First Take: Superman - DC looked up… and they found the promised land

Spoiler free as usual. Because spoilers are our kryptonite.

SYNOPSIS: Superman must reconcile his alien Kryptonian heritage with his human upbringing as reporter Clark Kent. As the embodiment of truth, justice and the human way he soon finds himself in a world that views these as old-fashioned.

In 2023 following the release of Blue Beetle, we bid farewell to the DC Extended Universe, the Snyderverse and almost everything that has come before it, as producers James Gunn and Peter Safran took on the co-CEO roles of their film division. Since then they’ve hired (and fired, very publicly) talents, got a plan together, and went into production on a new series of projects designed to put some hope back into the superhero genre. They only went and did it.

 If you’ve ever seen a James Gunn superhero movie you know what to expect - while it doesn’t use needle drop moments as much as his work within Marvel Studios did, what we have here is a 2 hour 9 minute movie that sets the blueprint for what will be dubbed Chapter 1 of this new DC Universe (all about gods and monsters). We don’t get origins, we don’t get heavy exposition, we just get right on with it, and crucially he’s willing to show Superman having his ass handed to him to OPEN the film. That is some move. We do get the usual introduction of characters who we’ll see in future work, but at its core this film is a contemporary Superman story that leans on the franchise’s past in some clever ways, from John Murphy & David Fleming’s subtle uses of the original John Williams theme, to long-time Gunn collaborator Henry Graham executing flight sequences that come alive on the largest of premium large format screens. My only issue with it was around the final act, elements of it did feel a bit formulaic, but beyond that, it’s technically a very strong film.

With the cast, one of the most important things for a new take on a beloved IP is finding the right person to don that cape, and in David Corenswet, they’ve found someone who the franchise can really grow with under the direction of Gunn - at just 32 he is young enough to play the role for a while, and crucially he makes this Superman work really well. Add Rachel Brosnahan to the mix as a Lois Lane for the new generation, alongside Nicholas Hoult as a Steve Jobs-esque version of Lex Luthor, Nathan Fillion (an inspired choice for Green Lantern, one who won’t have his mouth sewn shut should he leave), Isabela Merced, Anthony Carrigan, Alan Tudyk, and many more, and you’ve got a group of talents who have bought in, understand the assignment, and deliver one of the finest DC movies I’ve seen in literal years. However, one cast member who I have to mention, especially with a certain event looming large here at TheJackSmit HQ, is Edi Gathegi - two years ago I seen him in a fantastic short film called Mendo’s Carousel during the inaugural Lytham International Film Festival, and now here he is in a role as major in the film as Mr Terrific. To put it simply, this film finally puts some lightness into DC’s film output, which can only be a good thing moving forward.

THE VERDICT

Superman is a fantastic way to reboot the DCU for a new era of storytelling across film and TV, and while it isn’t absolutely perfect, fans of the comics are loving it, casual audiences are loving it, and the financial people at Warner are especially loving it. They absolutely needed this film to do well, and it has. Things just got VERY interesting for the comic book genre, as competition will only make both Marvel and DC up their game.

RATING: 4/5