The DCU Truly Begins

It’s fair to say that there is a lot riding on James Gunn’s Superman. Theatrically this is the start of the new DC UniverseThe successor to WB's failed cinematic universe, the DCEU. Headed by James Gunn and Peter Safran, this new DC Universe carries over some continuity from the former film and TV series while crafting a new, rebooted universe for the future., the WB’s second attempt and getting a cinematic universe off the ground after the failed DC Extended UniverseStarted as DC Comics' answer to the MCU, the early films in the franchise stumbled out of the gates, often mired in grim-dark storytelling and the rushed need to get this franchise started. Eventually, though, the films began to even out, becoming better as they went along. Still, this franchise has a long way to go before it's true completion for Marvel's universe., and though it technically has works going back that tie in, from works that exist in quasi continuity, such as The Suicide Squad and Peacemaker: Season 1, as well as one show that absolutely exists in continuity with Creature Commandos: Season 1, this is the first work most are going to see, and this acts as the, well, firing of the gun that sets the universe truly in motion. This film has to succeed or the whole house of cards that Gunn, Peter Safran, and the WB are building will all collapse yet again.

And that success cannot simply be measured financially. The DCEU started with Man of Steel and then extended out into Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, Suicide Squad, and Wonder Woman, and each of those were financially quite successful, although most were critically panned. It was with Justice League that the whole universe started to collapse, and that was because the universe was built on shaky ground. To avoid that fate, Gunn’s Superman could just be a Box Office success, it had to be a winner with critics and audiences alike. Gunn, in essence, had to pull off a miracle, maybe one even greater than getting people to care about the Guardians of the Galaxy.

So it is that I can say that, mostly, Gunn pulls off that miracle. His Superman is a fun and exciting film that hits many of the beats people really wanted from his movie. It has a SupermanThe first big superhero from DC Comics, Superman has survived any number of pretenders to the throne, besting not only other comic titans but even Wolrd War II to remain one of only three comics to continue publishing since the 1940s. that feels right, a big, blue, boy scout that really cares. It has a sassy Lois Lane, a vile and evil Lex Luthor, a scattering of other heroes and villains that help make the film feel lived in a comic booky, and it is willing to go weird and explore the various odd corners of the DC Universe that are such a mainstay of Superman comics. It does all this in a film that clocks in just over two hours, while feeling filled to the brim with details.

At the same time, though, it’s not perfect. It’s not the film that I think everyone who loves DC and Superman specifically wanted. It has a few flaws, a few moments that don’t feel as tightly written or well plotted as I would have liked. Thankfully, most of this comes in the first act, which absolutely has to strain to get us into a universe that is already actively up and running before we even see the first few moments of the film roll, and once it gets going it really gets going. It’s just that so much is riding on this, and while I think Gunn did about as good as he could to get not just this film but the whole universe rolling, some may not like how the film strains, just a little, to get the job done.

The film opens with a text scroll (which, I will admit, is one of my biggest pet peeves). We’re told that three thousand years ago, meta humans emerged on Earth. That thirty years ago, an alien baby crash landed on the planet. That three years ago, that now grown man revealed himself as the protector of the planet, Superman. That three days ago he intervened in a war between two nations and told them to stop fighting, without any governmental authority to back that up, just the powers he had on his own. And that three minutes ago, he lost his first fight ever, battling against a villain aligned with one of those nations, the Hammer of Boravia. And then Superman comes crashing to the ground in the Antarctic.

From there, we watch Superman (David Corenswet) get back up (with a little help from the robots that work in his Fortress of Solitude) and go back to the fight, which he nearly loses again. The Hammer of Boravia was secretly sent to fight Superman by Lex Luthor (Nicholas Hoult), who has a deal with that country and feeds battle moves to the Hammer. Boravia wants to conquer their neighbor, Jarhanpur, and Lex would greatly benefit from this deal. But his real goal is to defeat Superman, once and for all, hating everything the Man of Steel stands for. And nothing, not the reporters of the Daily Planet – Lois Lane (Rachel Brosnahan) and Jimmy Olsen (Skyler Gisondo) – not the superheroes of the Justice Gang – Michael Holt / Mister Terrific (Edi Gathegi), Guy Gardner / Green Lantern (Nathan Fillion), and Kendra Saunders / Hawkgirl (Isabela Merced) – and not any weird aliens or other creatures, will get in the way of his goal. Superman will need all the help he can get to battle Lex and his billions of dollars and loyal acolytes.

The first half hour or so of Superman is probably its weakest. This is because Gunn uses the text scroll to cover a lot of plot, some of which doesn’t really connect with us because we don’t see it happen. I can understand glossing over Superman’s origin story since we’ve seen it multiple times before in cinemas over the decades, and the idea that metahumans have been living on the planet for thousands of years is a factoid that can be dispensed with pretty easily. But the battle between Boravia and Jarhanpur is a pretty big plot point of the movie and the fact that we not only don’t see Superman’s first battle with the Hammer of Boravia, but that we also don’t see the conflict between Superman and Boravia’s leader, Vasil Ghurkos (Zlatko Burić), that came before robs us of some key character moments that would inform this conflict.

And that plotline does matter because it acts as an inciting act for the public questioning Superman’s own motives in the story. He went into a sovereign nation on his own, kidnapped a world leader, and essentially threatened him with physical violence (even if Clark in the film says he only threatened a stern talking to). That is something we should see so we understand the context of the war, and Superman’s actions, to give us a bigger sense of the picture. That’s important world building we miss out on.

By a similar metric, that battle with the Hammer of Boravia is something we should have seen the first time around. I understand the desire to start us in medias res so we instantly get hooked by action, but the film tells us some key details: this is the first fight he’s ever lost, and it’s against someone as powerful as him, if not more so. Even if we understand how that fight went (since we see Supes swoop back into action and try again) we should get a sense of how it went so poorly. And, more importantly, if this is the first fight he’s ever lost, we need to understand what that does to him as a person. Does it make him scared, or angry, or does he puff up with bluster about it? And if so, why? Instead, Clark doesn’t even seem phased afterwards, and that seems stranger. If he can lose this fight, he could lose others, and that at least should give him a moment of introspection, a moment that never comes in the film.

With all that said, this all comes in the first 15 minutes or so of the film. It takes some time to get past that, and once it does, the film picks up quickly. The real battle is one of wills between Superman and Lex and that plotline rocks. The film does a great job of quickly sinking us into the dynamic of those two characters, with Superman being the big, blue boy scout that cares about everyone (even a squirrel in the middle of a battle) while Lex cares nothing about the people around him or any damage he may cause. He claims Superman is there to conquer Earth and dominate everyone when, for every action we see from him in the film, that’s exactly what Lex wants to do. He holds himself higher than the rest of humanity and Superman gets in the way of his plans and desires. Also, Nicholas Hoult is fantastic in the role, playing this Lex with pitch perfect ruthlessness.

I also love the various other characters in the film. I think Nathan Fillion is perfectly cast as Guy Gardner, playing the smarmy and egotistical Green LanternMade up of aliens from sectors scross space, the Green Lantern Corp. defends the universe against threats with the power of the Green Light of Willpower. perfectly. Edi Gathegi is great as Mr. Terrific, a guy who has his science and tech as his super power, and he has a fantastic, combative friendship with Superman that really develops as the film goes on. And while she doesn’t get as much to do in this film as I’d like, Isabela Merced is great as Hawkgirl, playing her character with a cool and collected demeanor in battle while also having a sarcastic and sassy streak while she’s relaxing.

Of course, when talking about sassy characters, no one shines brighter than Rachel Brosnahan. When it was announced that she had been cast in the role of Lois Lane, I felt it was perfect casting. Her Lois isn’t that much different from her Mrs. Maisel, and she doesn’t need to be. She’s a motor-mouthed, confident gal that has no problem talking over Superman, or anyone else, in pursuit of a story. But she’s also warm, and caring, and clearly feels deeply about Clark. She brings so many dynamics to her character, making Lois feel lived in despite her character not getting anywhere near as much screen time as I feel she deserved (which we’ll get to in a second).

And, of course, let’s address David Corenswet. He has probably the hardest role of them all, having to make people believe he’s Superman. He plays the aspects of the role perfectly, clearly having studied the Supermen that came before. His Clark is a little bit bumbling, a little goofy, to the point where you can understand why people would never suspect he was Superman. Meanwhile his Superman has that presence, the way to fill a room just by existing, but he doesn’t use it to dominate. Instead he fills it with charm, with caring, with the desire to do good. Corenswet nails the performance as the boy scout perfect, the “aw, shucks” farmboy that would be silly if someone else played him (well, other than Tyler Hoechlin, who also nailed the role over on Superman & Lois).

James Gunn has a lot of irons he puts into the fire – the battle between Lex and Superman, the introduction of the Justice Gang (name pending), introducing us as well to Krypto, Superman’s dog (well, mostly his), the war between Boravia and Jarhanpur, the love story between Clark and Lois, and so much more – and while he doesn’t do it with perfect grace, he gets it mostly right. Many online have said that Gunn bit off more than he could chew, and that could be correct in many ways. I absolutely could see how a movie before this one, just to get us settled into Superman’s world could have helped us with context and character building. At the same time, though, I understand Gunn’s impulse to put us into the middle of the action, to skip the origin stories and the slow burn of building a universe piece by piece, since we’ve seen those things before from multiple other movies and we don’t need to see it again. Gunn wants to get right to the meat of the story, and while it takes some warming up to get there, we eventually get into it and the film does sing at that point.

About the only thing I really wish we got more of was Lois and Clark. The two are great together, and they have a fizzy, 1950s screwball comedy dynamic that really is great. Unfortunately the film spends a lot of time keeping these two apart, sending them on their own plotlines while Lex’s machinations play out. The two are so great that I want a sequel that focuses more on them. Clark and Lois digging into a case. The two of them solving mysteries and falling for each other. And then, eventually, Superman has to fight someone while Lois gets in trouble, because that’s what these two do. We don’t get much of that this time around, but that’s fine if we get it in the sequel. Superman isn’t really Superman without Lois, so that’s the dynamic we really need in the future.

Superman is an imperfect film, but it’s only by degrees. Gunn has a lot to balance as writer and director of this film and he doesn’t always pull it off perfectly. At the same time, though, it feels like a very James Gunn film while also being a love letter to Superman. While the film is imperfect, I don’t know that any director today could have done much better, especially not while having the weight of a whole cinematic universe bearing down on his film. Superman does what it can to build the DCU and it’s a solid first step. Now we just need to see how the next few works go, including next year’s Supergirl, so we can fully understand how this universe is going to function.

I liked Superman a lot. More than anything, though, it gives me hope for James Gunn’s vision. It isn’t fully locked in yet, but what this film shows us for the universe and these characters I do really, really like.