Not too long ago, I talked about the original Superman, Superman II, and Supergirl, and how those three movies were massive parts of my childhood. Man of Steel is a character I have loved for the better part of 40 years as I write this, and I was so excited to see James Gunn’s take on Superman and the DC Universe in general. Oh, I did also talk about Superman III and Superman IV as well, but let’s be honest, no one really wants to discuss those any further.
Where to Watch Superman (2025)
Superman (2025) was released on July 11, 2025. In a few months from this date you should be able to stream it from HBO Max.
The Movie Review
To be fair, I enjoyed most of the DC movies that came before this, but it was clear that DC was lacking an identity and a direction and I think that James Gunn is the guy who can give it that. Perhaps Zack Snyder and the other people who were making DC movies prior to this had to much studio interference and the instance on doing things the Marvel way of having everything connected did not feel as natural as it did with the MCU.
A Superman Story Before a Universe
With James Gunn’s Superman, this very much feels like a Superman movie first and foremost, and not like it is trying to kickstart some new massive cinematic universe. This was pretty much everything that I wanted in a Superman movie. David Corenswet was fantastic in the lead role, and I was surprised that he was Superman for like 90 percent of the movie; there was very little Clark Kent here.
A Unique and Powerful Opening
The movie has a fantastic opening. You do not have to see the last seconds of Krypton for the one millionth time, Kal-El’s pod crashing to Earth, or Clark being raised by the Kents! This kicks off with a few lines of text that gives you the gist of the Superman story and how we got to where we are at when the movie starts, which is several years after Clark became Superman.
Lex Luthor’s Strategic Manipulation
Lex Luthor is trying his best to ruin the name of Superman and turn the people of the world against him. Superman interferes with some trouble in a far-off country, and Luthor uses this to fan the flames and ends up getting Superman arrested. With Superman being too powerful for the government to hold, Luthor “kindly” offers his high-tech security firm to handle the Man of Steel’s captivity. It never fails to amaze me the way people in the DC universe trust Lex Luthor.
The Justice Gang Joins the Fight
I do not want to get into spoilers here, but as you would expect, Lex Luthor is not this American patriot who is worried for the safety of his fellow man, like he is acting. Thankfully, Superman has some friends in the form of the Justice Gang, which is led by Nathan Fillion’s Guy Gardner. I loved watching Batman: The Brave and the Bold with my son, and in that show, Guy Gardner was the Green Lantern, and Nathan Fillion plays him perfectly, including the stupid haircut.
Supporting Heroes Add Depth
In addition to Guy Gardner, we also have Hawk Girl. Now, Hawk Girl looked fantastic, but her screech or whatever you want to call it was pretty annoying, but hey, I get why it was here. There is also Mister Terrific, who I thought was really well done. This was the character I was most unsure of, as I felt that the CW Arrowverse did Mister Terrific really well, and that was still in my memory, so I was interested to see how Edi Gathegi would do, and he was great.
Humanity in Superman’s World
There are also the non-superpowered people who are in Superman/Clark Kent’s life. There was not as much of this stuff as I was expecting, but I still loved how James Gunn was able to show the human side of Superman. His relationship with Lois Lane is very well done, and there is a scene where he lets her interview him that is awesome and a major “character” part for both characters.
Jimmy Olsen, The Kents, and Krypto
We also have Jimmy Olsen. Jimmy Olsen, I felt, was a bit of an asshole and should have thanked his lucky stars that a babe like Eve Teschmacher gave him the time of day. There are some parts with Ma and Pa Kent, including a touching moment with Clark and his father, which you could tell, Clark really needed. While there is a lot of over the top action here and he is in the suit for most of the movie, we do get to see a lot of great acting and humanity from Superman. Man, how did I forget Krypto??? Krypto was a ton of fun, and I loved how he was literally a dog, but he just so happened to have superpowers!
Visual Effects and Cinematic Experience
You can tell that Superman was a very expensive movie to make, and none of that money looks like it was wasted. The special effects in this movie are insane, and there was never a moment when I felt the CGI was bad! A few days before this, I watched the 2023 The Flash movie, which I liked at the time, but holy crap, is the CGI in that movie horrible! That is not the case here, also, a lot of the action scenes happen in broad daylight, so they are not trying to hide stuff in dark scenes either.
A Nostalgic and Fun Movie Experience
I could probably write another 500 words about why I thought that this movie was so good. This may sound cheesy as hell, but it made me feel like a kid again as I was sitting in the theatre. This was just a fun movie from start to end, and there is nothing really that I can think I disliked. I can easily see myself going to see this again in the theatre and I am positive I will have just as much fun a second time. I just hope that this does well at the box office, as July is a very crowded time with this being sandwiched in between Jurassic World: Rebirth and Fantastic Four: First Steps.
A Score That Hits All the Right Notes
Oh, one thing before I go, I have to talk about the music! This movie makes use of the classic and iconic John Williams Superman theme perfectly! The way that different versions of this classic theme are blended into all kinds of scenes was amazing. It certainly tugged on the nostalgia strings, but each time it was used, it felt like it was used perfectly.
