SUPERMAN
IMDb Rating
165K+
IMDb Votes
86%
Rotten Tomatoes
$862M
Box Office
Synopsis & Review
Written and directed by James Gunn — who assumed co-leadership of DC Studios alongside producer Peter Safran in late 2022 — Superman is the inaugural film of the rebooted DC Universe and, by design, a deliberate repudiation of the grimdark aesthetic that defined the Snyder-era DCEU. Clark Kent (David Corenswet) is a young journalist at the Daily Planet in Metropolis, a city he has adopted with the same earnest enthusiasm that defines everything else about him. He is also, of course, Superman — the last son of Krypton, possessed of abilities that exceed every human limitation, and committed to using those abilities in the service of a world that he has chosen to love despite its profound flaws. The film's central conflict is not merely physical: Lex Luthor (Nicholas Hoult), a tech billionaire whose intelligence is matched only by his pathological need to be the most important person in any room, has identified Superman not as a hero but as a category error — a being whose very existence diminishes humanity's autonomy — and is prepared to dismantle the world's trust in him by any means available. Meanwhile, Clark navigates his relationship with Lois Lane (Rachel Brosnahan), the most capable person at the Daily Planet and the only human whose mind genuinely delights him, while forming unexpected alliances with other powered individuals who are finding their own way in a world suddenly conscious of its superheroes.
What Gunn has achieved with Superman is more difficult than it appears: he has made a film about a character who is essentially incorruptible that is nevertheless dramatically compelling. The secret is that Gunn and Corenswet understand that Superman's goodness is not a constraint on the character but the most interesting thing about him. In a cultural moment saturated with antiheroes, moral ambiguity, and protagonists defined by their damage, a man who is simply and genuinely and unconditionally good — not because he was raised to be, not because the alternative was worse, but because he has looked at the world and decided that love is the correct response to it — is genuinely radical. Corenswet communicates this with a physical openness and a quality of attention in his scenes with other characters that makes Clark Kent as compelling as Superman. Hoult's Luthor is the best screen iteration of the character since Gene Hackman's: witty, genuinely brilliant, and wrong in ways the film never condescends to explain away. Rachel Brosnahan's Lois is a revelation — a journalist who is better at her job than Clark is at his, and who refuses to be narratively diminished by proximity to a god. Superman is the DCU's most confident beginning imaginable.
Why Watch This Movie?
Superman Is Allowed to Be Good Again
For over a decade, the dominant creative assumption in superhero filmmaking was that audiences would not accept a protagonist who was simply, uncomplicated good — that moral complexity was a prerequisite for dramatic interest. Superman refutes this assumption completely. Gunn's Clark Kent is not tortured, not conflicted about his place in the world, not haunted by a dark origin. He is a man who has tremendous power and uses it in the service of others because that is the right thing to do, and the film treats this as both dramatically interesting and emotionally moving. The response from audiences — and from critics who had grown exhausted by deconstruction — has been relief as much as enthusiasm.
David Corenswet Is the Superman We Deserved
Casting Superman is one of the most pressure-laden decisions in Hollywood — the role comes with the weight of Christopher Reeve's definitive 1978 performance and the expectations of three generations of fans. Corenswet does not try to replicate Reeve; he builds something new from the same fundamental material. His Clark Kent is a slightly awkward, intensely curious, genuinely joyful young man — someone who finds the world endlessly fascinating and whose goodness reads not as naivety but as a considered, active choice. His Superman is physically imposing and visually iconic, but the performance's core is in the eyes: a warmth and a steadiness that makes you believe, for two hours, that someone is actually watching over you.
Gunn Builds a World Worth Inhabiting
Metropolis in Superman feels like an actual city rather than a CGI backdrop — a place where people live, work, and argue about whether the man in the cape is a gift or a problem. The supporting cast, including Edi Gathegi as Mister Terrific, Isabela Merced as Hawkgirl, and Nathan Fillion as Guy Gardner, are introduced with enough specificity that you want to know more about all of them without the film ever losing sight of its primary story. Gunn's gift — demonstrated throughout his Guardians of the Galaxy work — is the ability to make ensemble characters feel like people rather than franchise chess pieces, and it serves this film enormously.
Cast & Crew
Director / Writer
James Gunn
Studio
DC Studios / Warner Bros.
Original Score
John Murphy
Clark Kent / Superman
David Corenswet
Lois Lane
Rachel Brosnahan
Lex Luthor
Nicholas Hoult
Mister Terrific
Edi Gathegi
Hawkgirl
Isabela Merced
Guy Gardner
Nathan Fillion
Official Trailer
© DC Studios / Warner Bros. Pictures. Trailer embedded via YouTube.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is this Superman connected to the Snyder DCEU films?
No — Gunn's Superman is a complete reboot with no continuity connection to the Snyder-era DCEU films (Man of Steel, Batman v Superman, Justice League, etc.). David Corenswet's Clark Kent is a different character in a different universe from Henry Cavill's Superman. The new DCU begins fresh with this film, and no prior knowledge of any previous DC film or television production is required or assumed. Gunn has been explicit that the new DCU is a clean slate designed to be accessible to audiences who never engaged with the previous iteration of DC on screen.
What other DCU films and shows are planned after Superman?
DC Studios has announced an extensive slate of connected DCU projects under the banner "Gods and Monsters" — Chapter One of the new DC Universe. Confirmed projects include Creature Commandos (animated series, already released on Max), Waller (series), Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow (film), The Authority (film), Lanterns (series, featuring Hal Jordan and John Stewart), The Brave and the Bold (film, introducing Batman and Damian Wayne), and Swamp Thing (film). All are set in the same continuity as Superman, and several feature characters introduced in the film.
Who is Krypto and why is he in the film?
Krypto the Superdog is Superman's loyal Kryptonian canine companion, a character from the original DC Comics with a history dating to 1955. Gunn included Krypto in the film partly as a deliberate signal of the tone he was aiming for — a film comfortable with the full, sometimes delightfully absurd breadth of Superman mythology rather than one trying to strip the character down to a "realistic" core. Krypto's presence has been one of the most enthusiastically received elements of the film by audiences. He is rendered in digital effects and possesses Kryptonian powers under Earth's yellow sun, making him arguably the second most powerful being in the film — a fact the movie deploys for both comedy and genuine emotional effect.
Is Superman (2025) appropriate for children?
The film is rated PG-13 and is one of the more family-friendly entries the superhero genre has produced in recent years. Unlike the Snyder-era DC films, Superman contains no graphic violence, no extreme darkness, and no content designed to disturb younger viewers. The action sequences are intense but not frightening, the humour is accessible across age groups, and the film's central themes — kindness, responsibility, the decision to help rather than harm — are exactly the values parents want their children to see modelled. Most children aged eight and older who enjoy superhero stories will find this entirely accessible and highly enjoyable. It is, by design, a film the whole family can watch together.
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