Superman

UK Release Date. 11 July 2025
Certification. 12A
Running Time. 2 hours 9 mins
Director. James Gunn
Cast. Rachel Brosnahan, David Corenswet, Nathan Fillion, Edi Gathegi, Skyler Gisondo, Nicholas Hoult, Isabela Merced.
Rating. 26%

Review.

For the past two decades, DC Comics and Warner Bros have struggled to assemble a cohesive cinematic universe to rival that of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Even as the Marvel Cinematic Universe limped towards increasing irrelevance, its rival still failed to gain ground. Sure, there have been occasional high points, the likes of Man Of Steel and Wonder Woman. However, for every Man Of Steel or Wonder Woman, there was a Black Adam or Shazam! Fury Of The Gods. Only the rare non-DC Extended Universe projects seemed to escape the weight of the challenge, Todd Phillips' Joker, and especially Matt Reeves' The Batman.

James Gunn promised to remedy this with Superman, the first film in the eagerly anticipated wider reboot of the DC Universe. But I’m afraid, Superman is far from the resounding triumph DC Comics needed to garner interest and restore faith in the 'comic book movie.' 

Why? Too many cringe-worthy gimmicks. The list is plentiful.

i. The unruly canine companion, Krypto.

ii.  The automatons in the Fortress of Solitude [voiced by Alan Tudyk, Grace Chan, Pom Klementieff and Michael Rooker].

iii. The costume designer, Judianna Makovsky's formless vintage Superman costume.

iv. Lex Luthor's ensemble of evil call-handlers, whose sole function is to press a button every time Luthor calls out an attack combination.

v. The Justice Gang. To quote Denarian Saal, "What a bunch of a-holes."

vi. The Daily Planet staff away day. Not only does Jimmy Olsen (Skyler Gisondo) appear in Superman, but Perry White (Wendell Pierce), Cat Grant (Mikaela Hoover), Steve Lombard (Beck Bennett), and Ron Troupe (Christopher McDonald), all appear as well. All receive absolutely no meaningful screentime or characterisation to speak of.

vii. The teenage manifestation of Kara Zor-El (Milly Alcock).

The sprawling cast flounders amid an equally bloated, and badly paced plot. But worse still, Superman is a tonal disaster. Director James Gunn cannot seem to settle on what tone to adopt. The weirdly cynical nature of the film stands in stark contrast to its purported optimism, and the incessant jokiness only makes matters worse. Where Gunn’s sense of humour works so well with Star-Lord and the rest of the Guardians of the Galaxy, it feels wildly out of place in here. The fact that you never really get to care about any of these characters the way you do for Star-Lord, Gamora, Drax, Rocket or Groot doesn’t help matters. If Gunn's ambition was to update Richard Donner's 1978 Superman with a Guardians Of The Galaxy vibe, then the truth is, the nearly 50-year-old film achieves a more coherent tone.

One highlight for me, David Fleming's (and John Murphy's) reimagining of John Williams' iconic theme, with variations like Home, Last Son and Raising The Flag is suitably stirring.

James Gunn may have successfully captured Superman's morals and beliefs, but ultimately, the film is a major disappointment. Superman is a film that screams 'generic superhero film' at the top of its lungs. We needed a more straight-laced director to help our hero soar, and a script that tapped more earnestly into the universal themes of hope, goodness and heroism. Painfully mediocre at best.