So, despite the very real superhero fatigue I’ve felt since Marvel’s Avengers: Endgame sent the purple-thumb-faced Thanos into his second, more permanent, retirement (although, they’ve opened the pandora’s box known as the multiverse, so shenanigans are always at the ready to axe both stakes and consequence), I saw the new Superman movie in theaters. Turns out, I actually quite enjoyed it. I thought I might.
My first introduction to James Gunn — the writer/director of the most recent Superman movie and now the general overseer of all things DC live action — was as the writer/director of Guardians of the Galaxy, which was my favorite Marvel movie of that era. The premise of this Superman movie felt more or less to me like they asked, “What if Superman was just a good guy? Ya know, replete with the red trunks and everything? How about we keep Guy Gardner’s bowl cut too?” It felt refreshingly earnest for a change. Still a superhero movie of course, with all the usual trappings. If you generally don’t like watching people fly around with capes, you’re not going to like this one either. However, if you’ve seen anything else of James Gunn’s and enjoy his style — quippy yet earnest, crass yet caring — then I’d give this one a watch. I enjoyed David Corenswet as superman. Same goes for Rachel Brosnahan as Lois Lane, even if it’s not as meaty a role for her as Marvelous Mrs. Maisel. And Krypto the dog, while based off James Gunn’s own dog, is some impressive CG. Hats off to the animators.
As far as DC as a whole, I don’t know. Any new superhero movie, Marvel or DC or anyone else that might throw their gauntlet into the ring, has to pass extra scrutiny given the fatigue that Marvel set into my bones with their nonstop releases leading up to Endgame. As much as I love Pedro Pascal, I didn’t watch the new Fantastic Four movie, and I’m not sure if I will. But back to DC. As far as their new direction under James Gunn, I’ll say this: I’m intrigued.
All the best,
M. Weald
M. Weald 