Let’s face it, unless were talking about the Nolan Batmans, historically, the DC Universe movies have always played second fiddle to Marvel. The perfect personification of the old adage ”Next to her I look like a turd with eyes.” Like Pete Davidson standing next to Kate Beckinsale, DC movies are always looked upon with an eyeroll and a collective why?…Why? Well, if you aren’t as familiar with the universe as a total comic nerd like myself, DC owned the uncool and kitschy in a not cool way sort of line up whereas Marvel had the X-Men and was more about teenage angst and had the better characters, i.e. Spider-Man, who had real world problems like girls not liking him because he was a dork. Yeah, there were the occasional annoying douches who liked DC better, but they just did it to be against the status quo. For the most part, the comic area of DC made all its money off Batman and later on with the more mature imprint, Vertigo, which had the really cool stuff like Preacher and Sandman (listen this was waaaaay back before we all found out Gaiman was a total creep/nutjob). Superman was never cool until they killed him…And then they brought him back a couple of months later…Ugh…Yeah, Superman comics were never good. Wonder Woman? Lame. Aquaman? No. Green Lantern. Awful.

Quick zeitgeist complaint: You would think by now we could go back to regular movies instead of an endless shit stream of superhero and Jurassic Park sequels, remakes…Think again, dude. This shit ain’t going anywhere. Sigh. I know. I ten to enjoy the brainless activity of a good superhero/dino nugget movie as much as the next dude but I think it’s gone way too far at this point. As we continue to age will they also continue? My guess is yes, but at this point we’ve had a lot of Batmans. let’s see, Keaton, Clooney, Kilmer, Affleck, Bale, and Pattinson. The shmoes who played Superman aren’t far behind: This list includes Reeves, Routh, Cavill, and now Corenswet (pourin’ sweat) and these are just the blokes who do the movies. The television series’ has many, many more….So many more…Before this blog derails further let me just say that the reason the people in Hollywood make the same crap over and over is because it sells. They don’t want to take a chance on something new because it could fail and they would lose millions. The franchises do their thing, make beaucoup bucks. Supes 2025 did $217 million in the first weekend, almost making its money back. It’ll gross over a billion once it lands overseas.

When the aliens land in 2225 our collective history from the past two hundred and fifty years will be all about our fascination with superhero flicks. At what point will it all end? Will they make Superman movies until the end of time or at some point will the river run dry?

“Interesting race, the humans. They seem to allow billions of their own kind to die in squalor but spend and make enough on Superhero movies to be able to pull the entire planet out of poverty.”

Let us get back on track here.

The newest iteration of Superman from director James Gunn pulls the now 46 year old (1979-2025) franchise in the right direction. It gives us the true comic version of Superman, the boy scout we all know and love alongside a universe that fits more into a hokey but hey-this-is-a-comic-book-movie slot. The Snyder years were a bit dark and too serious for the character. Fine for Batman but Supes is just a nice, Kansas boy that struggles with his own near godlike abilities on a daily basis who just wants to be one of us. And like all of us, just wants to be accepted instead of sitting on the outside looking in. Snyder may have been too obsessed with comic versions of The Watchmen and The Dark Knight, Gunn is doing his own thing and it seems to work great. I mean, Peacemaker was hilarious.

Corenswet (corn don’t fret) is a decent Supes. He has the chisseled jawline and hair for the role and the acting aint too shabby…But anything is better than the wooden, expressionless Cavill. We don’t get much Clark Kent out of either like we did with the classic Chris Reeves which to me was still the apex of Superman acting. You know, the bumbling Clark Kent, all six foot four and two hundred and forty pounds of him spilling coffee on himself, then finding a phone booth to change in. And yes, if you are a good enough Tarantino fan the Soliloquy at the end of Kill Bill 2 by David Carradine is all you can think of if you ever see a Superman movie.

“Superman didn’t become Superman. Superman was born Superman. When Superman wakes up in the morning, he’s Superman. His alter ego is Clark Kent. His outfit with the big red “S”, that’s the blanket he was wrapped in as a baby when the Kents found him. Those are his clothes. What Kent wears – the glasses, the business suit – that’s the costume. That’s the costume Superman wears to blend in with us. Clark Kent is how Superman views us. And what are the characteristics of Clark Kent. He’s weak… he’s unsure of himself… he’s a coward. Clark Kent is Superman’s critique on the whole human race.”

Let us speak of the new Lex Luthor. Meh. Sorry. I mean, my dog with a shaved head is an improvement over Eisenberg (sorry pal) but Nicholas Hoult holds no candle to Hackman. These guys have a difficulty with playing a maniacal genius. Spacey killed it but the script in Superman Returns was utter drivel. The formula: You need an older Oscar caliber actor (Hackman) who is also be a borderline actual sociopath (Spacey) to nail Lex.

In the same vein, the hard drinking, cigarette smoking Margo Kidder, husky voice and all, will always be my Lois. Apologies Rach, Amy, Kate. Rachel, you did well, better than the others. In the past the Lois formula has always been a bit annoying. You know, gets in trouble, Superman swoops in to save her. In this one, she saves him. But it was the banter between the couple in the first Donner Superman that really made the movie. I thought there should have been more of that and less of the I love you gooey stuff. It was more interesting when Lois was the only one to figure out the guy who looked exactly like Superman was Superman. And remember at the end of Superman 2 when he kisses her so hard she loses her memory? Totally badass. Yeah, in those movies he was horribly underpowered but he still pulled that power move off. Then, in part 3 he ends up with a new flame, a single mother with a deadbeat ex husband. Supes had his type.

I think the big problem here now is that there have been so many of these movies made now that one can only compare them to the ones that came before which is the problem with making so many damn sequels, revamps, whatever. Maybe the kids have yet to find the time to watch the old stuff, you know, with their Tik Tok taking up hours of their day. I mean, shit, 1979 to a twenty year old is like the 50s to the twenty year old me…Oh dear god.

Also, I admit I do need to pump the harshness brakes a bit, folks. Before we continue, let’s not forget what we’re watching here, as sometimes us comic dweebs get way too serious about the comic versus on screen versions of our favorite characters. Superman is an alien dude in blue tights with red boots and a red cape who flies and is indestructible but only uses his powers for 100% good. Yeah, not exactly true to life. I think any of us would be incognito checking everyone out with our x-ray vision. No? Just me? Or what about getting revenge against anyone who ever was a jerk to me, listening in to people’s private conversations, flying off to remote islands for vacation, winning arm wrestling matches around the world, checking shit out at the bottom of the ocean, hanging out on the dark side of the moon for alone time away from the kids…And speaking of kids, I would probably have multiple super powered kids in other countries. Can you say super paternity test? What I mean is, this is about the most far fetched thing you can watch, so let it be far fetched. When Superman is the subject, I don’t want realism, I want to see him flying around and bashing the bad guys. I understand and appreciate the moral ambiguity or lack thereof concerning the dirtiness of war and politics but let us save it for something more serious eh?

This Superman works hard at being entertaining but refuses to hit us over the head. And yes, spoiler alert, Superman wins in the end. It caps out at two hours which means each minute of the movie cost about $1,875,000 (budget was $225 million) and I thank them for the brevity. It delivered on a certain unspoken promise of James Gunn being a good thing for the DC Universe which is making good enough superhero movies and not taking it all too seriously (please, no more fucking Aquaman movies). Superman 2025 is something I would rewatch on cable while high if I still had cable and still partook of the whacky tabaccy. Let’s go with…3.5 stars out of 5.

This is your AI generated image for this post, #430 July 14, 2025.