From the jump, writer and director James Gunn declares to the audience that his Superman film is special. There is no origin story beyond a quick wall of texts. On a canvas of snow lies possibly the most comic book accurate Superman since Christopher Reeve, trunks included. Few minutes in, and we are led to the Fortress of Solitude. At this moment, everyone who grew up with Superman, be it with the animated series from Cartoon Network, or with the five previous live-action versions of the big blue, is made to feel at ease. The opening of the gates into the fortress felt like coming home.
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This feeling and throughline runs across the whole film and through the expansive roster of DC characters all come to life, some for the first time, in Safran and Gunn’s DC Universe (DCU). Gunn’s interpretation of Superman is an undeniable bridge between the Christopher Reeve era of Superman and the modern portrayal by actor David Corenswet. The personality of Superman is brought down to reality by the explicit demonstration of his vulnerability, and in turn, his humanity, in the humor and turmoil of the story. Beyond Superman, all the other characters were built to be the embodiment of the combination of their best characteristics plucked out from their countless versions in DC comics. Krypto is now made fluffier and feistier, all for the better. Nicholas Hoult’s Lex Luthor gave probably the best portrayal of Lex seen on the big screen, with fans spotting the homage to Lex Luthor from the Smallville television show continuity. The film is fully aware of the history and the weight of Superman being one of the first superheroes of human history which stood the test of time and remains relevant almost a century after, and the even greater importance of the expanded DC roster of characters being portrayed the right way.
More importantly, Gunn made sure to not undermine the intelligence of the audience. Not only does it skip out on an origin story for all of the characters, but it also trusts the audience to connect the dots and the bread crumbs from their understanding of the characters from the different mediums they consumed prior. And for the less mainstream characters like Mr. Terrific, Gunn ensured that we see enough to understand his personality, his powers, and most of all, how “terrific” he can be.
Superman adopts one of my favorite storytelling formats for comic book characters, which is regarded by the fandom as Year One stories. Essentially, this tells stories of popular characters after time has passed since their origins, thus the name Year One. An incredible example of this format being used to great success is from Matt Reeves’ The Batman where the audience is shown his struggles of getting grips on the skills and knowledge he needs to be a superhero about a year after he became the Batman. Gunn takes advantage of the evolved interest of the public for superhero films and commits to an even wilder approach to a Year One story by not only setting the plot three years after Superman announced himself as a superhero, but also by mixing a good assortment of DC characters in the story, some of which understandably are being met by audiences for the first time. A decade and a half after the Marvel Cinematic Universe opened the floodgates, superhero movies have taken a bold step into taking an in medias res approach with these films taking front and center in mainstream conversations. Fortunately, the amount of screentime and explanation necessary for the audience to embrace the wide cast of characters in Superman was played just right to not feel like homework, and instead felt more akin to a house party reunion with superheroes.
Superman gives pure unadulterated fun which did as intended, to make the audience smile, both for the kid meeting Superman for the first time and the father who grew up with Superman as his hero. This is a terrific start for the DCU and I wait in eager anticipation for what is in store for us next.
Score: 10/10
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