It’s a strange feeling to walk out of a theater genuinely wanting to love a Superman movie and yet, feeling absolutely nothing. That was my experience after both Superman Returns and Man of Steel, and it’s the feeling I fear will return with the James Gunn Superman. Because while the world desperately needs Superman now more than ever, we don’t need another egotistical director trying to reshape him into a reflection of their own image.
Superman is bigger than Zack Snyder. Superman is bigger than James Gunn. He’s even bigger than Warner Bros. Discovery. He’s an icon not because he’s all-powerful, but because he’s morally grounded. He doesn’t represent nihilism, postmodern angst, or Hollywood’s need for trauma-centric story arcs. He represents hope. And not the kind of vague, empty hope scrawled on a Kryptonian family crest. Real hope—the kind grounded in truth, justice, and the American way.
Superman fighting an unknown enemy in the trailer for James Gunn’s Superman – YouTube, DC
Let’s start with that last part. “The American Way” is reportedly absent from Gunn’s script. And that’s not a small omission. It’s a rejection of Superman’s core. He didn’t grow up on some generic space rock or in an urban war zone. He grew up in the Heartland. On a farm. With parents who believed in hard work, decency, and sacrifice. He’s not some alien god looking down on humanity the way Snyder portrayed him—he’s one of us, trying to do what’s right because he was raised that way.
The best Superman portrayals have always understood that. Dean Cain nailed it in Lois & Clark with the line “Superman is what I can do. Clark is who I am.”
Dean Cain as Superman – YouTube, Dean Cain Gallery
It’s not just clever. It’s everything. Clark Kent isn’t the mask anymore—Clark Kent is the man. That’s what grounds him. And that’s what makes him worth rooting for.
While I love the Christopher Reeves Superman films, they were from a different era. One where Superman stood apart from humanity and used the disguise of Clark to blend in. I’ve always preferred the more modern interpretation where Clark is the person his parents raised and Superman is a disguise he uses to help people.
Tyler Hoechlin as Superman in Superman & Lois (2023), The CW
You see it again in Tyler Hoechlin’s portrayal on Superman & Lois, one of the most shockingly faithful interpretations of the character in recent years. A father. A husband. A protector. There’s a scene in that series where Superman flies an enemy into the sky as she’s about to explode—and even then, he’s comforting her. That’s Superman. Not sneering in a cape like a Hot Topic mannequin. Not brooding over whether humanity deserves to be saved. Not getting lectured by Jonathan Kent to “maybe let the school bus full of kids die.”
And that brings us to the director problem.
For nearly two decades now, Superman hasn’t been allowed to simply be Superman. He’s been reduced to a prop in the self-aggrandizing ego trips of Hollywood creatives. Superman Returns wasn’t a movie about Superman—it was about Bryan Singer’s nostalgic love for Richard Donner’s original. And like Singer himself, the character came off as creepy, invasive, and weirdly detached.
HOLLYWOOD, CALIFORNIA – DECEMBER 13: Zack Snyder attends the Netflix Premiere of Zack Snyder’s REBEL MOON – Part One: A Child of Fire at TCL Chinese Theatre on December 13, 2023 in Hollywood, California. (Photo by Charley Gallay/Getty Images for Netflix)
Then came Zack Snyder, whose Superman was basically a messianic alien god who couldn’t decide if Earth was worth the trouble. Snyder’s Superman wasn’t a man of hope—he was an edge-lord power fantasy coupled with some wild hangups about the nature of God vs man. The guy barely smiled. He barely spoke. He hovered above the Earth like a demigod waiting to be worshipped with a whole lot of less than subtle imagery.
No wonder audiences checked out.
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)
Now, it’s James Gunn’s turn—and already the warning signs are here. This isn’t shaping up to be Superman. It’s James Gunn’s Superman, emphasis on the first two words.
Gunn has plastered himself over every aspect of this production, from interviews to Twitter tirades (or, more embarrassingly, Threads tirades—seriously, why is he still using that ghost town?).
Krypto the Super Dog in Superman – YouTube, DC
Krypto, Superman’s dog, has been redesigned to resemble Gunn’s own pet. The Kent family now lives in a double wide because that’s what Gunn saw growing up—not what Clark did. Even the dynamic between Clark and Jonathan Kent reportedly mirrors Gunn’s own father-son relationship with his dad.
Then of course there’s the removal of The American Way at a time in which American values are more important than ever. Is it a coincidence that James Gunn is a rabid progressive just as Americana gets siphoned away from Superman? Probably not, though I can’t say for certain.
How is Superman supposed to be universal when he’s being micromanaged into one man’s personal therapy session?
Robert Downey Jr. as Iron Man in Iron Man (2008), Marvel Entertainment
Compare that to Marvel’s early hits. We didn’t watch Iron Man and think “wow, what a Jon Favreau film.” We saw Tony Stark. We watched Captain America: The First Avenger and saw Steve Rogers, not Joe Johnston. The best superhero directors knew when to step back and let the character lead. Marvel has since started letting more Hollywood directors put their personal stamp on super hero properties and, surprise surprise, Marvel is tanking.
Today’s crop of super hero creatives seems determined to tattoo their own psyche across every inch of the cape, and to be honest none of them are interesting enough for that to have mass appeal.
Superman in the trailer for James Gunn’s Superman – YouTube, DC
And while David Corenswet by all accounts seems like a great guy who is super personable, he’s barely present in the marketing. We’ve seen some endearing footage of him interacting with the kids on the set or re-enacting the Star Wars trench run in his car and I keep saying to myself why aren’t we focusing on this guy?
And the answer to that is simple. Because all eyes have to be on Gunn at all times. Every headline. Every quote. Every reaction. It’s Gunn’s voice, not Superman’s, that dominates this rollout.
Superman saves a little girl in the Superman teaser trailer – YouTube, DC
We’re told this film will restore hope to DC. That it will mark a new era. But if hope is what they’re selling, it needs to be earned. And it starts by letting Superman be the North Star he was always meant to be—not an accessory to another director’s legacy project.
I want to love this film. I want my heart to swell when I see that red and blue blur streak across the sky. I want kids to wear that symbol again because they believe in what it stands for.
But I don’t want James Gunn’s Superman. I want Siegel and Shuster’s Superman. I want Superman’s Superman. I want America’s Superman.
Rachel Brosnahan as Lois Lane in James Gunn’s Superman – YouTube, DC
And if Warner Bros. Discovery really wants to build a universe on a symbol of hope, they need to stop stamping that symbol onto every filmmaker’s vanity project and start remembering what it actually means.
Superman doesn’t belong to Snyder (and especially not Singer). Superman doesn’t belong to James Gunn. He belongs to all of us. The world needs Superman now more than ever.
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)
But we don’t need him filtered through the lens of men who think they know better than the character they’re adapting.
We just need Superman.
How do you feel about James Gunn and Superman? Sound off in the comments and let us know!
