Superman (2025): A Surprisingly Mixed Start for James Gunn's New DC Universe (4K)

The Film:

Ever since the collapse of the DC Extended Universe (the DCEU), which saw multiple films receiving negative reviews and doing rather poorly at the box office, and the subsequent naming of James Gunn as the creative head of DC Studios in the hopes that he'd be able to breathe new life into the material, comic book fans have eagerly waited to see if he'd be able to bring the same fun & excitement to it that he's done so brilliantly for his other adaptations, including the "Guardians of the Galaxy" trilogy, "The Suicide Squad," and "Peacemaker." Right off the bat, he opted to take a big swing and go right for his own adaptation of "Superman," one of the world's most beloved superheroes and one that could certainly use a good film after decades of somewhat sub-par offerings. Will Gunn be able to work his magic and kick off this new universe with a bang, or will his take merely be another stumble for the ever-popular Man of Steel?

As the film opens, we learn that Superman/Clark Kent (David Corenswet) has stopped the nation of Boravia from invading Jarhanpur, which has led to him being attacked in Metropolis by a metahuman called the "Hammer of Boravia," who defeats him and forces him to retreat to his Fortress of Solitude in Antarctica to heal with his dog Krypto. He partially heals and returns to the city, only to be beaten again by the same adversary, who we quickly learn is a henchman for Lex Luthor (Nicholas Hoult), a highly-intelligent billionaire.

Meanwhile, Lex unleashes a monster on Metropolis as a distraction while he and his team infiltrate the Fortress of Solitude, kidnap his dog, and steal a message from Superman's parents, which, after being restored, turns out to contain a portion telling him to conquer Earth and take many wives. This quickly turns public opinion against Superman, who turns himself in, only to be turned over to Lex for containment in a secret "pocket universe." During all of this, Superman's girlfriend, reporter Lois Lane (Rachel Brosnahan), and photographer Jimmy Olsen (Skyler Gisondo) investigate Lex and his connection to the Boravia/Jarhanpur conflict, eventually discovering facts that would blow the whole case wide open. However, with Superman imprisoned and heavily weakened, will they be able to help before the invasion takes place?

With James Gunn's arrival as co-head of DC Studios, there was indeed quite a lot of anticipation as to whether he was going to be able to fix the many problems that had been plaguing the DCEU, which had included rather weak writing and poor usage of the characters. He had clearly demonstrated that he knew what comic book adaptations needed, so it seemed only natural to let him at least take a crack at steering the ship in the right direction, which brings us to his epic overture, "Superman." So how did the comic book maestro do on his first outing as the man in charge? Well, it ends up being a bit of a surprise to have to say that the film is something of a mixed bag.

Starting off with what he does quite well, his treatment of the Superman character himself is excellent, as is David Corenswet's portrayal. He has all of the required humanity, emotion, likability, and believability that the character requires for the audience to be invested in him. Likewise, Rachel Brosnahan gives us a fine portrayal of Lois Lane, the intrepid reporter who helps our hero along the way, while also being romantically entangled with him throughout. As for Nicholas Hoult's rendition of Lex Luthor, there isn't really a whole lot to say. He does fine, but if you're looking for a performance that's going to stack up to what we've had before with the likes of Gene Hackman or Kevin Spacey, this isn't it.

Another thing that Gunn does rather smartly is skipping the entire origin story. He's already noted that he's tired of seeing the same basic things in several superhero outings, including the origin stories that we've seen for multiple characters, and you can bet that audiences are of the exact same mind. Did we really need to see the destruction of his planet, his landing on Earth, and being raised by Ma & Pa Kent yet again? Certainly not. Instead, Gunn gives us some brief captions to catch us up, and then throws us right into the action of his story. It's a wise move, and one the audience is sure to thank him for.

That said, when it comes to the opening story that Gunn has chosen to tell, it's really best described as a rather "safe" one. We have a somewhat basic battle of brain vs. brawn with Superman facing his arch-nemesis Lex Luther, all of which comes down to some land (a bit of a nod to the original film) and a dislike of metahumans. That is to say that there just isn't much to it, and yet, Gunn stuffs it full of characters, many of whom are necessary, and many who feel like they were inserted just to save the day, like the "Justice Gang," consisting of Green Lantern (Nathan Fillion), Hawkgirl (Isabela Merced), and Mister Terrific (Edi Gathegi). You can even throw in Metamorpho (Anthony Carrigan), a shapeshifter of sorts, Eve Teschmacher (Sara Sampaio), Lex's girlfriend, and Krypto the dog, who's quite overused, into that mix.

As noted earlier, Gunn is well-known for incorporating quite a lot of fun & excitement into his comic book adaptations, and while there is some of that in his latest outing, it's rather notable that there's not quite as much as he usually infuses his films with. There's a fair amount of action throughout, but given that the story is a little on the bland side (again, it's a rather standard Superman outing), it doesn't quite drum up as much enthusiasm as one would hope, especially when he makes the strange decision to sideline the titular superhero for a large chunk of the film. All of this leads up to a climax that's more than a little stretched out, which is a pretty typical problem for superhero films, but not usually an issue for Gunn, whose flare for writing these outings normally covers it up.

Overall, he did indeed get some things right, but he also got a few things wrong, leading to the aforementioned mixed bag of a film. Granted, he had the Herculean task of trying to re-launch an entire universe of films, so perhaps he felt that playing it safe would be the better route in order to establish a foundation for future entries. The unfortunate part is that it's left us with a somewhat bland opening entry, one that certainly has a lot of elements to like, but also parts that needed improvement. Now that he's established his opener, hopefully he'll dig into his superhero talents and give us something a little bigger, more daring, and, yes, a lot more fun & exciting in order to really kick this new series of DC films into high gear. "Superman" is hardly a bad start, but now it's time to take things to the next level.

Video/Audio:

"Superman" comes to 4K in a 1.85:1, 2160p Ultra High Definition transfer of outstanding quality. The picture is beautifully sharp & vibrant throughout the film's entire 129-minute duration, perfectly highlighting its sets, costumes, and multitude of visual effects. Likewise, the Dolby Atmos-TrueHD audio track is marvelous, giving you all of the dialogue, sound effects, and music in excellent quality. Overall, Warner Bros. has done an amazing job in both areas for the film's 4K debut.

Special Features:

Adventures in the Making of Superman (59 Minutes)

Breaking News: The Daily Planet Returns (5 Minutes)

Lex Luthor: The Mind of a Master Villain (5 Minutes)

The Justice Gang (11 Minutes)

Paws to Pixels: Krypto is Born (6 Minutes)

The Ultimate Villain (5 Minutes)

Icons Forever: Superman's Enduring Legacy (6 Minutes)

A New Era: DC Takes Off (5 Minutes)

Kryptunes: The Music of Superman (7 Minutes)

Krypto Short - School Bus Shuffle (6 Minutes)

This edition comes with an impressive selection of extras, totaling about two hours, that includes a multitude of featurettes focusing on areas such as the characters, Superman's legacy, and the music, with the biggest highlight being an hour-long look at the making of the film. Definitely more than enough great material here for fans to dig into if they're looking to go deeper into this start of the new DC Universe.

Conclusion:

James Gunn's "Superman" is a surprisingly mixed start for his new DC universe, one that has a lot of positive elements, including the characterization & portrayal of the titular superhero and the foregoing of the usual origin tale, but which also needed improvement in other areas, such as the overly-"safe" narrative and the over-abundance of supporting characters whose primary purpose is to save the day, ultimately making for a superhero outing that is noticeably less fun & exciting than what the comic book maestro normally delivers.

Score: 3/5

Available on 4K starting tomorrow.

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