James Gunn’s Superman (2025) film has rebooted the DC cinematic universe, replacing the dumpster fire that was the DCEU and bringing renewed hope for the future of DC superhero films. Starring David Corenswet as Superman/Clark Kent and Rachael Brosnahan as Lois Lane, the film takes place three years after Clark Kent declares himself as Superman, skipping over the overplayed origin story film that we’ve seen over 100 times by now. Without sugar coating anything, this movie was pretty super. David Corenswett’s portrayal of Clark Kent and Superman really make this movie worth watching. The performances of not just Corenswett, but every other actor as well make this movie better than anything that was produced under Zack Snyder. This movie was vibrant, cheerful, silly, and stayed true to the source material (All-Star Superman comic series), making it one of the best superman films thus far.
Through Superman’s charisma, Lois Lane’s investigative journalism, Green Lanterns bowl cut, the best depiction of Lex Luthor we’ve seen on screen, and last but not least, Krypto the super dog make this movie an extremely fun watch. Overall, I’d give this film an 8.5/10.
But with this film comes the beginning of not just Superman’s story, but a new beginning for DC as a whole. Already, James Gunn has begun to lay the groundwork for the new universe with Superman, Peacemaker season 2, and Creature Commandos, with more movies and shows on the way including a Lanterns T.V Series, Supergirl: Women of tomorrow, Batman The Brave and the Bold, Clayface, and more! However, we’ve been here before, how do we prevent the new DCU from failing so we won’t have to go through another reboot?
One of the main problems with Zack Snyder’s DCEU is that they tried too hard to be Marvel. Marvel spent years slowly building their cinematic universe, slowly introducing each character with their own stand alone film, then making them come together for the first Avengers movie. Leading up to infinity war, there were multiple post credit scenes which foreshadowed the coming of Thanos perfectly building up to infinity war. Marvel’s patience, world building, and the way all their movies intertwined perfectly is what sets them apart. Zack Snyder’s DCEU on the other hand was extremely rushed. Characters like Batman, Cyborg, and The Flash hadn’t even gotten their own stand alone films yet before Zack Snyder’s Justice League released in theatres. Demonstrating that to ensure DC grows to be as successful as Marvel, they must be patient, focus on their world building, and stay true to their source material.