July 8, 2025
by Carla Hay
Directed by James Gunn
Culture Representation: Taking place on Earth and in outer space, the sci-fi/fantasy/action film “Superman” (based on DC Comics characters) features a predominantly white cast of characters (with some African Americans, Latin people and Asians) representing the working-class, middle-class and wealthy.
Culture Clash: Superman, who has an alter ego as journalist Clark Kent, battles against evil billionaire Lex Luthor.
Culture Audience: “Superman” will appeal mainly to people who are fans of superhero movies, DC Comics and action films that appealing interpretations on familiar characters.
The Superman franchise has a new lease on life with this engaging reboot. This superhero movie (which has Kyrpto as a scene-stealing dog) can get overstuffed with subplots, but it’s got plenty of thrills and comedic moments. The 2025 version of “Superman” is a promising step in the right direction for a new era in movies based on DC Comics.
Written and directed by James Gunn (who became DC Studios’ co-chairman/CEO in 2022), “Superman” is not yet an origin story. The movie takes place during a time when Superman (played by David Corenswet) is already a known superhero in Metropolis, the large U.S. city where he lives and works. (“Superman” was actually filmed in Georgia, Ohio, and Norway.) In the movie, caped crusader Superman is vilified through media manipulation from ruthless billionaire Lex Luthor (played by Nicholas Hoult), who wants his weapon-making company LutherCorp to profit from a European country’s invasion of a Middle Eastern country.
The movie shows through flashbacks and conversations the necessary details of Superman’s backstory: He was born with the name Kal-El on the planet Krypton, and then sent to Earth by his parents when he was baby before his parents died when Krypton exploded. He landed in a field in Smallville, Kansas, where he was found and raised by two working-class farmers—Jonathan “Pa” Kent and Martha “Ma” Kent—who gave him the name Clark Kent. Superman has X-ray vision, the ability to fly, and superpowers in strength and speed. His biggest weakness is an element on is planet called Kryptonite, which has poison effects on Superman if he is exposed to Kryptonite.
Thirty years after baby Clark arrived as a baby on Earth, Clark (also played by Corenswet) is now a somewhat socially awkward journalist at the Daily Planet newspaper. It should come as no surprise that Clark has been the only journalist to be able to get exclusive interviews with the mysterious and elusive Superman. Only a few people on Earth know Clark’s true identity as Superman. One of them is his journalist co-worker Lois Lane (played by by Rachel Brosnahan), who is dating Clark, but the couple decided to keep this romance a secret.
The beginning of “Superman” shows a bloodied and wounded Superman collapsed in the icy snow somewhere in Antarctica. His loyal “superdog” Krypto (a medium-sized male white mixed-breed dog with some Labrador retriever genes) enthusiastically jumps on Superman. A caption in the beginning of the movie mentions that Superman is wounded because three hours ago, he lost his first battle. It’s later revealed what that battle was.
Suddenly, giant stalagmites rise up from the ground, revealing a secret hiding place called the Fortress of Solitude that can emerge and submerge from its underground station. Robots and drones work in this fortress, where Superman is rescued by robots that take him to get medical treatment on an operating table. After an evaluation, Superman is told he only has 83% of his strength, but he is determined to leave and finish the fight, which ends up causing $22 million in property damage and 20 people needing hospital treatment.
During this medical emergency, Superman’s biological parents—Jor-El (played by Bradley Cooper) and Lara (played by Angela Sarafayan)—are seen in hologram form and talking in their native Krypton language. (In this movie, it sounds a lot like Latin.) This hologram recording will play a significant role later in the story.
Someone who has tracked Superman to Antarctica is The Engineer, also known as Angela Spica (played by María Gabriela de Faría), Lex Luthor’s robot that has been manufactured to be a mercenary with superpowers. The Engineer has been given the task of finding and destroying Superman. But by the time she gets to Antarctica, Superman has already left. However, Angela does see signs of the underground fortress.
“Superman” has several different storylines that don’t always mesh well together in the movie. There’s the storyline about Superman wanting to stop the European country of Boravia from invading a more economically vulnerable Middle-Eastern country named Jarhanpur. Boravia’s president Vasil Glarkos (played by Zlatko Burić) is a disheveled brute who is a stereotypical dictator.
There’s also a storyline Superman’s testy and volatile relationship with the Justice Gang: a trio of superheroes sponsored by the corporation LordTech. The members of the Justice Gang are arrogant Green Lantern (played by Nathan Fillion), impulsive Hawkgirl (played by Isabella Merced) and uptight Mr. Terrific (played by Edi Gathegi), who all think that they are better superheroes than Superman. The Justice Gang members are among Superman’s critics who believe that Superman causes too much destruction of property during his heroic deeds.
There’s a storyline of about LuthorCorp inventing a superpowered robot called Ultraman that Lex touts as being stronger than Superman. Ultraman is operated by a team of tech engineers in a control room with video monitors. The engineers all work under the direction of Lex. Ultraman wears a metallic-looking mask. And as soon as you see Ultraman, you don’t have to know DC Comics lore t know there’s going to be a big fight between Ultraman and Superman.
And there’s a storyline about Clark’s relationship with Lois, which has hit a rough patch because Lois has doubts that she and Clark/Superman are a good match for each other. Lois (who describes herself as a former emo rebel) has struggles with the ethics of pursuing stories about Superman while knowing the secrets that she and Clark know. One of the best scenes in the movie between Clark and Lois is when she challenges him to let her interview him as Superman.
The other Daily Planet co-workers who get speaking lines are somewhat underdeveloped in the movie. Jimmy Olsen (played by Skyler Gisondo), a nerdy photojournalist, gets the most screen out of all of these Daily Planet side characters. Daily Planet editor-in-chief Perry White (played by Wendell Pierce) is somewhat generic. Gossip columnist Cat Grant (played by Mikaela Hoover) doesn’t do anything significant and will be remembered more for her cleavage-baring wardrobe than any lines of dialogue that she has in the movie.
Lex’s girlfriend is a giggly social media influencer named Eve Teschmacher (played by Sara Sampaio), who constantly films herself and takes selfies when she tags along as part of Lex’s globe-trotting entourage. Eve might seem like a shallow gold digger at first, but the movie eventually shows that she’s not as dimwitted as she first appears to be. There’s also a dark side of her relationship to Lex that’s briefly shown when he physically assaults her.
“Superman” has some sly jokes that poke fun at the DC Comics franchise. There’s a snide comment made about people not being able to figure out that Superman looks exactly like Clark without glasses. The Green Lantern character is more buffoonish than how he’s usually depicted on screen, with the intention that audiences are supposed to laugh at Green Lantern than laugh with him. Mr. Terrific has a few memorable deadpan jokes.
A character who appeared in 2021’s “The Suicide Squad” (also written and directed by Gunn) and a character from 2026’s “Supergirl” movie make a brief and hilarious cameos. And the Krypto character (who is also from the planet Krypton) is not as trained as the Krypto depicted in DC Comics or animation based on the comics. In this “Superman” movie, Krypto (who does not talk, as he does in other versions of Krypto) is a lovable but very unruly companion, which can be a help or a hindrance.
There’s a fairly good balance of the comedic and serious moments. One of the tearjerking scenes involves Superman’s visit to his adoptive parents Pa Kent (played by Pruitt Taylor Vince) and Ma Kent (played by Neva Howell) when Superman has an identity crisis. Some viewers might think that the Justice Gang makes the movie too crowded with superheroes, while other viewers might think it’s important to show that not all of Superman’s opponents are villains.
Corenswet capably handles the movie’s lead duel role. Brosnahan also does a good job in portraying Lois as independent and a free thinker. But as far romantic sizzle goes, the Superman/Clark and Lois in this movie don’t generate a lot of heat. Hoult’s depiction of chief villain Lex is effective, but there are billionaire moguls in real life who are a lot more menacing. The truth is that the villains in “Superman” comics and movies just aren’t as interesting as the villains in “Batman” comics and movies.
“Superman” is not an overtly political film. However, the movie has pointed observations on how immigrants can be perceived and mistreated by those who are “natives.” Cultural supremacy is also inflicted by the story’s war villains. The cast members mostly have believable chemistry, whether they are allies or foes.
The movie’s visual effects live up to expectations. The movie’s mid-credits scene and end-credits scene do not tease what could happen in a sequel but are instead very short comedic scenes that aren’t crucial to the story. The 2025 version of “Superman” might not rank in the Top 5 as one of the all-time best superhero movies, but it’s certainly one of the best “Superman” movies that should please most fans.
Warner Bros. Pictures will release “Superman” in U.S. cinemas on July 11, 2025. A sneak preview of the movie was shown in U.S. cinemas on July 8, 2025.
