Superman, 2025.
Directed by James Gunn.
Starring David Corenswet, Rachel Brosnahan, Nicholas Hoult, Edi Gathegi, Anthony Carrigan, Nathan Fillion, and Isabela Merced.
SYNOPSIS:
In my opinion, Superman really needed a reboot, and James Gunn delivered on that task with a movie that pretty much hits on all cylinders. Yeah, I have some plot point quibbles here and there, but the bottom line is that the 2025 movie Superman is a lot of fun, as it should be, and that enthusiasm carries over to a home video release that really goes with the extra mile with bonus features. Highly recommended.
I’ve never been a huge Superman fan — Batman was always my go-to in DC Comics — but I will always have fond memories of the first two Superman movies way back when. They did such a wonderful job of capturing the look and feel of a comic book that I remain in awe of what the filmmakers accomplished.
Since then, however, Superman movies have been, um, shall we say, a very mixed bag. That changed this year, though, with James Gunn’s new film Superman, which hopefully will kick off a DC cinematic universe that can finally rival what Marvel has built over the past 20+ years. (We’ll see if their cinematic empire subsequently falls into decline too.)
David Corenswet is the latest actor to inhabit the Superman and Clark Kent characters, and he’s easily the best once since Christoper Reeve, who still tops the list, as far as I’m concerned. I realize Reeve won’t make many viewers’ lists of top actors (mine included), but the way he was able to effortlessly switch from befuddled Clark to confident Superman was a masterclass in acting. He made it so easy to believe that no one would possibly think Clark Kent could ever be Superman.
That said, yes, this is a different spin on the character in many ways, including the establishment of Lois Lane (Rachel Brosnahan) as his girlfriend and someone who knows his secret identity. I’m good with the change, although I have mixed feelings with the spin put on Superman’s Kryptonian parents. I get that the people who adopted Superman are his real parents, and the theme of parental responsibility shines through in this story, but I don’t know about Jor-El and Lara Lor-Van being portrayed the way they are.
Of course, this film kicks off what I assume will be an interconnected series of stories across multiple superhero films, not just the ones showcasing Superman’s exploits, so I’m okay with waiting to see how all of that plays out. Gunn and company have already retconned the end of the first season of Peacemaker and have ensured that the second season fits in with the new continuity. It will be interesting to see how Batman and other characters will fit into this narrative puzzle.
Warner Bros. sent this one to me on Blu-ray. The film looks great, of course, and I imagine it really pops in 4K Ultra HD. A code for a digital copy is included, along with a copious amount of bonus material that made for a pleasant surprise when I put the disc in my player.
The extras kick off with the 59-minute Adventures in the Making of Superman, which is one of those great in-depth making-of documentaries that you don’t see very often anymore, at least when it comes to major studio releases. It seems like these days, you’re lucky to get a few featurettes that total 20 or 30 minutes.
The rest of the extras are of the featurette variety, but they run a little over 50 minutes total, so when you add everything up, you’re looking at just under two hours of making-of materials. That’s pretty good.
Finally, you get an adorable 2D animated short starring Krypto, who I didn’t mention above but whose presence in the movie, starting from the first scene, I absolutely love. Superman movies should be fun — leave the grim and gritty to Batman — and this new movie achieves that goal and then some.
Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ ★ ★ ★ / Movie: ★ ★ ★ ★
Brad Cook
Originally published September 23, 2025. Updated September 24, 2025.
