Superman: James Gunn’s Superman isn’t afraid of its whimsical comic book origins

James Gunn has history with superheroes. His personal arc from mockery to belief is as affecting as his decision to put Krypto – Superman’s caped, super-powered pet dog, invented in the 1950s and avoided by live-action Men of Steel ever since – front and centre in his new Superman. In 2000, Gunn scripted Craig Mazin’s The Specials, a waspish skit on Marvel super-groups (with Judy Greer as the wonderful Deadly Girl). 

In 2010, he wrote and directed Super, a violent satire about an incompetent masked vigilante. Since then, he has contributed sub-franchises to Marvel (Guardians of the Galaxy, 2014-23) and DC (The Suicide Squad, 2021) about self-interested super-crooks who wind up as accidental heroes. Super-altruism has been a hard sell ever since Christopher Reeve’s commitment to ‘Truth, Justice and the American Way’ prompted Margot Kidder to remark “You’re gonna end up fighting every elected official in this country!” 

Now, picking up on the title of a key 2001 Superman comic story, Gunn asks, in effect, ‘What’s so funny about Truth, Justice and the American Way?’ (DC has since changed the last clause so it’s: ‘Truth, Justice and a Better Tomorrow’). Since 1938, when Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster created the character, Superman has been an assimilated immigrant (‘Clark Kent’ is the ultimate Ellis Island renaming) and literal social justice warrior. 

That this seems radical in 2025 – David Corenswet’s Clark can’t convince Rachel Brosnahan’s Lois that he’s ‘punk rock’ – shows how far the concepts of Truth and Justice, let alone the American Way, have taken a battering. If Nicholas Hoult’s splendidly venomous egoist Lex Luthor reminds you of Musk, Trump or similar, that’s because real world figures have taken to cosplaying as Superman’s arch-nemesis. 

Gunn enjoys satirical fillips like Luthor’s roomful of young, weedy fan lackeys and a literal horde of typewriter monkeys trashing ‘Big Blue’ on social media, but the story is driven by good people taking a stand. Corenswet doesn’t match Reeve – or predecessor George Reeves – as an icon, but he’s off to an encouraging start, as his Superman is forced to question his mission and parentage and is backfooted by a dastardly plot. 

Unlike Zack Snyder’s Man of Steel (2013), Gunn’s Superman isn’t ashamed of its comic book origins and whimsical inventiveness. There’s charm and drama in Lois and Clark’s fireside chats, but outside the window, in the skies above Metropolis, a Green Lantern, Hawkgirl and the unironically named Mr Terrific are battling a multi-dimensional imp. 

► Superman is in UK cinemas 11 July.