Superman (2025): A successful DC reboot or a final attempt?

Superman has been flying through comic book pages, movie screens, and TV episodes for 87 years. He is historically the first superhero with superpowers to regularly appear on American newsstands back in the 1940s. I always wonder if his fathers, writer Jerry Siegel and artist Joe Shuster, had any idea they were creating someone who would outlive them and remain popular today.

I first encountered Superman as a little kid visiting family friends who owned a magic box – a VCR. I didn't know a thing about comics back then. It was the legendary tetralogy starring Christopher Reeve. I don't think Superman made a huge impression on me, though. He just fell into the category of all those action heroes that were everywhere in the nineties.

When I started devouring comics later on, he still felt like a dork wearing his underwear on the outside. But by then I was fifteen and didn't respect anything that didn't feature Lobo and gallons of blood. It wasn't until later that I began to understand everything Superman did for the comic book world. When I got my hands on works like All-Star Superman, Superman: Red Son, Kingdom Come, Superman: Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow?, or The Dark Knight Returns (which is about Batman, but Superman plays an important role there too), I started to realize there is more to Superman than just iconic trunks and endless goodness that would make even a boy scout feel awkward.

In the film world, it took almost 20 years before we got another full-fledged movie adaptation. Superman Returns was a decent film, interesting mainly thanks to Kevin Spacey as Lex Luthor. And then Zack Snyder and the sweetheart Henry Cavill entered the scene.

With this reboot, DC tried to jump on the tsunami of comic book movies triggered by Jon Favreau and Marvel. DC didn't just try to blindly copy Marvel's successful recipe; on the contrary, they wanted to show more mature films, deeper characters full of doubts, internal conflicts, and dark thoughts. In my opinion, it didn't work at all! I think DC failed to understand that comics are primarily about action, often about exaggeration, humor, and chemistry between characters. And if you want to make a dark story that appeals to spoiled adults, the script must make sense and avoid dialogue that is more laughable than anything else.

But the Zack Snyder era is behind us. Enter director James Gunn, who earned his stripes with Guardians of the Galaxy and The Suicide Squad. Gunn got the chance to do Superman again. And better?

This time, the blue-and-red suit was donned by the relatively unknown David Corenswet. I have to admit, he didn't convince me in the first trailers. After all, replacing the visually perfect Cavill was a challenge. In the new Superman, however, he nailed his role. His take on Superman returns to a character closer to Christopher Reeve. Despite everything he can do, his Superman is essentially just an ordinary person. Flawed, loving, and beautifully human. In the end, you just have to root for him.

Fortunately, this time we are spared from watching the story of Superman's origin and childhood. James Gunn throws us right into the middle of the story and the action. No long-winded explanations, just a few sentences at the beginning and we're up to speed. Superman decides to stop serving as an American savior and starts getting involved in a foreign conflict. Naturally, this immediately turns against him. It's perfectly fine when he tries to save American neighbors and their pets, but when he starts looking over the shoulders of the big boys in politics, all hell breaks loose.

This brings to mind a paraphrase of Alan Moore's famous question – Who watches the watchmen? It quickly becomes clear to the audience that Lex Luthor and his band of enhanced clones are behind it all. He manages to uncover a sinister secret about Superman's past that even he doesn't know about.

The main role is still played by pleasantly over-the-top action. Superman repeatedly gets his butt kicked, only to get back on his feet and land a few well-aimed blows. Half of Metropolis might burn to the ground in the process, but nobody gets hurt and the buildings just get rebuilt.

Superman isn't in this alone. We meet a number of other characters, all of whom are handled in a completely new way. Standing out clearly is the new Green Lantern played by Nathan Fillion. His almost parodic portrayal of the hero with the green ring might not be for everyone. However, it's clear that DC is preparing for a new series of films, and a WTF hero who doesn't take himself seriously can be a refreshing change. Mister Terrific also gets more screen time, though he ends up being a bit bland. And then there's the dog Krypto, who is extremely cute but serves only as another comic element. Supergirl also makes a small cameo, and her portrayal could be a promise of another unconventional film.

The new Superman pleased me. I didn't expect much from it, which made it all the more surprising how fresh it feels. We don't get anything groundbreakingly new, but if you're looking for a film that is primarily fun, doesn't suffer from major logical problems, moves along at a good pace, and is great to watch, you won't be disappointed. Maybe DC has finally understood what a proper comic book movie should look like. The question is whether it's too late. After all, the popularity of comic book movies has likely already peaked.

author Karel Krajča