James Gunn's Superman: Spoiler-Free Review

Minutes after seeing James Gunn's Superman, we recorded our instant out-of-the-theater reaction as we drove home.

The best thing about James Gunn's Superman is also the most challenging aspect of the film. Most likely, if you're reading this, you have a strong understanding of who Superman is and how he should behave. As Tom King recently told us, no one alive today really remembers the first time they encountered Superman the same way they don't remember the first time they saw a chair. Almost immediately after his creation by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, Superman just became part of the air around us. He is.

Because of this, James Gunn can just get going with his Superman. He's not re-telling the origin. He's dropping us right into the action, and this movie is wall-to-wall Action (Comics). It's confidently weird, too, embracing the Silver Age era and allowing superhero absurdity to strut its stuff. Ultraman! Hawkgirl! Metamorpho! Krypto! Guy Gardner's bowl cut! If you want movies to be cool, ya better skip it and stay in your Film Twitter pocket dimension. This Superman is good with being corny cuz corny is sexy when it's secure.

We saw Superman in a packed theater with an AC unit struggling to survive a very hot, muggy Maryland night. As the credits rolled, people worked out their feelings. Long before the film started, they had a Superman already living in their imagination, and the stringent comparison between James Gunn's version and the one in their heads got in the way of a good time for some. It took us a few minutes to shake anticipation, too, but once we did, we recognized this Superman as a damn good time at the movies.

Click the image above, and you can hear our immediate reaction to Superman as we record our thoughts on the car ride home from the theater. This link will take you to our Patreon Page, but we've made it Free for Members, and it's totally Free to join. While you're there, you may discover a variety of other interesting podcasts and videos to enjoy.

How does David Corenswet stack up as Superman? What about Clark Kent? What's his chemistry with Rachel Brosnahan's Lois Lane and Nicholas Hoult's Lex Luthor? Would we watch a Guy Gardner movie? We answer all these questions and more as we work out our feelings about this bold new direction for DC Studios. We promise to keep it spoiler-free.

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