The long-awaited Superman film directed by James Gunn is one of the most hotly anticipated films of the summer. But does it live up to expectations? Giles Gough finds out
Going into this iteration of Superman, one question reigned supreme in the minds of the director, James Gunn, and his team: Should Superman still wear his trunks on the outside or not?
After much deliberation, Gunn decided against the trunks, feeling that they just looked too silly. Until David Corenswet (the actor currently playing Superman) suggested a compelling reason for his unusual attire: “Maybe they’re supposed to look a little silly. Maybe the reason he wears them is to look a little silly. Basically, to undermine how powerful he really is.”
In Corenswet’s reasoning, we can see a mission statement for the whole film. It doesn’t shrug off the awesome power that Superman has. But, at the same time, it doesn’t get weighed down by it.
This film does push back against the messiah parallels we so often see with Superman
The opening shots of the film give us a lot of information – introducing us to the lore regarding meta-humans and the politics on the planet. But Gunn’s Superman is not an origin story. It largely takes for granted that you know the backstory. Clark Kent and Lois Lane (Rachel Brosnahan) have already been dating for three months, and Lois already knows his secret.
Not your normal messiah
The film pushes back against the messiah parallels that we so often see. In many versions of Superman, he is sent to Earth as a shining example, most notably in 2013’s Man of Steel.
This would often make the comparisons to Jesus quite straight forward. However, in this version, Superman’s Kryptonian parents are much less benevolent. While it’s clearly a gut punch to Superman when those darker intentions are revealed, it does make his journey more compelling.
Viewers still desperate for that messiah parallel will note how, just like the Son of God, the last son of Krypton loves humanity, and is willing to sacrifice for them. But crucially, it’s his decision this time round. “Your choices, your actions, that’s what makes you who you are”, his adoptive father tells him. Clark Kent doesn’t become Superman due to genetics or destiny. He becomes a compassionate protector by choice.
Those choices are, however, brought into question early on. In a scene shown in the trailer, Lois interviews Clark as Superman, and brings him to task over his intervention in a military conflict. “I stopped a war”, he says, bemused at her criticism. When she pushes further, he shouts in exasperation: “People were going to die!” This scene is almost unimaginable in any earlier depiction of Superman, but in the post-truth, aggressively partisan world of 2025, it seems utterly appropriate.
Politics on planet earth
This film is also the most political Superman story in a long while. Superman is not from this world obviously, and he doesn’t shy away from referring to himself as an ‘immigrant’ throughout.
In the film, the US government sub-contracts out its prison needs to Lex Luthor (deftly and delightfully played by Nicholas Hoult), who holds people captive with no mercy and no oversight. Significant portions of the film focus on a well-armed military advancing on an unarmed civilian population.
It is all but impossible to not draw parallels with modern day atrocities happening in the Middle East. It is the kind of scene that makes you wish for a Superman in real life, or at the very least, world leaders with the same moral backbone.
These heavy themes, combined with the general lightness of tone, do at times make the film feel a little uneven. However, this is easy to forgive - largely down to the charisma of the lead actors and the playfulness of the dialogue.
2025 might have brought us the most human Superman of all; he gets tired, feels disillusioned, gets defensive, is emotionally vulnerable, and is not entirely invincible (the film starts with him losing his first fight). The end result is a superhero that is hard not to love.
The best Superman?
It’s not said lightly, but David Corenswet may be the best cinematic Superman since Christopher Reeve. That might sound like a dig at Henry Cavill, but it’s really not. Cavill’s Superman clearly had the character down, but it would be hard to say that he had the stories he deserved.
Hopefully that won’t be the case with this Superman. With James Gunn as director, and head of the newly formed DC studios, it’s reasonable to assume that Superman is safe for now.
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