Superman (2025) – A Spoiler Free Review

By Umair Gangat

I want to start this by thanking James Gunn. Finally, a Superman director that understands the Man of Steel and how he should be portrayed.

The new DCEU finally kicks off with David Corenswet staring as Superman.  After the failure of Bryan Singer’s Superman returns and the mixed reaction to Zack Synder’s Man Of Steel, Superman is back on the big screen after 12 years without a solo film. From the very beginning this felt like a love letter to all the fans of Superman with the bright colours and the comic like costumes that truly represent the last son of Krypton. Finally, something different to the dark or ‘evil superman’ type characters we have been seeing in media over the last decade. With a rise in popularity of characters like Homelander and Omni-man and recent big iterations of superman being dark like Snyder’s take or even evil in the Injustice video game series it is nice to see Kal-EL back to how he should be.

I think every actor in the movie worked very well. Nicholas Hoult captured the evil of Lex Luthor and his billionaire with no moral’s essence perfectly. He made me feel genuine hatred and anger to the character every time he was on screen. He was not a villain who was evil out or circumstance. He had no reason to be evil other than to hate superman and would have destroyed the universe if it meant killing him. Neva Howell and Pruitt Taylor Vince as Ma and Pa Kent captured that Kansas farmer vibe perfectly and made you realise why Clark had a great moral compass as he was raised by them to do good despite his real parents’ original message. My personal favourite character was Guy Gardner and Nathan Fillon’s performance was perfect as the jock like jerky Green Lantern who provided excellent comic relief. Rachel Brosnahan was excellent as Lois Lane who had great on-screen chemistry with Corenswet the entire film. And of course, Corenswet was a great Man of Steel with a breathtaking performance throughout.

I think the plot was excellent to. It kept it simple and stuck to the basics. It showed an already established world where metahumans had already existed for a long time and showed the fear and prejudice they may face from their power while also not making you feel like you missed it. The superman origin story is something most already know and something we have seen before, and I enjoyed how we saw an already established superman in a pre-built world with a message very heavily inspired by current world events that many feel powerless to. At it’s core Superman is a powerful immigrant story that pushes a message of hope, love and unity for everyone and how everyone deserves a chance to live, and lives should not be put at stake for the benefits of billionaires.