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SUPERMAN (2025)

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I have to resurrect my tumblr from the dead for my thoughts on the new Superman movie:

THIS WAS AN AMAZING MOVIE. THAT WAS SUPERMAN.

He’s corny, he’s midwestern, he’s a nerd and everyone kind of bullies him for it. He says things like “what the hay dude” or “I’m punk rock- I’m totally punk” completely seriously. He takes several extra precious seconds to save a squirrel. He’s ready to fly headfirst into danger to save his dog because the dog’s probably “scared and all alone” even though it’s not a particularly good dog all the time. He loves his parents. He has bad band posters hanging in his childhood bedroom. He takes the time to calm a lady on a rooftop in the middle of a fight. He cares. 

As for the actual plot- it’s really difficult to make a Superman movie feel high stakes, especially while trying to keep it real. In the comics Superman gets into situations it would be nearly impossible to show on screen, like fighting in front of a black hole, but somehow this movie makes it work. James Gunn tapped into his experience making Guardians of the Galaxy and it shows in the best way possible. You find yourself wondering how in the world Superman is going to win- and that’s what makes this such an amazing superhero movie.

Superman’s true weakness isn’t kryptonite, it’s thinking and planning ahead. All the villains that beat him in the comics match his brawn, but have the brains to get an edge and have better fight strategy. All superman knows is that “people were going to die” and since he’s such an unbelievably GOOD guy, that’s all that matters to him. We saw it when the “justice gang” was helping him fight the alien monster and we saw it in Louis’s interview. When you have a superhero with barely any weaknesses, you need something more than the threat of losing a fight to make him interesting. 

Now for Lex- no notes. He was brilliantly written. It can be difficult to take his character seriously, but that speech at the end where he was screaming to be recognized because, to him, humanity’s ability to overcome odds and achieve through innovation is critical and Superman’s existence risks overshadowing that? That was deadly serious. 

Last serious note- I’m glad they kept it political. The United States government being scared of an alien and the threat of invasion despite the fact that Superman has done nothing but help them? A billionaire approaching the government to encourage foreign intervention because it will allow him to profit? A foreign power that the U.S. is officially allied to even though everyone knows they’ve committed horrible war crimes but nobody actually KNOWS that and the smaller neighbor they’re threatening to wipe out in order to “free” them from an oppressive regime? Superman declaring that he’s just like everyone else, that he’s human too and that’s his greatest strength? The idea of radical love? Yeah. 

FINAL NOTE: I think that a scene from this movie sums up what I got from it very well. It’s when Louis is talking about how Clark isn’t punk rock. She says that he trusts everyone he’s ever met and he thinks that everyone is beautiful. And he responds: “maybe that’s punk rock.” He’s right. It is. And that’s Superman. 

Anyways…good movie. Go watch it.

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Superman (2025) dir. James Gunn

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omg its krypto the superdog and uhhh some random guy from the daily planet or whatever?

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Something I really loved in the new Superman that I haven’t seen anyone mention:

When that building is falling down over the bridge, Superman is saving one woman in a car. Usually in superhero movies or TV procedurals with emergency services, if it’s a woman in a car she also has a child or a crying baby to “raise the stakes” and make you care. But for this Superman, and in the context of this movie, it’s enough to just be a woman alone in a shitty car that won’t start right. She doesn’t need to be a mother for the stakes to be high enough that Superman uses his body to stop an entire skyscraper.

It was small, but it felt really powerful to me the moment I saw it.

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Superman (2025) + Text posts

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Just so we are all on the same page, Being kind IS in FACT punk rock

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its more of a foster situation?

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best part of the Superman movie was when Mr Terrific just soloed everyone at that camp while boss music was playing and Lois was watching with the most terrified expression ever like

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Superman (2025) + tweets

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She showed up at the last minute still drunk to pick up her dog after a week of partying off planet, called Superman a bitch, and left. I love her already.

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It's so important to me that Jonathan is so soft in the Superman movie. Jonathan is there asking Lois with worried eyes if their boy is going to be okay. Jonathan is there tearily telling Clark he's proud of him. Jonathan is there recognizing how upset Clark is and coaxing him to talk about it. Jonathan loudly loves his son. There is no guessing game, no question, no room for uncertainty.

And Clark reflects that every day as Superman.

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The thing you gotta understand about Mr. Terrific in the new Superman movie is that he is always the smartest man in the room.

And he HATES it.

It's not that he hates being smart, he just hates how he can never quite predict how dumb everyone else is.

Just when he thinks he knows how low Guy's IQ is: "we are both of the cloth"

No, Lois, we can't repel down there, WHERE WOULD WE GET THE EQUIPMENT?

DO YOU REALLY NOT KNOW THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN CIRCLES AND SPHERES?!??!?

WHY WOULD YOU BRING YOUR DOG TO THIS TEAR IN THE FABRIC OF REALITY?

And then, when there's someone who actually is intelligent, it's like the intelligence only increases their capacity for dumbassery

Lex, you're supposed to be a super genius so whY WOULD YOU BUILD A GOD DAMN POCKET DIMENSION?!?!!?!

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honestly most of the Superman (2025) "discourse" just feels like

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just saw the new Superman and yknow what I keep thinking about?.. when he’s fighting Luthor’s diversion in Metropolis, Clark is making every effort to isolate it to a relatively open space (the park). damages are at a minimum. but that takes time, it’s not efficient enough, so then the corporate-funded Justice Gang shows up - and oops, suddenly buildings are being swept off their foundations, civilians in direct line of fire, the city core is getting ripped apart. he’s scrambling to save children, squirrels, people caught in the red zone while the others are more interested in punching the big monster. the story makes it absolutely clear that corporations don’t care about life or harm reduction, and in a world in which superheroes are already normalized, this kindness is what sets Superman apart

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This Superman is such a sweetie. He’s kind to the robots. He makes his girlfriend breakfast for dinner. He pretends he doesn’t care what social media thinks of him but gets genuinely upset over juvenile name calling. He tortured a despot with a cactus but the spines “weren’t that big.” He tries to capture the giant monster alive. He loves people and does his best to help them and he’s not an idiot he knows people are complicated, but he’s genuinely heartbroken when they turn on him. The idea of him having a harem is utterly ridiculous. He loses it over a pain-in-the-ass dog. He makes fun of the despot for pissing his pants. He wept at seeing an innocent man murdered. His open devastation over Mali’s murder is part of what brings Metamorpho to take the risk of helping him. He saves that weird baby. He saves a squirrel. He not only would not fuck his clone, he killed him. He makes that shithead Lex cry. His flirting with Lois is so swagless and unsubtle that her boss immediately clocks that they’re together. He loves his parents. He’s good all the way down, not because he was born that way but because he chooses to be.

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Vague Superman spoilers ahead but what does it say about movies lately that I was genuinely surprised that they beat the bad guys without some big catch or sacrifice. Like sure there little things and emotional ramifications but at the end of the day they won.

Lex even tried to do the whole “force the hero to make an impossible choice” thing and it didn’t work because Superman asked his friends for help!

Anyway I’m just obsessed with the theme of “Good can win. It may be hard and it may seem hopeless at times but with love and friendship and a radical determination to save as many people as you possibly can, good can win.”