Superman (2025) Review

First and foremost, I am not a comic book fan. I’m not even a big superhero fan. I watched the MCU’s offerings up until Spiderman: No Way Home. I (dutifully) sat through the four hour monster that was the Snyder cut of Justice League. Do I know if anything that happens in the comic books happens in the films? No. Do I care? Also no. Am I constantly tired of the over-saturation of the superhero genre, and glad to see studios taking slightly more risks outside of this, even if they are miniscule? Yes. 

That being said, I’m married to someone who doesn’t necessarily feel the same way I do about these things, and so on the morning of release day, off we went to see James Gunn’s first theatrical offering as head of DC studios – Superman. After the announcement we wouldn’t see Henry Cavill return as the titular character, DC fanboys fell to their knees in agony – so this film had to hold up before it had even started filming. I don’t know if the question we’re going to answer is if it does, but rather, has DC done what it always seems to do and fallen at the very first hurdle? 

Below is my Superman (2025) review. I’ll aim to be as spoiler free as possible, but read at your own peril.

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The Review

Image by DC Studios

To begin with, there’s a lot to enjoy about this movie, which isn’t really all that surprising. Gunn had three decent MCU releases with his Guardians of the Galaxy trilogy, something that can’t be said for everyone’s entries into the universe. Though he may not be everyone’s cup of tea, whatever Gunn touches seemingly turns into box office gold and often critical acclaim – so of course, DC Studios would want a slice of that magic. 

With the franchise once more starting from scratch, wiping the slate clean from Zack Snyder’s turn at the helm, there’s a risk of exhaustion before we’ve even seen the first release. There’s only so many times you can watch Batman’s parents get shot in an alley, or Superman get sent to Earth as a baby. Luckily, we don’t have to find ourselves dealing with another origin story – we start almost from the middle of the film. Superman is an established hero and Lex Luthor hates him already. In fact, it opens with Superman completely broken from an offscreen fight. There is no moment of peace from this point on. 

I’m not all too familiar with David Corenswet, and I’m not sure the rest of the world is either. This seems to be his biggest role to date. He has the look of Superman for sure; and to be honest, from Henry Cavill’s (let’s say) stoic turn as the character, he seems to at least show a range of emotions throughout the film. The moments where Superman is at his lowest are  the moments that tug on your emotions just a little bit, making it all the more sweeter for when he found strength to keep going. It was, however, potentially unfair to have Nicholas Hoult as Lex Luthor because I found Corenswet to be easily outshined. 

Hoult as Luthor is just so good. The man is petty, vindictive, arrogant and incredibly intelligent. All things that eventually undo him, but for a while create a formidable foe, one where you’re constantly unsure of how it would end. More times than not, he has the upperhand in the film, and Hoult seems to revel in that. Towards the end of the film, as Luthor’s otherwise cold demeanour begins to fall apart at the seams, Hoult almost brandishes the anger of the character, everyone else swept up with it. He is willing for the world to crumble in order to take down Superman, willing to start a war to find a miniscule chip in the Kryptonian’s armour. Hoult nails it all down.

Image by DC Studios

While I enjoy Rachel Brosnahan as an actor, I have to say, so many times her mannerisms as Lois Lane reminded me of her stint as Midge Maisel in The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel. Which was a shame, because it made her feel limited in comparison to her co-stars. I will say, I loved that at no point did Lois Lane have to be rescued. Too often the character is swept up as collateral damage, a damsel constantly in distress. Lane actually does some investigative reporting, and contributes to the film beyond ‘Superman’s girlfriend’. 

Though there is a literal war on the precipice of happening due to Superman’s involvement (a war that is, whether intentionally or not, quite similar to current events), the crux of the film seems to be centred around Superman’s identity, or rather what he believed his identity was. His Kryptonian roots are what kept him grounded almost, with him almost pushing his Kansas family aside in favour of it. The film seems to explore what happens when he loses those roots, the things that tie him to a planet he knows he came from, but of nothing else. I honestly found that to be endearing. I think it’s a relatable feeling to feel as though you’ve lost parts of you (not the same scale, of course) and to not know where to go from there. 

Perhaps the moment that shines the most to me, is watching Clark Kent’s father break down at the sight of his broken son, before trying to build him back up again. To see his parents and him watch the TV as two kids makeshift a flag with the Superman logo as they see the army come close to their borders. It’s never explicitly said what the S stands for in this film, but you know within that moment that it stands for what it’s always been – hope.

Image by DC Studios

It doesn’t mean the film is completely flawless though. We start with Superman down before we’ve had a chance to get to see him up. The usual beacon of justice, truth and hope is crushed over and over. Every time you see him get up again, he just gets crushed once more. Which, if Superman was brand new to the superhero life, would make sense. This version of the character is meant to be well-established though. Maybe the intention was to have him as an underdog, but it’s hard to see an all-power superbeing as one. It might give Corenswet a chance to flex his acting chops, but at the expense of the character. Whether intentionally or not, this version of Superman appears weaker than previous iterations. Perhaps it’s endearing, but I just mostly found it to be frustrating. 

Not only that, but the fight scenes were nauseating. Why is the direction for scenes like this always shaky cameras that make it difficult to follow anything that’s happening? Why were there so many slow motion shots of the logo? Why, oh why did we have so many almost fish-eye lense shots of Superman flying? The grounded moments feature some beautiful shots, but the fight scenes seem to be given no second thought. I imagine watching it in 3D or worse poses a risk to your ability to hold your popcorn in, so you know… book IMAX 4D tickets at your own risk. 

Honestly, it’s biggest flaw is that it doesn’t offer anything new. I think there’s a chance for DC and Gunn to take risks, but it feels as though they’ve erred on the side of caution, keeping it relatively safe for this round so as to not lose too many fans at once. Which is fine overall. There’s nothing wrong with playing it safe, especially for a studio that has had so many flops. I just hoped to see something beyond that. Gunn’s never been afraid to shy away from the weird before, but maybe that’s changed since he’s started to run the show. Fingers crossed it finds its way back into his films.

Image by DC Studios

While the DCU does have a long way to go to completely shed the image of the past decade or so, to change the legacy of DC movies, I don’t think Superman (2025) is such a terrible start to it. I think beginning with a character who is meant to symbolise hope was the right move to begin with, especially with the way the world is now. Putting Corenswet with veteran Hoult both strengthened and weakened his performance, but still – it’s a lot better than the recent outputs from the studio. 

There is a risk that Gunn will follow the MCU formula, especially when it comes to the script. There are moments where I find them interchangeable almost. There needs to be differentiation between the two – otherwise, we risk the superhero genre becoming so generic and it’s already wobbling on its last legs. 

While Superman (2025) doesn’t necessarily breathe new life into the genre, it does breathe new life into the DC universe. Hopefully, the films to follow will continue that trajectory.

See also: The Best Superman Movies To Date

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