The Tides are Shifting: A Review of Superman

For years, DC Comics have tried cementing themselves as a powerhouse in the world of comic book movies, sadly to a lack of success. While the Marvel Cinematic Universe had the ever-iconic Captain America: Civil War, DC released a mediocre Batman vs Superman. While the MCU was on its legendary run with Avengers: Infinity War and End Game, the DCEU was further burying itself in mediocrity and dying in front of our very eyes.

For a hopeful James Gunn fan like me, though, this may all change with the release of Gunn’s Superman in early July. While there have been some good DC movies in recent years (like 2019’s Joker or 2022’s The Batman), none of these films have looked like promising candidates to build into extended universes a la MCU.

With James Gunn’s planned DC Universe, this (hopefully) all changes. For one, Gunn is a fantastic filmmaker, and for him to come on as the executive producer for a comic book universe has already made me excited for what’s to come. On top of this, with the Gunn-verse acquiring the rights to 2023’s Blue Beetle characters as well as a planned Supergirl movie, there are already building blocks here that the Snyder-verse and other failed DC ventures never really had.

But what made Gunn’s Superman so great?

For one, as many have already been quick to point out, this film captures an authentic side of the beloved character that the big screen really hasn’t seen since the Cristopher Reeve movies over 80 years ago. There’s just something so charming about this unequivocally good-hearted individual embodiment of the term “superhero” that more recent renditions were unable to capture, but that this film nailed.

Our Superman (played by David Corenswet) is so pure of heart that it made me tear up while watching this movie. From finding the time to save a squirrel while fighting a giant reptile, to the way he interacts with children, and even in the portrayal of his coming to terms with his backstory that we see in this film, the new Superman is everything that a hero should be.

Moreover, only one movie into Gunn’s DCU, we already have a whole cast of interesting characters to build upon. We’ve already been introduced to Hawkgirl (Isabela Merced) and Guy Gardner’s Green Lantern (David Fillion) as foundations for future Justice League content. On top of this, though, Gunn has brought the niche, lesser-known Mister Fantastic to the forefront of discussions about this film, just as he popularized the Guardians of the Galaxy back in 2014.

Finally, this wouldn’t be a Mateo review if I didn’t briefly touch on the political within this movie, so let’s do just that. Gunn’s Superman is pretty explicitly anti-war, which isn’t exactly a new take for comics, which have long been intertwined with 1960s counter-culturalism, but where I think this film really cements itself as special is how blatantly it draws parallels with what’s currently happening in Palestine.

There has already been much debate on if the fictional nation of Boravia is meant to represent Israel in Gunn’s Superman, and despite Gunn himself refuting this, I think it’s still obviously the case. The nation was described as “America’s greatest ally,” and the casting of Boravians as Eastern European and Jarhanpurians as brown Middle Easterners wasn’t exactly subtle.

It’s no surprise, given the Zionist slant of the mainstream, that Gunn is not going to vocally say that his film condemns Israel’s actions, but for one to ignore the obvious commentary, they’d need to be incredibly oblivious or deliberately acting in bad-faith.

So why does this matter? Both Zionists who support Israel’s abhorrent actions and anti-Zionists who are allergic to embracing positive moments will tell you it doesn’t. But the truth is, this type of thing – the biggest film of the year condemning the genocide in Palestine – is the type of thing that shifts the tides of public opinion. And when paired with the never-ending goodness in the heart of Gunn’s Superman, it provides for one hell of a message.

Until next time, I’ve kept it reel.