Main cast: David Corenswet (Clark Kent/Superman), Rachel Brosnahan (Lois Lane), Nicholas Hoult (Lex Luthor), Edi Gathegi (Michael Holt/Mister Terrific), Anthony Carrigan (Rex Mason/Metamorpho), Nathan Fillion (Guy Gardner/Green Lantern), Isabela Merced (Kendra Saunders/Hawkgirl), Skyler Gisondo (Jimmy Olsen), Sara Sampaio (Eve Teschmacher), Maria Gabriela de Faria (The Engineer), Wendell Pierce (Perry White), Alan Tudyk (Gary), Pruitt Taylor Vince (Pa Kent), and Neva Howell (Ma Kent)
Director: James Gunn

Superman is hyped as the grand opening of the Gunn Cinematic Universe, sorry, the DCU. 

Of course, the seven people who watched Creature Commandos may gently raise a hand to point out that this series was technically the first entry in the GCU. Alas, that show arrived, existed briefly, and departed this mortal coil like a very polite ghost that most people weren’t even aware of.

This movie was supposed to be different. This one came with hype, declarations, and the solemn promise that this time, this time, DC had a plan that is better than the last one. 

Then it opened in theaters. Then, barely had audiences finished digesting their popcorn, it landed on streaming in a surprisingly short time after its cinematic release. Something happened, surely, but no one talked so I can only guess plenty of expectations weren’t met and the suits panicked or something.

At any rate, people that waited to watch it on streaming — like myself — did just that and then all chatter about the movie died shortly after.

There’s a good reason for this once one watches the movie: it’s just aggressively average.

No, it’s not awful but it’s also not remarkable. It’s okay — competently, earnestly, stubbornly okay.

• David Corenswet is fine as Clark Kent.
• Rachel Brosnahan is fine as Lois Lane.
• They have some very cozy and credible chemistry, so their romance works.
• The supporting cast is also fine. Everyone shows up, does their thing, and no one embarrasses themselves.

That’s the problem: it’s just okay.

This is an issue because Superman has now been rebooted twice now in just over a decade, so this one really needs to make a splash to be more than just another reboot.

One issue here is that Superman is unmistakably a James Gunn movie, for better or worse.

Clark Kent is now a hot-headed young man who talks first and thinks later. He quips and reacts by raising his voice often, and he also gets jump-scared by jokes that I can see coming from orbit. He is frequently the punchline, just as often as he is delivering one — hardly the magnetic world-saving leading man that will save the franchise and more like Star-Lord yet again.

Also, Mr Gunn is not beating the “He only knows how to do one superhero movie over and over” allegations by barely letting Superman be Superman in his own solo debut. This movie is not his story so much as an ensemble warm-up act. Lo, watch as a parade of quippy, wisecracking superheroes swoops in to assist, rescue, and generally make sure Clark is never alone with his own movie for too long, like no trusts him to carry the movie on his own. 

The plot doesn’t help. There are no real stakes here. Lex Luthor engineers a wave of social media outrage against Clark Kent.

Yes, that’s the central conflict: people on social media are bad because Mr Gunn is still smarting from being cancelled and he still can’t stop picking fights with random people on X to this very day, so this movie is his way to tell those people how much they suck. So, the evil people on social media apparently believe misinformation instantly, then reverse course just as instantly once counterevidence is presented also on social media. Such a magnetic, unforgettable, suspenseful plot… snort.

There is also Ultraman, who appears as a secondary villain and raises the unavoidable question of whether Tsuburaya Productions should be making a phone call. If nothing else, it adds a faint layer of unintentional parody.

None of this makes Superman unwatchable but it’s just an okay James Gunn movie. That’s the problem. This is meant to be the foundation of the Gunn Cinematic Universe, the cinematic keystone that will save Warner Bros and ensure continued employment for Sean Gunn and assorted best friends well into the next decade. One does not launch such a franchise empire with a movie that can be best described as “it’s pretty decent”. 

Anyway, next up in this cinematic universe is the spectacularly original drunken Karen take on Supergirl so I’m sure everyone is at the edge of their seats waiting with bated breath for that one.