Superman — Hero of 2025

The year 2025 is coming to an end, and every cinephile is picking their favorite film of the year. It is difficult to point to only one important movie. We had wonderful films like Sinners (which I already wrote about), Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle, One Battle After Another, and even Marvel finally recovered their old quality standard with Thunderbolts*. But I think the most relevant film was one that had an enormous weight on its shoulders to become a success and achieved it thanks to the merits of its filmmakers and an audience that received it with open arms: Superman.

Superman2025

As I explained in my Creature Commandos article, this is an almost entirely new DC Universe. After the disaster of the old DCEU, the whole brand needed to start over. They needed someone capable to lead the franchise. From the moment James Gunn was named as the new boss of DC, I knew the studio was in good hands. I've been supporting him since Guardians of the Galaxy, and it seems that I'll be following his career as director and executive producer for a long time.

Let's begin with the technical departments. This movie relies a lot on CGI, especially for the action sequences with Superman flying and locations like Lex Luthor's pocket dimension. Most of the time, these sequences and locations look amazing, but also look strange in some shots. That's understandable in a movie with tons of science fiction action, but it also should be avoided for the first chapter of your new franchise. Luckily, those imperfect moments don’t take you out of the fiction, thanks to the emotional bond you are creating with the characters and the story. We could agree that this movie is competent in the visual matter but focuses more on the story and characters, which is what they always should worry about most. Fortunately, they took special care on the scenes of Krypto who quickly became the heart of the movie. Which shows they knew how to prioritise their resources.

To compensate for the issues with the VFX, the movie delivers a photography style of its own. After so much time, a Superman movie finally is accurate with the spirit of the character. The film has bright colours and some short slow-motion shots that represent the hope and optimism that the character has to transmit. Some people have been complaining about the use of wide-angle lenses in many shots of the movie, but I think it just helps it differentiate from other superhero movies. Besides, it is a good use of that resource.

If we talk about the music, we have to accept the obvious. James Gunn reused the old Christopher Reeve movie score in many scenes along his new film. I don’t think that’s a problem; that score is forever bonded with Superman, no matter how many new scores are composed. It is a good way to reconnect with the classic spirit of Superman. On the other hand, as with any James Gunn movie, you can expect a great soundtrack. It might not have as many songs as a Guardians of the Galaxy film, but it delivers scenes as good as the ones from those movies. The best one might be the fight shot sequence with “5 Years Time”, by Noah and The Whale. 

Now, it’s time to talk about the story. I will not lie, the plot is not simple at all. It takes inspiration from different sources: old movies, many TV shows, and comics of different ages. This may not result in an easy to follow storyline, but allows us to get to know different layers of Superman. We see his most political side, as a hero who doesn’t represent any country, but is willing to get involved if there are lives at risk. We also see his most human side when he gets frustrated when he sees how the world reacts to his well intended actions and really upset when the world doesn’t trust him for actually good reasons.

Fans have been arguing about the crucial change in the origin story of Superman. Making Kryptonians a conqueror species is a bold decision but, in the end, helps to give Superman a stronger commitment with humanity. It all gets summed up with the powerful speech he gives to Lex at the climax of the final act.

In addition to that, the movie has a strong position in favor of immigrants and against politicians' and billionaires' greed. Lex Luthor and the conflict between two Middle East nations are obvious allegories to two of the most relevant issues today. It's not surprising that the most conservative part of the U.S. population (and also a certain Middle Eastern country) rejected this new version. We can see that James Gunn doesn’t only want us to have fun with his movies; he has something to say about the world and is not afraid to speak up.

If you think this is new for the character, you must know that his stories have always praised the best values. He might have been used as U.S. propaganda at some point, but that has never changed who he really is. You can see that in the interactions he has with the secondary characters. He inspires people to fight for what's right and be brave enough to stand up against injustice. It might be corny, but that’s also part of being Superman. David Corenswet delivered a fully committed performance. He's inspiring, emotionally vulnerable, and strong when he needs to be. For me, that's Superman: the guy who tells you that, in a world where being mean and cheating get rewarded, being kind and honest is the new act of rebellion, or, as the movie says, “Kindness is the new punk rock”.

The secondary characters may not have as much development but have important roles in the story. Lois Lane is a bold reporter and an emotional support for Clark/Superman. She, alongside the Daily Planet reporters, represents the power of media, another important aspect of Superman stories. Other characters like Metamorph or the Justice Gang are heroes whose ideals are still not in the right place but will be after Superman inspires them. Finally, Lex Luthor, as said previously, is the representation of a greedy billionaire but also of an envious and narrow-minded man, and Nicholas Hoult played the role amazingly. The fact that Superman decides to give him the chance to do the right thing in the near future is also a good way to respect the classic essence of both characters, and we'll see how that works in the sequel.

Of course, this movie is not perfect. Even if it's not entirely focused on building a whole franchise but on telling a good story—which it delivers—many fans were still confused on how this new universe works. The movie starts with a prologue in the form of a text, which doesn’t help to make the universe set in a less odd way. It's understandable that Gunn would have tried to focus more on Superman's story instead of filling up the movie with Easter eggs for new titles. Although, considering DC's chaotic background, fans needed less ambiguity.

James Gunn's Superman may not be the movie that many fans prayed for, but I think it is just what we needed as fans and audience. He truly cares about comic book characters and loves his job but also wants to use his platform to inspire and change the world for the better. You can see how much he has grown as a filmmaker and person, and it seems he has an audience who will follow his career closely. After the film came out, I was very happy to see that most of the audience loved it and got even happier when I saw that it performed great at the box office.

Objectively, I don’t think this is the best movie of 2025, but it is the one that made me feel hope in a world that's constantly showing you there’s no point in feeling that way. After seeing the ending with Superman listening to one of his favorite songs ("Punkrocker", by Teddybears) and smiling, I instantly felt the same way, and I know I wasn’t the only one. Just in case you haven’t felt it or don’t remember it, I'm finishing this text with that same song.