“It’s a bird! It’s a plane! It’s…” I think you know where I’m going with this.
This year’s unsurprising summer blockbuster hit, “Superman”, directed by James Gunn, is making audiences fall in love with DC movies again. Surpassing the box office numbers of “Jurassic World: Rebirth”, “How to Train Your Dragon”, “The Fantastic Four: First Steps” and “Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning”.
But why is this new version of Superman captivating so many people? Especially after all the backlash David Corenswet and Warner Bros received online when they announced the casting for this extremely popular character, after news broke that Henry Cavill was let go?
Henry Cavill and Zack Snyder’s 2013 “Man of Steel” brought us the brooding, dark and relentless version of Superman. While it worked well for the time, the biggest selling point was that Cavill physically looked like the kind of guy who could be seen as a superhero within seconds. Also, being conventionally attractive didn’t hurt.
In 2025, Corenswet and Gunn gave us a version of the character who stands for justice without sacrificing humanity. He’s lovable and relatable. He wants to see a better world, even if it doesn’t have him in it. He’ll fight the villain, but won’t try to kill him. He’s the friend everybody wants, and the friend everyone needs during the hardest of times. This version of Superman stands for hope, humanity and justice, in as many ways as a person can define it. In these current trying times of the real world, this fictional character made audiences believe in goodness again.
Many fans have appreciated seeing the helpful side of Superman and the political messages in the film regarding immigrants and the role of billionaires in society, while others have called him “woke” and “leftist.”
David Lewis, a professor and comic book writer, pointed out in an interview with New Lines Magazine, “Superman was an inherently political figure from his very first appearance.”
The Hollywood Reporter featured two guest writers, Andrew Slack and Jose Antonio Vargas, who outlined Superman’s origins and how it has “always been an immigration story.”
Director James Gunn responded to his critics in an interview with People Magazine, stating, “Superman is the story of America, it follows an immigrant [who] came from other places and populated the country. But for me, it is mostly a story that says basic human kindness is a value and is something we have lost.”
Right when audiences were starting to lose interest in DC Studios, James Gunn reeled them back in with a bang, giving Marvel Studios a run for its money. Who will come out on top in 2026 between Gunn’s “Supergirl” and Marvel’s double feature, “Spider-Man: Brand New Day” and “Avengers: Doomsday”?
Is Marvel turning to darker storylines, while DC becomes more human? Sounds like the studios may be swapping tones. We’ll have to wait to find out.
