Film

Superman

Name: Superman
Genre: Science Fiction, Adventure, Action
Released: 2025
Cast: David Corenswet, Rachel Brosnahan, Nicholas Hoult, Edi Gathegi, Nathan Fillion

James Gunn's reboot skips the origin story and drops you straight into a Superman who's already been at it for years — bruised, doubted, and trying to hold onto decency in a world that keeps punishing him for it. It's bright, funny, sincere almost to a fault, and stuffed with a metahuman supporting cast. Good for anyone who wants their superhero movies warm-hearted rather than grim.

TMDb rating

7.3

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Superman1978

Christopher Reeve remains the platonic ideal of the role — the warmth, the earnestness, the way he makes 'truth and justice' sound like something worth saying out loud without irony.

But The pacing is a genuinely different era of blockbuster; the first hour is almost entirely backstory before he puts the suit on.

Superman II1980

The best Superman-versus-equals fight ever filmed, plus a surprisingly tender identity crisis at its centre — what does he give up to be human?

But Behind-the-scenes chaos (two directors, reshoots) shows in a few tonal seams, especially in the comedy.

Man of Steel2013

The polar opposite take — brooding, operatic, treating Kryptonian myth as tragedy rather than comfort. Worth seeing to understand exactly what Gunn's film is reacting against.

But Zack Snyder's grey-blue solemnity and lack of humour will frustrate anyone hoping for more of the new film's lightness.

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

The Iron Giant1999

Same core question as Superman — what does an unstoppable being owe the people who raised it to be gentle? — told with total sincerity in a completely different, smaller register.

A gentle animated masterpiece about an enormous, powerful outsider who chooses, moment by moment, to be kind rather than a weapon — the emotional engine under all the spectacle.

But It's a kids' film in tone and runtime; there's no fight choreography or scale to match a modern tentpole.

Wonder Woman2017

Same unfashionable sincerity, same belief that goodness itself can be a character trait rather than a punchline, wrapped in a terrific origin story.

But The final act sags into a generic CGI boss fight that undercuts the human-scale drama that came before.

Guardians of the Galaxy2014

Gunn's own earlier proof that he can make blockbuster spectacle feel like a mixtape — jokes, needle-drops, and real feeling coexisting without cancelling each other out.

But It's scrappier and weirder than Superman; if you want gravitas over goofiness, this leans further toward goofy.

Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse2018

Proof that a familiar hero can be reinvented with genuine visual and emotional ambition rather than just a costume change — dazzling, funny, unexpectedly moving.

But Animated and multiverse-heavy; if you want a straight, grounded story this one's structurally busier.

Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse poster

Shazam!2019

DC's other recent success at balancing goofball comedy with real stakes — a superhero movie that remembers being a kid who gets powers should feel joyful.

But Lower budget, smaller scale — this is charming B-tier spectacle, not top-shelf blockbuster filmmaking.

Zack Snyder's Justice League2021no page yet

See the DC universe Gunn's film is quietly correcting course from — same characters' universe, wildly different temperature and mythic self-seriousness.

But Four hours long and unapologetically indulgent; commit only if you're curious about the road not taken.

Invincible2021

An animated series openly built from Superman's DNA that asks the darker version of the same question: what if the perfect son of an all-powerful alien wasn't perfect at all?

But Extremely violent and unflinching in a way that would shock anyone expecting the tone of Gunn's film.

Chronicle2012

It's the same premise as Superman's origin — extraordinary power in ordinary hands — stripped of nobility, filmed handheld, and let curdle instead of redeemed.

Three teenagers get powers and the film asks, with queasy realism, what actually happens to a person's morality when they suddenly could do anything and answer to no one.

But Found-footage shakiness and a bleak, escalating third act — this is the opposite of comforting.

Superman and the Mole Men1951no page yet

This is where the character's moral instinct — protect the frightened outsider even when the crowd wants blood — was first put on screen, decades before any studio spectacle.

The very first Superman feature, made cheap and fast to launch the TV series — see the character before myth-making, fighting for the rights of misunderstood little creatures instead of world-ending villains.

But Sixty-seven minutes of low-budget 1950s serial filmmaking, with special effects and pacing to match — a genuine curio, not a thrill ride.