The man of steel.

I am admittedly disappointed with myself. Back in late 2024 and early 2025 I was obsessed with Creature Commandos which was the official start and launch pad for the new DC Universe under the leadership of one James Gunn. And then, like I normally do, I got distracted by stuff and we find ourselves a year and a half down the road and three days from the release of Supergirl and I still haven’t watched Superman or the second season of Peacemaker. And I loved Peacemaker season one. Blame me for being stupid and inattentive.

But I finally got around to laying naked on my couch and eating hot pot while watching the Superman movie and I have to say…I loved it. Wish I had seen it much earlier. Let’s talk about it.

Superman stars David Corenswet in his premiere as Kal-El aka Clark Kent aka Superman. The Man of Steel. The guy who can leap an entire building in a single bound. He who has big shoes to fill given how much everyone loves Henry Cavill. Joining him at the Daily Planet where he works incognito is of course series staples Lois Lane (Rachel Brosnahan), Jimmy Olsen (Skyler Gisondo), and Perry White (Wendell Pierce). Naturally this wouldn’t be a Superman film without the bad guy being Lex Luthor who I thought for a split second was Benedict Cumberbatch but it turns out he is played by Nicholas Hoult.

There’s a lot I can appreciate about the new Superman movie. For starters it’s not an origin story. I’ve noticed origin stories are pretty much dead in superhero flicks, and I’m fine with that. They’re a waste of time unless you’re talking about a character the general audience isn’t quite as familiar with and thus hasn’t seen a billion times. The MCU spent so much time origin’ing its characters that now two thirds of the plots are on the cutting room floor thanks to hero fatigue and we’re never going to get a follow up to them anyway.

Also I really like that Superman spends a whole lot of the movie outmatched and therefore in need of help. A lot of the time writers tend to make Superman effectively a God and then artificially tone him down for the sake of the plot in a wholly unconvincing way. This movie gives a reasonable explanation for why Superman is outmatched and it works and it gives real stakes and sets Superman up as the underdog. Speaking of underdog, Krypto is here as the comic relief doggo.

I also like how the movie portrays a world with many superheroes, it’s clever borderlining on hilarious. Alongside Superman is the Justice Gang sponsored by Maxwell Lord, and we’ll have to see if Gunn does anything with Lord because in the comics he eventually becomes a villain. Edi Gathegi plays Mr. Terrific, a gadget-using hero who also employs sarcasm and dry humor. Nathan Fillion plays Guy Gardner’s Green Lantern with just the level of arrogance as you’d expect from Guy Gardner. And then there’s Hawkgirl played by Isabela Merced. I love Isabela’s performance in this movie and can’t wait to see her in more DC films.

I loved the scene where the Justice Gang is fighting a giant light monster in plain view of Clark as he’s on a date with Lois and he doesn’t intervene because they’ve got it covered. The main character doesn’t actually have to do everything for once.

Superman has a few plots going on at the same time. On one hand you’ve got Lex Luthor using the reach and influence of Luthorcorp (which is a terrible name compared to Lex Corp. by the way) trying to destroy Superman and turn the public and governments of the world against him. Why? Because Lex is a pathetic loser and Superman makes his peepee look small. There’s a whole ongoing plot about the fictional country of Boravia planning an invasion and effectively a genocide against the fictional country of Jarhanpur under the disguise of getting rid of its cruel dictatorship. The movie is definitely not an allegory about Israel and Palestine, trust me.

Headlining the villains is María Gabriela de Faría as The Engineer, a woman who hates metahumans as much as Lex does and allowed her body to be transformed into a nanobot entity in order to fight Superman. Look, you can’t have a superhero movie these days without nanobots. Let’s be happy they’re using real costumes unlike the MCU where just about everything is green screened in. The Engineer was a set up for an upcoming movie based on The Authority which has since been shitcanned.

Otherwise this is a Superman movie. There’s a lot of talk about morality and standing up for what’s right and just and honest and all that mushy stuff. For those that want the return of the days where Superman was the boy scout who doesn’t even swear much, this is your film. Also this is a James Gunn movie, you know for a fact that it’s going to integrate a fantastic score into the fight sequences and for that Superman does not disappoint. There’s a lot of CG, especially in the obligatory “let’s destroy Metropolis…again” fight sequence at the end, but the earlier fight sequences do feel much more practical in scope and mood like when Mr. Terrific goes to Luthor’s base and just beats the crap out of everyone.

Superman is a fun movie, I especially liked the part where they punch each other in the face. Visually it is a stunning movie.

Now I want to watch Peacemaker Season 2. Is HBO Max on sale? Maybe I should just boot up the torrent machine. Anyway, I’m going to go back to writing reviews now.

Rating: A