The new Superman movie, first released on July 11th 2025, was incredibly well received, grossing 614 million dollars worldwide. Superman was a new beginning for the DCU and somehow managed to succeed in a very diluted Superhero market. This was possible through the hard work of the actors and lead director James Gunn. Superman was a marvelous adaptation of the Superman comic books. Superman has always been a beacon of hope and justice, and the movie did not fail that standard. With its vibrant and hopeful tone the film had a clear message of hope for a better tomorrow. The score was beautifully composed, with classic 2000s songs such as “Punkrocker” by Teddybears and “5 years time” by Noah and the Whale making appearances. However, the most impressive track has to be the amazing cover of the original Superman theme song from the 1978 Richard Donner movie. While the overarching plot was nothing special, the way it interwove a large medley of characters and places in a tight knit runtime of 1hr and 58min was pretty super, man. Some highlights of the movie were Mr. Terrific’s fight scene, the black hole escape scene, the final Superman vs Ultraman fight, The Justice Gang saving the Jahranpurians, and of course, Superman’s final confrontation with Lex Luthor’s. But our favorite moment overall was Superman saving a squirrel during the kaiju fight scene with the Justice Gang. This scene is so poignant because it shows through a quick action just how much Superman values all kinds of life whether it be human or animal. These scenes could not be possible without the hard work and deduction put in by VFX artists behind the scene. This is exemplified by the amazing Green Lantern constructs, Superman’s/Ultraman’s lasers, Hawk Girl’s wings, the anti-proton river (Our favorite), and Mr. Terrific’s technology (his “t-circle’s). But no movie could be complete without the deduction of the actors, and the character who stole the show overall was Lex Luthor. He takes 1st place on our rankings. Nicholas Holt gave an amazing performance; he perfectly encapsulated the rage and the jealousy that Lex Luthor feels towards Superman and he demonstrates Lex Luthor’s obsession with Superman. Holt personifies the egotism and the narcissism of Lex Luthor and his inherent self-hatred that permeates in every action that Luthor takes against Superman. This all came to a head in the infamous and excessively memed 1A scene.
This movie shows that the DCU is not unsalvageable. James Gunn taking up the position of DC co-ceo was the greatest decision in superhero film history since Robert Downey Junior was cast as Iron Man in 2008. Overall we are excited to see what DC and James Gunn will cook up in the future with the two new Superman related movies that have already been teased (Supergirl, Woman of Tomorrow starring Milly Alcock, and a Superman 2 coming 2027).
