, despite eventual existential escalation. In a mechanical parallel, there is way too much camera twisting during moments of combat – in fights as in conversation, the film is afraid to let you just sit and feel, a problem the medium of comic books doesn’t have.

Superman shares much with Man of Steel as a movie shouldering corporate weight – James Gunn has to sell this story to tell other stories. It also reminds of James Wan’s Aquaman because it feels like so many Superman ideas comic fans wouldn’t anticipate on the big screen are adapted. For instance, the Superman robots (voiced by Gunn regulars Alan Tudyk, Michael Rooker, Pom Klementieff, and Jennifer Holland alongside newcomer Grace Chan) are charming, as is Krypto the Superdog. What this Superman has over both those DC movies and most of the MCU is it doesn’t feel like an ad for the next picture despite obvious sequel threads. Unfortunately, there are sequences where it feels oddly like an ad for itself. Superman has so much going on, between the superheroes we see in the foreground, those with cameos, and the reveals in the climax. More isn’t always better. Sometimes it makes a movie feel desperately crowded. There’s nothing wrong with honing an idea or conflict rather than adding a bunch of ornaments, reducing the screen time and emotional impact of various cast members.

However, this Superman is bold and confident enough to declare in its opening that this is a world where “metahumans” have been around for 300 years, which has a ton of implications to be explored in one of the other movies Gunn has promised to make if he gets the chance to make them (the Craig Gillespie-directed Supergirl starring Milly Alcock is slated for release next year). It feels that should have been more plot-relevant, but was just mentioned to avoid needing to do a bunch of exposition every time we meet a new super-person.

Nearly 50 years on, the Richard Donner-Christopher Reeve-Margot Kidder-Gene Hackman Superman is still the definitive live-action interpretation. This film’s score is even derived from that one. What 2025’s Superman accomplishes most with its relative adequacy is reminding how bleak these films have been of late – poorly shot and lit, shoddy CGI, with no sort of clear directorial vision behind them. Though Gunn’s Superman is overburdened by the metaphorical jingling keys of cameos and Easter eggs as well as actual financial expectations, it does feel like someone thought about the story they were telling and how they would like to see it executed rather than just checking a box for four-quadrant appeal. It is a serviceable crowd-pleaser. If only the bar were a little higher, we could be more impressed with Superman leaping over it in a single bound.

Director: James Gunn
Writer: James Gunn
Stars: David Corenswet, Rachel Brosnahan, Nicholas Hoult, Edi Cathegi, Anthony Carrigan, Nathan Fillion, Isabela Merced
Release date: July 11, 2025

Kevin Fox Jr is a writer and critic who loves art, culture, sports, cooking, and the study of history. He writes, mostly about movies, games, TV, and books at his blog PCVulpes, and you can find him @polycarbonfox on X, or @phantomcobra on BlueSky.

Earnest But Overburdened, James Gunn’s Superman Can Barely Fit in Its Suit