Reactions to James Gunn's $225M Superman Movie Revealed

The first reviews are in for Warner Bros.’ Superman, which are largely positive though many find their fair share of flaws in the superhero film.

Superman marks the first foray into the newly-branded DC Universe, with James Gunn directing and leading the way as the new head of DC alongside Peter Safran.

Many were skeptical of the film – the third new Superman reboot in just under two decades, following Brandon Routh in 2006’s Superman Returns and Henry Cavill in 2013’s Man of Steel and 2017’s Justice League.

David Corenswet takes over as the title character, with Rachel Brosnahan portraying his Daily Planet colleague and girlfriend Lois Lane, with Nicholas Hoult as the villainous Lex Luthor.

Box office analysts have already been bullish on this new version of the Man of Steel, with some projecting an opening weekend between $130 million and $170 million, though director James Gunn recently debunked rumors the film needed to crack $700 million to be a success.

The first wave of reviews have been posted Tuesday on Rotten Tomatoes, with the film earning an 86% rating from 133 reviews, though director James Gunn has been facing backlash and called ‘superwoke’ for calling the Man of Steel an immigrant.

Warner Bros. held the Los Angeles premiere of Superman at the TCL Chinese Theatre on Monday, with fans and critics already praising the film on social media.

David Corenswet takes over as the title character, with Rachel Brosnahan (above) portraying his Daily Planet colleague and girlfriend Lois Lane, with Nicholas Hoult as Lex Luthor

The film follows the Man of Steel as he tries to balance his life as mild-mannered reporter Clark Kent while also being the most powerful entity on the planet.

This version of Superman is already established in his profession, older than Tom Welling’s portrayal on The CW’s Smallville but also younger than Henry Cavill’s version of the superhero in the previous DC films.

The film also brings in numerous other beloved characters from the DC Comics like Mister Terrific (Edi Gathegi), Metamorpho (Anthony Carrigan), Guy Gardner (Nathan Fillion) and Hawkgirl (Isabela Merced), plus the beloved Crypto the Super-Dog.

While the budget has been reported to be $225 million, Gunn recently shot down rumors that his film needs a huge result at the box office.

‘This is not the riskiest endeavor in the world,’ Gunn said to GQ.

‘Is there something riding on it? Yeah, but it’s not as big as people make it out to be,’ Gunn admitted.

‘They hear these numbers that the movie’s only going to be successful if it makes $700 million or something and it’s just complete and utter nonsense. It doesn’t need to be as big of a situation as people are saying,’ Gunn clarified.

Variety critic Owen Gleiberman called Superman an ‘exuberant and poppy reboot,’ adding writer-director James Gunn is trying to, ‘reset not just one studio’s fortunes but the very idea of what a comic-book movie is.’

While the budget has been reported to be $225 million, Gunn recently shot down rumors that his film needs a huge result at the box office

David Rooney from The Hollywood Reporter admitted the two-hour-nine-minute film did feel ‘lumpy and overstuffed,’ though he praised the film’s tone and lead actors.

‘But what matters most is that the movie is fun, pacy and enjoyable, a breath of fresh air sweetened by a deep affection for the material and boosted by a winning trio of leads,’ he wrote.

The Toronto Star critic Peter Howell called the film ‘all over the place,’ both geographically and narratively.

‘Gunn packs so many heroes, villains, creatures and incidents into his screenplay, it’s as if he’s presenting a preview of future DC Universe delights. That is, in fact, largely what he’s doing. He seems to have forgotten that popcorn munchers want to see the story now, not tomorrow,’ Howell adds.

The Los Angeles Times‘ Amy Nicholson offers a positive review, though she adds David Corenswet’s title character is, ‘a little stupid.’

‘This isn’t quite the heart-soaring “Superman” I wanted. But these adventures wise him up enough that I’m curious to explore where the saga takes him next,’ she added.

One of the few fully negative reviews was from The Guardian‘s Peter Bradshaw, who called Superman, ‘a film fatally unconvinced of the reason for its own existence.’

He added the film is, ‘encumbered by a pointless and cluttered new backstory which has to be explained in many wearisome intertitles flashed up on screen before anything happens at all.’

Still, the film won over many, including The New York Times‘ Alissa Wilkinson, who referred to herself as a ‘superhero-weary critic.’

The film follows the Man of Steel as he tries to balance his life as mild-mannered reporter Clark Kent while also being the most powerful entity on the planet.

One of the other negative reviews was from IndieWire ‘s Dave Ehrlich, who admits that both David Corenswet as Superman and Rachel Brosnahan as Lois Lane are ‘great,’ but adds it ‘overcorrects for the Zack Snyder era,’ the last filmmaker who tackled the Man of Steel in several super-serious and dark movies.

‘It’s a sincere but also goofy movie, with a few well-timed twists on the mythology and a couple of added characters (I won’t spoil it, I promise) who keep things light at just the right moments,’ she writes.

One of the other negative reviews was from IndieWire‘s Dave Ehrlich, who admits that both David Corenswet as Superman and Rachel Brosnahan as Lois Lane are ‘great,’ but adds it ‘overcorrects for the Zack Snyder era,’ the last filmmaker who tackled the Man of Steel in several super-serious and dark movies.

‘Determined to restore a lightness to Superman without dancing around how dark things have gotten in his absence, Gunn’s movie is too busy reacting to the world at hand to create one of its own,’ Ehrlich writes.

Deadline‘s Peter Hammond praised the film for having, ‘something to say about who we are, what we are becoming, and what we should aspire to.’

Still he admits that Gunn, ‘might be trying to do too much here, basically throwing everything against the wall and hoping some of it sticks. More than enough does in this entertaining new direction, but at times suffers from overload.’

Gunn himself has been facing backlash for comments he made in an interview in The Sunday Times of London last week.

‘I mean, Superman is the story of America. An immigrant that 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,’ Gunn said.

The writer-director admitted it would play differently in historically Democratic and Republican areas.

Gunn himself has been facing backlash for comments he made in an interview in The Sunday Times of London last week.

‘But it’s about human kindness and obviously there will be jerks out there who are just not kind and will take it as offensive just because it is about kindness. But screw them,’ he said.

Gunn faced criticism from a number of media personalities, including Fox News’ Greg Gutfeld, who said the filmmaker is operating with ‘a woke shield’ – and out of touch with what Americans really feel.

‘He’s creating a moat of woke, enlightened opinion around him,’ Gutfeld said of the St. Louis-born filmmaker.

Kellyanne Conway, who served under President Donald Trump during his first term, said that Gunn had missed the point of a trip to the movie theater being about escapism.

‘We don’t go to the movie theater to be lectured to and to have somebody throw their ideology onto us,’ Conway said, according to the New York Post.

Conservative personality Chris Stigall said the filmmaker was trying to confuse the issue with the words he used.

‘This guy Gunn says you’re not an American if you don’t support immigrants – well, of course, it’s not about immigrants,’ Stigall said. ‘The issue is the word he left out – illegal – illegal immigrants and aliens. Isn’t [Superman’s] tagline “Truth, justice, and the American way?”‘