Tiny Table 3

The return of the man in blue has come, by the hand of James Gunn, with more darkness, more humor, and a handful of middle-fingers, literally. James pays homage to past iterations, to be sure, but he never compromises his unique vision. It is not Donner’s 1970’s tinted saccharine blockbuster. It is not Snyder’s 2010’s fan appeasements. This Superman belongs to Gunn and to 2025.

Smartly, the film avoids revisiting the all too familiar Krypton/Kansas origins and drops us in medias res: Superman is getting a super ass-whooping and is embroiled in international conflict. It is a world where threats by monsters and supervillians are so commonplace, the onlookers barely notice, where superheroes show up with regularity, and the real villain is misinformation, disinformation, and social media monkeys (maybe, the ‘woke’ aspect that pissed off Dean Cain). It is not a callback. It is the call.

Superman’s central theme explores a question common to science-fiction. Should we restrict freedom, up to and including the right to kill each other, in exchange for security? And, should one person be able to make that choice without our consent. Heady stuff. It’s explored in a tightly written exchange as Lois Lane (Rachel Brosnahan) questions Superman’s (David Corenswet) decision to act unilaterally in world affairs. Lois emerges in the exchange as a serious journalist, hard and uncompromising, but Clark spins between frustration and anger–a conflicted hero. We walk away from the scene wondering if Superman’s commitment to ‘good’ is really all that good. This doubt drives the film and gives it the tension it needs.

At times, Gunn’s movie falters in it’s pacing and, as a consequence, is over reliant on exposition. A border dispute between fictional countries, Boravia and Jarhanpur, plays out in conversations and minimalist renderings of war. It feels small in comparison to the weight of the narrative beat. The budget would have been better spent expanding on the existential risk. The destruction of a people shouldn’t look less real than a giant lizard crushing skyscrapers. It should have felt and looked much larger. Still, much does go right in Superman.

Nicholas Hoult gives us a Lex Luthor that is flat and focused. Where Gene Hackman was charismatic, Hoult leans into the psychopathy. He is never likable. We fuck’n hate him from the start. He’s cold, calculating, and bereft of empathy. He reduces humanity to math and gain, a blathering algorithm twisting public opinion into profit. The character could have used a bit more nuance, but as written, he resonates as emotionally as a 3 a.m. X post–a lunatic screaming into the darkness. The cartoonish shift in public opinion he incites should be a laughable plot point, but in 2025, it’s as familiar as the comments to that same X post. Yes, we dislike Luthor that much.

Gunn’s shoulder nudge to the Justice Society of America with Nathan Fillion (Green Lantern), Isabela Merced (Hawkgirl), and Edi Gathegi (Mister Terrific) as the ‘Justice Gang,’ gives us an imperfect metahuman contrast to Superman’s moral purity…and a vehicle for much the film’s humor. Edi Gathegi’s turn as Mister Terrific, with the character’s smarts and deadpan delivery, provides a mouthpiece for the viewer: he’s always saying what we’re all thinking. It is as memorable as Corenswet’s portrayal of the Kryptonian. The addition of the trio, including Fillion’s blowharded take on the Lantern, adds just enough comedic weight to balance the thematic heaviness.

And then, there is Krypto. The manic mongrel with superpowers shows up early and steals every scene. Bravo to the animators who recreated the classic canine character with so much love and mischief. Gunn, in talking to the New York Times, admitted that his own rescue dog, Ozu, was the real life reference for the digital doggy. You will want to scruff that fuzzy mug and pull on that lopsided ear in every frame where he appears.

Taking on Superman, a character so deeply ingrained in pop culture brings many risks. Corenswet will suffer the inevitable comparisons to Reeve, Cavill, and Cain (lol, j/k), not to mention all the publication takes. We bring so many expectations to witness with yet another Superman. The actor, thankfully, brings Clark and Kalel to life with emotional patience and subtlety. Corenswet’s performance is more introspective, more frustrated, more real than its predecessors. The screenplay undercuts some of his skills with its rapid shifts, but he rises above it. Looking at performance alone, it is an unqualified success.

Superman (2025) is a Superman for our time. Our imperfect moment. It is sometimes a muddled mess of geopolitical and sociological contrived bullshit, but that is our world right now. The blunt hammer of Gunn’s film is its willingness to drop an honest character into our time…and exploring how much that would suck. Despite its flaws, the return of Superman is a happy blindbox of comic book tropes. The big ‘S’ is clearly printed on the top, but you will never know what’s revealed until wrapper is peeled back. It’s all Superman, but not always the one you expected.