I Finally GET Superman 

I couldn't have cared less about Superman.

Not just the new movie, the whole character. Growing up in the 2010s, I was totally consumed by the superhero craze. I saw everything from Avengers to the Dark Knight to frickin' Ghost Rider. But I'd never watched a single Superman movie. As long as I can remember, I've been aware of Superman's existence, but he just didn't interest me. He was overpowered, he was vanilla, he was boring.

The closest I got to Superman as a kid was playing Clark Kent in a high school superhero parody play. No joke. I looked great in the muscle suit.

When the new take on Superman, directed by James Gunn and starring that guy from Pearl was announced, I didn't really blink. New director, new actors, but the same old story that I'd absorbed through cultural osmosis a hundred times over? Cool beans.

In the run-up to the new film, I kept being met with the same line over and over: "But you've seen the original, right? You HAVE to see the original!" I'm nothing if not susceptible to pop culture peer pressure, so I finally caved and watched Richard Donner's original Superman. I wanted to to give the Man of Steel a fair shot.

Suffice it to say, by the end, I did not believe a man could fly.

I was flabbergasted by the wacky setpieces, the cheesy dialogue and the almost incomprehensible plotline about real estate and a workplace crush. I thought that Lois Lane was annoying, I thought that Lex Luthor was silly, and I thought that Christopher Reeve's Superman was just kind of... dumb. A sweet dummy, but a dummy nonetheless. He gets outsmarted because he sits still and lets Lex put a kryptonite necklace on him and then almost drowns in a pool. That's his big climactic fight.

There was a cognitive dissonance between me and Superman that I couldn't quite define. It was so different tonally from other superhero movies that I was familiar with, and I struggled to see what made this one so special. It was goofy and earnest, and Superman himself was just a good guy who happened to be the most powerful superhero in the universe. There was no powerful bad guy, no existential threat, no grand character arc. I just couldn't see what was interesting about that. I came to the conclusion that Superman wasn't the character for me. I was happy to watch other people have their fun, but from a respectful distance.

Yet, I felt a sort of morbid obligation to finish the journey that I had started.

I decided that the 2025 version would be the last chance I'd ever give Supes. I sat in my seat full of doubt, ready to see the cinematic equivalent of a shoulder-shrug.

I've never been happier to be wrong.

What James Gunn and David Corenswet have done with this new iteration of the hero is to take everything that makes Superman special, everything that's been hidden under layers of muted colours and gritiness and cynicism for decades, and unearth it for a new audience.

I left the movie feeling exactly what that S is supposed to stand for. Hope. Superman is the movie I needed right now, and if you've been online recently you'll see that I'm not the only one. Kindness is the new punk rock, guys. I've been listening to that Teddybears song for DAYS.

James Gunn understands something about Superman that I missed, but that the original captured perfectly. The thing that makes him great is that he is good. Uncomplicatedly so. Superman sees the best in humanity and reflects it back in his actions. As Corenswet said in an interview, "He loves getting to do what he does." And what does he do in this movie? He saves people.

He shields little kids from rubble, he saves everyday citizens from falling buildings, and he protects squirrels from monsters of the week. Heck, he even wanted to protect the monster itself! This Superman genuinely values life in all forms, even the 'emotionless' robot companions that staff his Fortress of Solitude. Until last week, I'd never seen Superman save anyone except Lois Lane.

If there's one director who knows how to tap into the heart of a superhero story, it's James Gunn. We've seen it in the deconstruction of Peter Quill and the tragedy of Rocket Raccoon in Guardians of the Galaxy, and in the refreshed team dynamics of The Suicide Squad. But this might be his greatest accomplishment yet. Like I said, for as long as I can remember Superman has just been the boring, moody flying guy who snaps necks when the going gets tough. No longer.

I love Corenswet's golly-gee, altruistic-to-a-fault take on the hero. I'm not even kidding, a good chunk of this movie only happens because Superman wants to save Krypto the Super-Dog. He doesn't have to, but he knows that his job, above all else, is to protect. No matter the cost. I couldn't help but think of Reeve pulling that kitten from a tree in the original. Pieces were falling into place.

This movie takes all the best parts of the 1978 version and updates them for a modern audience. I had a giant grin on my face from start to finish. Lex Luthor, who in my head was bumbling tech-bro type, became equal parts genuinely evil and deliciously pathetic. Lois Lane, Jimmy Olsen, even Metamorpho. These were all just names to me before, but Gunn put a beating heart behind every character, and I'd like to personally thank him for it.

Superman saw the best in every person he met, so that's exactly what he brought out in them. And he made me feel like I could to do it too. That's a pretty amazing feeling to walk away from a film with, especially right now. This movie feels revolutionary. It's not a throwback for me as it is for others, but it did make me appreciate the character of Superman for the first time, and finally understand what I was missing from the original.

Being kind is a superpower, and it's one you don't have to be the son of Krypton to use. Kindness isn't just human. It's gosh darn necessary.