Superman Review – James Gunn’s Brightly Colored Train Wreck May Derail DC for Good

Welcome to my spoiler-free Superman reivew. It’s not going to be for the weak at heart. Buckle up, up, and away because I’m taping up my fists for this one…

Let me be perfectly clear upfront: I am a massive Superman fan. Have been my entire life. My love for the character started the first time I saw Dean Cain in the Lois & Clark pilot as a kid, and it’s only grown from there. I’ve read the comics, watched the shows, studied the lore. Superman is my guy.

David Corenswet as Superman flying in James Gunn’s “Superman” – YouTube, DC

I say that because what follows is not the rant of some mindless Snyderverse defender. I loathe the Snyderverse. Man of Steel, Batman v Superman, Justice League, and especially Zack Snyder’s Justice League—to say that I have no love for any of them is an understatement. They misunderstood the character at a fundamental level.

So this isn’t about nostalgia for what came before. This Superman review comes directly from what I saw on the screen last night and nowhere else.

I walked into James Gunn’s Superman hopeful. I defended the trailers. I wrote editorials saying maybe—just maybe—this was going to be the version we’ve been waiting for.

Superman arrested in the trailer for James Gunn’s Superman – YouTube, DC

And yet…I haaaaaated this movie. I hated it with a deep, gnawing frustration. Because for the third time in my life, a director has rebooted Superman—and for the third time, they failed.

And, as I like to say when I write reviews, this is simply my perspective and my subjective opinion. If you liked it, I’m happy for you and I envy you. It’s far more fun to like something than it is to hate it and I wish I liked this movie. But I don’t, and if you do, my lack of enjoyment doesn’t detract from your take. 

Alright, now that the disclaimer is out of the way, let’s dive into what’s going to be a very negative Superman review.

This Isn’t About Politics

Let’s get one thing out of the way right up front: Superman is not woke.

It’s not overtly political. If you’re hoping for a hit piece on progressive messaging, you won’t find it here. If those elements were present I would be the first person to call it out and rip it to shreds. But it never hit that point for me.

Superman and his parents in the trailer for James Gunn’s Superman – YouTube, DC

That’s not the problem. The problem is far simpler: it’s just not a good movie.

Being “not woke” isn’t a free pass to be bad. You still have to tell a coherent story, treat the characters with care, and honor the world they come from. And when it comes to Superman, James Gunn simply doesn’t do that.

Corenswet, Brosnahan, Hoult – Great Cast, Terrible Script

David Corenswet is a solid Superman. Just like Henry Cavill was. But, as with Cavill, there’s a great Superman in there that we never really get to see. He’s trapped in a script that is constantly working against him, undercutting every moment that could have been meaningful with bad jokes and worse structure.

Rahcel Brosnahan as Lois Lane in Superman – YouTube, DC

Rachel Brosnahan is fantastic as Lois Lane. She doesn’t “girl boss” her way through the role, and honestly, she deserves to be mentioned in the same breath as Teri Hatcher, Erica Durance, and Elizabeth Tulloch—some of the best to ever play the part.

Nicholas Hoult, too, gives a great performance as Lex Luthor. The problem is, none of these performances are enough to save this movie. And that’s because the issue isn’t the cast. 

The biggest an most insurmountable issue this movie has is James Gunn.

James Gunn is All Over This Thing – And That’s the Problem

Gunn is everywhere in this film. Every frame drips with his creative fingerprints. His influence isn’t just present—it’s suffocating. Whenever the movie  tries to get serious or emotional, it gets immediately undercut by a Gunn-style joke.

And not a funny one.

HOLLYWOOD, CALIFORNIA – APRIL 27: (L-R) Sean Gunn and James Gunn attend the Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 World Premiere at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, California on April 27, 2023. (Photo by Charley Gallay/Getty Images for Disney)

These aren’t even Marvel-level quips (which have also degenerated into nonsense in the modern era) they’re Taika Waititi-level nonsense. You can almost hear Gunn tapping the keys, inserting another gag at the worst possible time.

If you’ve read any of Gunn’s old “jokes” on Twitter—the ones that got him temporarily canceled—you already know: the man is not funny. His sense of humor is juvenile at best and completely tone-deaf at worst. That same sensibility infects this movie like a virus.

James Gunn attends the European Premiere of Marvel Studios’ “Guardians of the Galaxy: Vol 3” in Disneyland Paris on April 22, 2023 in Paris, France. (Photo by StillMoving.Net for Disney)

The film is almost afraid to have a single earnest moment. Anytime it seems like there’s going to be a serious reflective second it’s immediately ruined with an attempt at humor. And humor that’s Joss Whedon “brunch” level bad.

No Origin, No Connection

One of the biggest missteps is the decision to skip the origin story. On paper, that might sound fresh because we all know Superman’s origin story. And skipping the origin story can work. We’ve seen it work plenty of times. So, yeah, maybe we could’ve skipped Krypton blowing up and Clark crashing in the field, but it still would have been good to tell the story of him appearing to the world as Superman for the first time. 

But with Superman we’re joining a story that’s already in progress. Literally. I’ll dive into this more in my spoiler Superman review later this week, but for now just trust me on this.

Lex Luthor in the trailer for James Gunn’s Superman – YouTube, DC

In practice, this storytelling decision is a complete disaster. It’s like picking up issue #3 of a comic and trying to figure out what’s going on with characters you’ve never met, who are constantly explaining themselves in awkward exposition dumps.

We meet Lois and Clark three months into their relationship. We don’t see it begin. We’re told they’re in love, but we never get to feel it develop. We meet Lex and Superman three years into their rivalry. But we’re never shown why Metropolis loved Lex before Superman arrived, or what makes him really hate the Man of Steel. It’s all told, not shown—particularly in a third-act monologue that drags on and on like something out of a cartoon.

Even Clark’s relationship with the Kents is just… absent. That touching moment from the trailer where Clark sits on the porch talking to Jonathan Kent? That’s literally the first time they directly interact in this film. It’s supposed to be emotional, but it rings hollow because the relationship hasn’t been established. Jonathan barely says a sentence before this scene—and never speaks again after.

Superman and Pa Kent in the trailer for Superman – YouTube, DC

Imagine if you will that Thor: Love and Thunder was the first Thor movie. It just hit the screen with all the brightly colored nonsense, unfunny jokes, and deeply established lore that you know nothing about. And then someone says something on screen like “That’s Jane Foster. She’s Thor’s ex girlfriend who now has cancer.” 

That’s the level we’re dealing with here.

Wow, in the first draft of this Superman review I completely omitted the Justice Gang because honestly I forgot they existed. Guy Gardner, Mr. Terrific, and Hawk Girl are one note plot devices who don’t serve a purpose.

Mr. Terrific in James Gunn’s Superman – YouTube, DC

Mr Terrific exists in this story because his tech is ambiguous enough to do whatever the plot demands at that moment. He’s a MacGuffin dispenser.

I Hate the Dog…

I never thought I could hate a dog in any movie. I wasn’t aware that was a level I could stoop to. But I hate Krypto. Maybe because he’s a soulless CGI monstrosity and not a real dog. 

I’m gonna go with that…

Krypto the Super Dog in Superman – YouTube, DC

But he’s not a character—he’s a running gag. An uncontrollable, obnoxious, one-note nuisance whose joke wears thin immediately. He’s a plot device with bad animation. The CGI at times is truly rough, particularly when it comes to him. 

He this movie’s equivalent of the screaming goats from Thor: Love and Thunder. 

A Jumbled, Aimless Mess

What makes it all worse is the structure. This isn’t a tight, character-driven film—it’s a fever dream. A wild, rambling plot that never settles down long enough to breathe. The action is chaotic, the worldbuilding is paper thin, and the exposition is as subtle as a sledgehammer. You can feel the movie trying to say something at times, but it never earns those moments. They just happen.

In terms of tone, it’s a wild overcorrection from Snyder’s dark, brooding take. Instead of an invincible god, this Superman is a naïve goofball who gets absolutely wrecked in every single fight.

Superman beaten down in the trailer for James Gunn’s Superman – YouTube, DC

I’m not exaggerating. This dude gets dog walked through the entire movie. 

By the third act, he hasn’t won a single encounter without help, and yet the people of Metropolis adore him like he’s the Second Coming.

But those people? They feel like PS2 NPCs. The city’s belief in Superman swings wildly based on whatever the script needs at the moment. They love him, then they hate him, then they love him again—all based on a single dumb plot twist and a rushed finale that expects us to care without earning it.

Borrowing the Worst From the Past

What’s even more baffling is that Superman borrows some of the worst elements from Superman Returns and even some of the most infuriating choices from the Snyder movies.

Lois Lane and Superman in the Superman trailer – YouTube, DC

I’ll save the details for my spoiler review, but suffice it to say—if you didn’t like those moments then, you won’t like them here either.

Final Verdict

There are glimmers of hope in this movie, buried deep under the chaos. Respectable performances from Corenswet, Brosnahan, and Hoult try to shine through. But they’re fighting a losing battle against a script that just doesn’t respect the audience, the characters, or the tone Superman stories deserve.

Nicholas Holt as Lex Luthor in Superman – YouTube, DC

James Gunn may have had full creative control—and that might be the biggest problem of all. Unlike the early Marvel films, which kept directors on a steady track to serve a bigger story, Superman is all Gunn, all the time. And it shows.

This isn’t the Superman movie we’ve been waiting for. It’s not even close.

Superman withstands fire in the trailer for James Gunn’s Superman – YouTube, DC

Score: 2.5/10

• Too much James Gunn humor
• Starts in the middle
• Krypto is terrible
• Overcorrection from Snyder movies
• Respectable performances from lead three actors
• Not woke

What did you think of this movie? Drop your Superman review in the comments!

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