‘Superman’ (2025) Review: James Gunn’s Bold Reboot Restores Hope to the DC Universe

A witty, warm-hearted return to form, James Gunn’s Superman reclaims the legacy of DC Comics’ most iconic hero with style, soul, and sincerity.

It has been a long, winding road for Superman on the big screen. For decades, the Man of Steel has oscillated between nostalgia and grit, from Richard Donner’s golden-age charm to Zack Snyder’s brooding reimaginings. But James Gunn’s 2025 reboot strikes a confident new chord: irreverent without being flippant, heartfelt without turning hokey, and mythic without the weight of self-seriousness. In Superman, Gunn finds not just the story of a hero, but of an identity crisis in plain sight: What does it mean to believe in good again—and to carry that belief in an era when trust is frayed and heroes feel more corporate than compassionate?

David Corenswet shoulders this responsibility with grace, intelligence, and an affecting emotional range. His Superman is bright-eyed, emotionally aware, and still credibly powerful. His Clark Kent, often portrayed as a caricature, emerges here with believable charm and agency. Corenswet taps into both the alien grandeur and Midwestern humility of Kal-El, and his chemistry with Rachel Brosnahan’s Lois Lane electrifies every newsroom scene. Brosnahan, it must be said, is a revelation. Her Lois is razor-sharp, warm, and unapologetically curious, often stealing scenes through sheer gravitas and impeccable comic timing. Their dynamic is rooted in mutual respect and romantic tension, and it forms the emotional spine of the film.

Nicholas Hoult’s Lex Luthor ditches megalomaniacal monologues for something more insidious: quiet petulance wrapped in tech-bro swagger. Modeled as a Zuckerberg-Musk hybrid, his Lex is driven not just by genius, but by insecurity, and Hoult plays him with a disturbing coolness that lingers. The screenplay smartly casts Lex not only as a villain but as a reflection of modern-day disinformation culture, complete with social media manipulation, deepfakes, and a surveillance state as his playground. It’s a masterstroke that makes the character chillingly contemporary.

The plot is admittedly busy. Gunn borrows liberally from the deep lore of Superman’s canon: the metahuman history, Boravian warfare, the Justice League spinoff characters, and a sentient AI dog with boundary issues. But somehow, it all works. Superman plays more like a collage than a straight line—a pastiche of comics, cinema, and contemporary anxieties blended into a singular, surprisingly coherent vision. Subplots intersect and diverge, creating a cinematic ecosystem rather than a single narrative track. This makes the movie feel dense, yes, but also textured and expansive.

Where the film shines brightest is in its emotional authenticity. Gunn grants Superman vulnerability without weakening his resolve. A subplot involving a return to the Kent family farm after a devastating media takedown is handled with poignant restraint, making space for stillness, memory, and recalibration. It’s the kind of storytelling superhero cinema often forgets—not just world-saving, but soul-searching. It reminds audiences that Superman’s greatest strength is not flight or super-hearing, but empathy—a trait he must rediscover in the face of betrayal and doubt.

Standouts among the ensemble include Anthony Carrigan as Metamorpho, Isabela Merced’s wings-out Hawkgirl, and Nathan Fillion’s pitch-perfect comedic take on Green Lantern Guy Gardner. Each adds texture, not distraction. María Gabriela de Faría’s The Engineer is particularly notable—a nanotech-enhanced mirror to Superman’s organic power, used chillingly by Lex in a devastating moment of betrayal. These characters aren’t just comic book deep cuts; they’re integrated with a purpose, filling in thematic corners of Gunn’s narrative blueprint.

The film’s visual language is richly realized. DP Henry Braham crafts Metropolis in hues both golden and neon, while the Fortress of Solitude gleams with a crystalline melancholy. The visual effects, while occasionally overwhelming, are grounded in emotional beats, ensuring that spectacle never overtakes substance. John Murphy and David Fleming’s score respectfully interpolates the iconic John Williams theme without leaning on it too hard, allowing this version to build its own sonic identity. There’s an elegance in how nostalgia and originality coexist here—never clashing, only conversing.

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Not every punch lands perfectly. A few exposition dumps feel obligatory. Some of the side characters flirt with underdevelopment. Pacing in the second act could have been tighter. But the sum is greater than its parts. In an era of spinoffs and franchises for franchise’s sake, Superman feels like a film with purpose, not obligation. Gunn’s Supermanisn’t just a film about hope—it’s a hopeful film, and in 2025, that might be its superpower. It embraces sincerity without irony, sentiment without shame, and heroism without detachment. That, in itself, is radical.

Rating: ★★★★½

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