Movie Review: James Gunn’s Superman Is The Hero We’ve Been Waiting For

Jessica Miglio/Warner Bros. Pictures

For years, audiences have debated whether Superman is too perfect to be interesting. How do you create tension around a character who can fly at the speed of light, bend steel, and hear a cry for help from halfway across the world? The answer, as it turns out, isn’t to make him darker or more conflicted, it’s to make him good.

James Gunn’s Superman is a bright, bold, and deeply heartfelt love letter to the character’s essence. This isn’t the brooding, tortured Superman of the past decade. It’s not a grim, grayscale epic trying to force gravitas onto a figure who was never meant to represent doubt and darkness. Instead, it’s a film that fully embraces what Superman has always been about: hope, kindness, and doing the right thing simply because it’s the right thing to do.

From its opening moments, Superman makes its intentions clear. Gunn drops us into a world already populated by metahumans, skipping the usual origin story in favor of something far more confident. There’s no time wasted explaining how Clark Kent got here, we’re trusted to keep up. This is a movie that assumes you’ve read a comic or seen a cape before, and it’s all the better for it.

A Man Who Happens to Be Super

David Corenswet steps into the role of Superman with the kind of charisma and sincerity that’s all too rare in modern superhero films. His Clark Kent isn’t just a disguise, it’s an extension of the same earnest, empathetic man we see in the cape. His Superman is gentle, humble, and sometimes even dorky, but never naive. He’s a man raised to care, not just about saving the world, but about everyone in it. Whether he’s rescuing civilians or offering a hand to his enemies, Corenswet captures the quiet strength and moral clarity that make Superman so enduring.

And yes, he says things like “sorry, chum” with a straight face, and somehow makes it work.

Rachel Brosnahan brings fire and intelligence to Lois Lane, portraying her not as a damsel or sidekick, but as an equal. This Lois is sharp, fearless, and deeply principled. She challenges Clark, holds the government accountable, and never backs down. Together, they make an effortlessly engaging pair—not because the film pushes romance, but because their values align. They’re both people who run toward danger when others run away.

A Colorful Cast, a Comic Book World

Gunn’s touch is unmistakable in the ensemble of heroes that surround Superman. Characters like Hawk Girl (Isabela Merced), Guy Gardner (Nathan Fillion), and Mister Terrific (Edi Gathegi) each bring distinct energy to the film, adding levity, edge, and style. While we don’t get detailed backstories, Gunn trusts us to read their roles instinctively. They feel lived-in. Gathegi’s Mister Terrific in particular is a breakout—cool, cerebral, and completely magnetic every time he’s on screen. A single-take action sequence featuring him might be one of the best set pieces DC has ever put to screen.

Nicholas Hoult, meanwhile, delivers a Lex Luthor for our time. He’s slick, smarmy, and unmistakably drawn from the real-life tech oligarchs we all love to hate. Hoult walks the fine line between theatrical villainy and biting realism with ease. His Lex is dangerous not because he’s physically intimidating, but because he believes he should be the one the world turns to, not some alien in a cape. He is power without purpose, wealth without empathy, and entitlement incarnate. In short: the perfect foil for Superman.

Jessica Miglio/Warner Bros. Pictures

A Return to Heart

What makes Superman stand apart in a sea of superhero films is its tone. This is not a gritty reboot. It’s not trying to be edgy or ironic. There’s no wink to the camera, no meta-commentary about how silly capes are. Gunn doesn’t just embrace the “comic bookiness” of the world, he revels in it. There are robots. There’s a superdog. There are colorful suits and clean lines and characters who say what they mean. It’s sincere, and that sincerity is its secret weapon.

The film understands something that many modern superhero movies have forgotten: cynicism doesn’t make a hero compelling. Compassion does. And Superman is a film built around compassion. The script is full of small, beautiful moments that highlight Superman’s care for others—even the smallest, most vulnerable lives around him. He saves people not because it looks cool, but because it’s the right thing to do.

Gunn’s Strongest Work Yet?

James Gunn has made a career out of turning oddballs into icons. With Guardians of the Galaxy, The Suicide Squad, and Peacemaker, he found ways to inject heart into chaos. But here, with Superman, Gunn trades in irreverence for reverence—and it works. This might be his most accomplished, most emotionally resonant work to date. It’s not just a good superhero movie. It’s a deeply kind one.

That’s not to say the movie is without flaws. Some characters could’ve used more development. The Justice Gang (as one character jokingly refers to them) feel more like glimpses than full arcs. But that’s a deliberate choice. This isn’t their story, it’s Superman’s. And in focusing on that, the film stays remarkably clear-headed.

Final Verdict

Superman is a joyful, sincere, and visually striking return to form for the DC Universe. It doesn’t try to reinvent the wheel, it just reminds us why the wheel worked so well to begin with. In a world full of antiheroes and compromised icons, this Superman stands tall as a beacon of integrity, humility, and unwavering optimism.

It’s a film that believes in the best of us and asks us to believe in it too.

Rating: 9/10