SUPERMAN Spoiler Review

Geek Girl Authority

6 days ago

Major spoilers ahead for Superman. You've been warned.
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Look up in the sky! It's a bird! It's a plane! Nope, it's the next movie version of Superman ! Sigh .. . it always causes so much fandom turmoil whenever beloved superheroes are brought to the screen. Perhaps even more so for Supes, whose last iteration (via Zack Snyder) caused some of the angriest, most toxic fan reaction after its plug was pulled. So is it even possible for James Gunn's version to get a fair shake? Can his version satisfy the fans? Read on to find out.
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Superman begins with text that states that the first metahumans (supers) were discovered 300 years ago. Then, 30 years ago, Baby Supes/Kal-El came to Earth in a spaceship from the destroyed planet, Krypton, and landed in Smallville, Kansas. Jonathan and Martha Kent found the ship and adopted Baby Kal. David Corenswet and Krypto the superdog in Superman
Then, three years ago, Kal-El came to Metropolis to live as reporter Clark Kent and superhero Superman. Three weeks ago, Supes intervened in a conflict between the fictional countries of Boravia and Jarhanpur, causing a major political mess. Three hours ago, Supes lost his first fight ever against a new villain known as 'The Hammer of Boravia.'
Superman/Clark Kent (David Corenswet) lands in the Arctic, beaten and bloodied. Unable to move, he super-whistles, and in a few seconds, Krypto the superdog (complete with cape) shows up, ready to play. Krypto drags Supes by his cape 'home' to the Fortress of Solitude.
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Supes' robots (Alan Tudyk, Grace Chan, Michael Rooker, Pom Klementieff) take him to a chair and place him under a mechanism that exposes him to a concentrated dose of sunlight to heal him. They also play a message from his parents, Jor-El (Bradley Cooper) and Lara (Angela Sarafyan), to soothe him, although the second half of the message is corrupted.
Supes then flies back to Metropolis to keep fighting the Hammer, aka Ultraman. Unknown to everyone is that the Hammer actually belongs to genius villain Lex Luthor (Nicholas Hoult). Lex meets with a secret US government agency called ARGUS (Advanced Research Group Uniting Superhumans), which includes Rick Flag, Sr. (Frank Grillo), one of the founders of the Suicide Squad. ARGUS is furious at Superman's interference on Jarhanpur's behalf because of the US's stance backing Boravia. David Corenswet in Superman
Meanwhile, Clark heads to his job at the Daily Planet, where he works with colleagues Lois Lane (Rachel Brosnahan), Jimmy Olsen (Skyler Gisondo), Steve Lombard (Beck Bennett) and boss Perry White (Wendell Pierce). They all watch reports on Supes' involvement in the conflict, and the Boravian president, Vasil Ghurkos (Zlatko Buric), blasts Supes in a press conference for interfering with his troops.
That night, Lois comes home to find Clark in her apartment cooking breakfast for dinner. She knows he's Supes and they've been dating for a while. Lois rags on him for being the only one who gets the 'interviews' with Superman, saying that eventually somebody's gonna figure it out.
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So, Clark agrees to let Lois interview him as Supes. But when she questions his involvement in political situations without consulting the respective governments, and he counters by saying that he saved innocent lives, a heated argument ensues. Lois breaks off the interview and mutters that she knew 'this would never work.' An upset Clark leaves.
Meanwhile, Lex and his crew, perpetual selfie-snapping girlfriend Eve Teschmacher (Sara Sampaio), Ultraman and The Engineer (Maria Gabriela de Faria) land in the Arctic. They find the Fortress of Solitude and break in, destroying the robots and dognapping Krypto. The Engineer has blood infused with nanobots (thanks to Lex), and can transform her limbs into anything. Maria Gabriela de Faria, Sara Sampaio, Nicholas Hoult in Superman
So she hacks the computer and finds the message from Jor-El and Lara. She says it'll take a while to translate the entire message, and Lex says he's created a distraction to keep Supes busy in Metropolis. The distraction being a little Stitch-type creature that quickly grows to Godzilla size.
Supes does his best to talk it down, but then the 'Justice Gang' shows up – that being Green Lantern Guy Gardner (Nathan Fillion), Hawkgirl (Isabela Merced) and Mr. Terrific (Edi Gathegi), a rival group of heroes set up by rich guy Max Lord (Sean Gunn). They all fight the monster, and then Mr. Terrific finally kills it by setting off bombs in its stomach.
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While the folks of Metropolis rejoice at being saved, Lex beams out a broadcast from the Fortress. The message from Jor-El and Lara – the entire message – plays for the whole world. Supes finally hears the part he couldn't hear before. Turns out Jor-El and Lara sent baby Kal, a superior being, to conquer and rule the planet. Everyone – especially Supes – is horrified by this. And public opinion turns on him faster than a speeding bullet.
Supes retreats to his own apartment, leaving the arrival of a random intergalactic, eyeball-shaped monster for the Justice Gang to deal with. As they clobber the monster outside, Lois meets Supes with some hot cocoa and tries to comfort him. He finally decides to turn himself in to the government, and hugs Lois, telling her he loves her. Nathan Fillion, Isabela Merced, Edi Gathegi in Superman
When Supes turns himself over to ARGUS, Rick Flag, in turn, gives Supes to Lex, who takes him to a beachfront camp where his Raptor paramilitary force hangs out. Inside one of the tents is a machine that opens a porthole to a pocket universe that Lex uses as a prison for anybody who gets in his way, including ex-girlfriends.
Lex puts Supes in a cube with a metahuman called Joe/Metamorpho, who can create any organic substance. Since Joe's baby son, Joey, is being held prisoner in another cube, Lex forces Joe to create Kryptonite to weaken Supes.
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Meanwhile, growing tired of Lex's abusive treatment of her, Miss Teschmacher contacts Jimmy Olsen, with whom she's had a fling before. Jimmy doesn't really want to get back together with her ditzy, clingy self, but realizes that she can help them get info on Lex's plans.
They meet up, and Jimmy plays nice to get her to keep sending him info. Lois goes to the Hall of Justice to ask the Justice Gang (a name only Guy Gardner likes) for their help finding Supes. Only Mr. Terrific agrees to help, and he takes Lois in his cool little ship to Lex's camp.
Meanwhile, Lex brings a civilian, a nice food vendor guy named Mali (Dinesh Thyagarajan) to Supes, threatening him with Russian Roulette if Supes doesn't agree to his wishes. Lex ends up killing the guy, which devastates Supes. Lex leaves, saying he'll just start bringing people Supes cares about. Rachel Brosnahan, David Corenswet in Superman
Metamorpho, moved by Supes' pain, decides to help, as long as Supes agrees to rescue Baby Joey. He creates the closest thing he can to sunlight, which heals Supes enough that he can bust out of the cube. He rescues Baby Joey and Krypto, who have been stuck in an endless loop of chasing squirrels. Supes and Metamorpho fight Lex's goons but get pulled toward the black hole at the center of the pocket universe.
Mr. Terrific and Lois arrive at Lex's camp, and there's a really cool scene of Terrific and his T-spheres (not circles, as Lois calls them) kicking Lex's goons' butts while Lois stays shielded in a force-field dome. Then, they find the entrance to the pocket universe, but Terrific warns that opening the portal as many times as Lex has will have catastrophic consequences.
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They manage to find Supes, Metamorpho, Baby Joey and Krypto and rescue them before the portal collapses. Metamorpho and Baby Joey disappear into the wilderness. Weakened from fighting, Lois has Terrific take them to Smallville, to the Kents' (Pruitt Taylor Vince, Neva Howell) house.
The next morning, Supes talks with his dad, troubled over knowing what the right thing is to do. Jonathan says that it's Supes' choices that make him who he is, not the message from Jor-El. Jonathan says he couldn't be prouder of him.
Finding out that Supes escaped, Lex goes apesh*t, even throwing things at Miss Teschmacher, calling her an idiot. Fed up, she hides in the server room and calls Jimmy, saying she'll send him everything he needs to take Lex down. Ultraman finds her, though, and drags her out. Jimmy's frustrated when all he gets from her are a bunch of selfies. Edi Gathegi, Rachel Brosnahan in Superman
He shows them to Lois, who realizes there's important information in the backgrounds of all her selfies. They take the info to Perry, and the whole gang gets into Mr. Terrific's ship to go chasing after Lex. Meanwhile, Lex opens the pocket universe again to imprison Miss Teschmacher and ends up causing a spatial rift that starts ripping Metropolis in half.
While that's happening, the Boravian army prepares to invade Jarhanpur, and the poor people of Jarhanpur stand ready to fight even though they're outgunned. Some of the children raise flags with Superman's emblem on them and call out for his help.
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Terrific tells Supes to handle what's going on in Metropolis first, as the black hole will destroy the city. While he's trying to save as many people as he can, Ultraman enters the fray and starts wailing on Supes, using fight moves programmed by Lex, who reveals that Ultraman is actually a clone of Supes (which is how they were able to get into the Fortress of Solitude).
This seems to give Lex the upper hand on Supes, who then super-whistles for Krypto. The dog arrives, and Supes tells him to 'take the toys.' Krypto proceeds to snatch all of Lex's camera drones, which blinds him. Supes then tosses Ultraman into the path of a bus that's flying toward the black hole, and that takes care of that. He also fights and defeats The Engineer, but she remains alive.
Meanwhile, up in Terrific's ship, Jimmy types up Lois' story about Lex, and Perry approves it. Jimmy uploads it and releases it to the public, so the whole world learns of Lex's deal with the Boravian president and his designs on becoming king of Jarhanpur. Skyler Gisondo, Rachel Brosnahan in Superman
Speaking of Jarhanpur, the Justice Gang comes to the rescue there. Guy and Metamorpho take care of the troops while Hawkgirl flies to the Boravian castle and grabs the president, who sneers that she won't kill him. She laughs – and drops him, letting him fall to his death.
Supes busts into Lex's HQ, and Terrific gets into the computer to seal up the rift. Lex tells Supes he engineered the whole Boravia/Jarhanpur conflict to kill him, and how envious he is. That's what it all boils down to. Jealousy. Supes tells Lex he's just as human and imperfect as anyone else. Then, Krypto runs in and gives Lex a thrashing for good measure before he's arrested.
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Supes finds Lois after the dust settles, and they go off to do an 'interview.' Perry then asks Jimmy how long they've been a thing, and he's like, a while. Supes and Lois do their adorable kissing in midair thing, and she tells him she loves him, too. Aww.
Metamorpho ends up joining the Justice Gang when he tells Guy he likes the name. After all the prisoners are freed from Lex's prison, Miss Teschmacher and Jimmy get together. Also aww. Supes returns to the Fortress, where the robots have managed to put themselves back together. Robot #4 asks to have a real name, so he becomes Gary.
Supes' cousin, Kara Zor-El/Supergirl (Milly Alcock), shows up, acting drunk. Gary says she's been partying on worlds with red suns, where she can actually get drunk. She sarcastically thanks Supes for looking after Krypto. While Supes recharges under the sun, Gary puts on video footage of his parents to soothe him – footage of the Kents. Nicholas Hoult, David Corenswet in Superman
And lastly, two mid-credit scenes – one of Supes and Krypto cuddling on the moon, and the other of Supes talking with Terrific. Supes points out that the buildings in the city are all uneven now. Terrific's like, 'Are you kidding me?' He storms off, and Supes is like, 'Oh, man. I can really be a jerk sometimes.'
***
There's no official number of versions of Superman in the comics, but it's well over 100. And that's just the comics. When you add in all the movie and TV versions, it's a dizzying number of interpretations. So, considering this, it's safe to say it's pretty much impossible to create the perfect version of Supes who will satisfy everyone.
That said, there are some versions that are more beloved than others. One of the most notable being director Richard Donner's version from 1978, starring the late, great Christopher Reeve. Even though it isn't particularly faithful to the comic source material, the flick blew everyone away with its epic storytelling, huge amounts of fun and a Man of Steel that everyone could believe in. I think that's mostly what James Gunn wants to give us with his new version.
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While I enjoy and appreciate Gunn's many, many homages to Donner's Superman (which is my personal favorite), I don't think he needs to lean on it quite so much. The score is mostly a riff on John Williams' famous themes, the titles are done pretty much the same way, the Fortress of Solitude is the same ice/crystal castle, the inclusion of Miss Teschmacher (who's admittedly fun), and on and on. It feels more derivative than homage-y, and it really doesn't need to be like that, as Gunn has enough vision to make it entirely his own.
I do give Gunn props, though, for balancing so many characters. Usually, when you have that many, the main character fades into the background. But the Justice Gang supported and participated without hogging the spotlight. Although I will say that Edi Gathegi's Mr. Terrific was such a scene-stealer that I hope we get to see a lot more of him. And Krypto turned out to be a welcome addition instead of just a goofy distraction. Pruitt Taylor Vince, David Corenswet in Superman
What disappoints me most, though, is Lex Luthor, who's undoubtedly one of the greatest villain characters ever created. Nicholas Hoult is a terrific actor, so I was really looking forward to his portrayal. On the upside, his Lex is the genius he's supposed to be. He creates pocket universes and has a literal army of trained monkeys handling his social media.
But the downside is that that's really all there is to him. He's got nothing else going on except rage and an all-consuming envy of Superman that doesn't make a lot of sense. That's not at all how he should be. Lex should be smooth, savvy and have a personality that charms as it simultaneously chills.
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I also had a huge issue with the portrayal of Jonathan and Martha Kent. They come off looking and sounding like the biggest, dumbest hillbilly hicks who ever lived. So much so that if I were from Kansas, I'd be insulted. Thankfully, their scenes are few and short.
But what's most important to me is Superman. Honestly, I don't really care about the Justice Gang or even Supergirl and all the other metahumans. What matters is that Supes is done right, and David Corenswet does a fantastic job. His Supes gets a lot more hurt – physically and emotionally – than any other version. And he plays the hell out of showing the turmoil he goes through.
Despite the flick's flaws, one thing is clear throughout – that Superman fights to champion goodness in a world that doesn't value it. And that's mainly what James Gunn wanted to stress. I think he also wanted to just make it fun, and there's tons to be had. Sure, Superman isn't perfect. However, there's no version that will ever be. I think Gunn's vision is a welcome addition to a hugely diverse canon. The most important thing? I'm excited to see more.
Written and Directed by: James Gunn
Release date: Jul 11, 2025
Rating: PG-13
Run time: 2hr 9min
Distributor: Warner Bros. Pictures / DC Studios
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