Cast: David Corenswet as Clark Kent/Superman, Rachel Brosnahan as Lois Lane, Nicholas Hoult as Lex Luther, Skyler Gisondo as Jimmy Olsen, Wendell Pierce as Perry White, Maria Gabriela De Faria as The Engineer, Nathan Fillion as Green Lantern, Isabella Merced as Hawkgril, Edi Gathegi as Mr Terrific, Alan Tudyk as Gary, Bradley Cooper as Jor-El, Pruitt Taylor Vince as pa Kent, Neva Howell as Ma Kent, Mikaela Hoover as Kat, Christopher McDonald as Ron Troupe, Frank Grillo as Rick Flagg Sr, Beck Bennett as Steve, with Michael Ian Black, Anthony Carrigan, Michael Rooker, Pom Klementieff, Trevor Newlin

Written and Directed By: James Gunn

Original Score by David Fleming and John Murphy

Studio: Warner Bros

Release Year: 2025

Runtime: approx. 120 minutes

Audio description Produced By: deluxe

Written By:

Narrated By: Jedidiah Barton

What Is it?: The official restart for James Gunn’s version of the DCU, which he inherited after successfully helming Guardians of the Galaxy for Marvel, and a better redux of The Suicide Squad for DC. No origin story, as Clark Kent is not in Smallville, but instead in Metropolis, working for The Daily Planet, and already dating Lois Lane (Brosnahan) who is fully aware of who he is. Superman has already been performing heroic acts, to the chagrin of tech bro and future supervillain Lex Luther (Hoult) who has devious plans, but needs Superman and other meta-humans out of the way before he can strike. Superman soon becomes the center of a smear campaign, and he must find a way to get back to truth, justice, and a better tomorrow. He’s accompanied by Krypto the Super Dog.

What Works: David is inspiring as Superman, and a great casting find. He’s not as serious as Henry Cavill, and feels more comfortable than Brandon Routh. He is affable, but he also meshes well with Gunn’s version of this. The thing about James Gunn, and some trepidation I had, is that he is a stylized filmmaker. it isn’t a bad thing, but you do have to make it work for you, and for your project, and not every superhero movie needs to resemble Guardians Of the Galaxy. Auteurs have often very specific styles their fans gravitate toward, and Gunn does dial it back a little, but I still think anyone could look at this and know it was james Gunn. it is vibrant, it has a lot of self referential goofiness, and certain actors Gunn loves to work with. The core original Superman characters are designed well, with Lois being a reporter who gets her story, Jimmy being young and ambitious, and Lex coming across as the smartest guy in the room. Typical traits.

There are several fun action set pieces and villains for Superman to fight, as well as a pretty strong and relevant arc about external forces manipulating the media for personal gain. While Hoult’s Luther is so very much like his previous iterations, he is also incredibly modern and feels like a cautionary tale for our times. We might have a real life Lex among us right now.

And of course, Krypto was a huge win for the film. Probably the best decision James Gunn made, as the other versions didn’t, and it gives a whole new side to Superman, as well as a sidekick that makes sense. I liked the score, but like most Gunn films, it will be remembered more for its soundtrack of needle drops. Certainly the takeaway here is that James Gunn saw Zack Snyder’s DC Universe as being increasingly dark, and he’s decided to lighten things up a lot. While Superman has some sadness within, it is nothing compared to what Snyder would have chosen to do. While I’m about to cover this next bit in the following section, I will say I really did enjoy Edi Gathegi, who played his Mr terrific straight, and didn’t let him become a gag.

What Doesn’t Work: I came for Superman, not the Justice gang. This is where Gunn overshoots, because as much as I love Nathan Fillion, and would be fully open to a big budget Green Lantern starring him if Gunn took it seriously, he’s brought in here as a joke. this film has a lot of extraneous meta humans it doesn’t need, and it should have let Superman carry his own film, maybe with just Krypto. By the time you get to the Supergirl cameo at the end (as it is the next film in this series), it isn’t even impactful. Plus, she shows up drunk, which is also, not something that bodes well for her being the center of a film. these characters did make Superman look more heroic, by comparison, because he is a bit more of a Boy Scout, but it does feel wasted to see a goofy Green Lantern. Also, what it does here is introduce us to how Gunn sees green Lantern, which is kind of an idiot, who is not only incapable of saving the day by himself, but can’t even do it with his justice Gang, and they don’t even like the name, nor is he really their leader. Like it or not, Green Lantern is one of the more recognizable heroes in DC, and he’s perfectly cast, but Gunn turns him into a gag.

A lot of this feels goofy. ma and Pa Kent feel pulled out of deliverance. Clark has a robot protecting the Fortress of Solitude, which is played more for laughs. I love Alan Tudyk, but he’s a far more capable actor, and has already done the robot thing.

And that pop/rock score full of hot clips? It gets a little weird as Gunn chooses to close out on Clark being a punk rock God, or whatever that song was suggesting, since he’s anything but. James Gunn is an excellent auteur, but I do wonder if he was the best person for the job, since he has no off switch. Now, peacemaker, Suicide Squad, and Superman all feel the same, and I’m just not sure that’s the best course of action.

The Audio Description: the fight scenes are well described. Superman’s main villain uses nano bots to restructure themselves all the time, which allows for a lot. He also fights a large dragon thing, and deals with dimensional portals. Plus, a variety of characters need to be described so we know what their outfits are. Barton is a reliable and perfect choice.

Why you Might Like It: You really love James Gunn and Superman.

Why you Might Not Like it: You really love Zack Snyder and Henry Cavill.

Final thoughts: While definitely entertaining and worth the wait, there’s no doubt Superman had room to explore a better version of itself, one possibly without all the typical fanboy gags James Gunn has become known for.

Fresh: Final grade: 8/10