On 11th July David Cornenswet’s Superman took to the big screen in England, directed by James Gunn after he had recently agreed to take over the DC cinematic universe. 

Online, the new film has caused some debate between Superman fans, some saying that this is the most comic accurate representation of the hero in cinema while others say that it’s too “woke”. This sentiment is especially strong when the new film is compared to the more recent Superman films such as Man of Steel directed by Zach Snyder that leaned more into darker themes that cross the character of Superman while Gunn aims to truly convey Superman or Clark’s humanity. 

However in this article I will attempt to break down the film and how it portrays the character of Clark Kent with as little bias as possible and before I start I should warn you that this article contains heavy spoilers for Superman 2025. 

To begin, it is hard to deny that this new adaptation of Superman does lean into some more potentially woke themes, one of which being war. In the film the two fictional countries of Boravia and Jarhanpur are constantly threatening to be at war against each other again after Superman had already stopped a war between them once, before the events of the film. Boravia is a suppressive dictatorship fuelled by Lex Luthor, giving them weapons in return for half of Jarhanpur. However while we are told in the interview scene between Clark and Lois that the political climate in Jarhanpur also isn’t perfect we can quite clearly see in the film that there is no reason for conflict that doesn’t come back to greed and expansionist ideals on behalf of both Boravia and Lex. 

Many fans have likened this conflict to the one between Ukraine and Russia, while others believe that it is more similar to the Israel and Palestine conflict due to the American involvement on behalf of Lex Luthor. Either way many fans have praised James Gunn for the sentiment in the film. 

However what I really want to focus on is the message that this conflict gives the audience from Superman, rather than what the war could or couldn’t represent, and that message is to simply do things because they are right. In the scene where Lois is interviewing Clark or rather Superman when she asks who Superman was representing when he stopped the first conflict between these countries we really see Clark’s humanity come through, with him getting defensive and saying that he wasn’t representing “anyone except me and doing good” before later going on to say that he stopped the fighting without the help or approval of the proper channels since “people were going to die”. To me this scene shows a lot about the character of Superman and Clark Kent, which can be boiled down to doing good because he has the means to and because it's the right thing to do. In my opinion this is what makes Superman, well Superman. Of course he went through some great tragedy, like a lot of superheroes have done, however he doesn’t remember that as he was a baby when it happened, instead choosing to help others because he has a responsibility to do so without the motivation of a traumatic memory. 

In this particular film Clark first thought that he was helping Earth because that is what his Kryptonian parents wanted of him even though the message from them was damaged and when Clark discovers that this wasn’t what the message actually says and he questions everything he thought he knew about his parents and himself. This is until a fellow hero says that the fact that he believed the message was that it shows more about his character than the wishes of his dead relatives, further enforcing the idea that Clark chooses to use his powers to help others not because of some external factor, but rather because he can’t think of anything else he would use them for. 

To further this point we see Clark’s compassion and humanity in other scenes throughout the film. When the fire breathing monster attacks Metropolis instead of being solely focused on defeating the monster like the other heroes in the film (Mr Terrific, Hawkgirl and Green Lantern Guy Gardner), Superman is making sure that no civilians are hurt or put in harms way by the attack, even going out of his way to save a squirrel at one point in film when it was in danger from the monster. Gunn goes out of his way to make sure that Superman and Clark are presented as compassionate and caring, sometimes even at the expense of the other heroes' reputations. He does these things with no expectation of receiving anything in return and by consequence others in the film feel empowered to do the same. These characteristics are seen as something to aspire to, especially at the end when the members of the “Justice gang” goes in place of Superman to protect the people of Jarhanpur from Boravia when Clark was fighting Lex at the end. 

Finally there is the message of the film which Clark says himself and that is just “maybe being kind is punk rock” during a conversation he has with Lois regarding their relationship. In my opinion this sentiment is exactly what Superman is all about, a cool figure, that many people often aspire to be like, promoting good values and morals, making them seem appealing in a way that nothing else has ever done before. In fact in general there is a theory regarding superheroes saying that their display of morality helps to teach children what is right and wrong, and thereby installing good morals and values. Superman is just a character where these ideas really shine through, due to the fact that many consider him to be an almost personification of hope (as seen in the comic Superman for all seasons.) 

Therefore this message that being kind is just as cool as punk rock is, helps to further Superman’s character and ultimately who he is as a person. In addition to this, that message and Clark’s caring nature in the film also helps to in many ways reverse the toxic masculinity often presented in superhero films, something that I believe is for the better and I hope other Superhero films take this initiative on as well. 

There are also many other topics in this film that I haven’t touched upon due to the fact that if I did I would be writing a book rather than an article. However before I finish, I would like to briefly talk about what the future of the DC cinematic universe looks like under James Gunn, since so far it has gotten off to a very good start despite the controversy amongst Superman fans. Well there will be a lot of films coming out, the first one being Supergirl the Woman of Tomorrow next June based on the comic by the same name. There also appears to be plans for a Green Lantern film, a new Batman film with Robin (who is supposed to be Damian Wayne at the moment) and even a film for the lesser known but still beloved superhero Booster Gold. 

Personally I loved this film and really enjoyed seeing the more human side of Superman that is often overshadowed when it comes to films. Not to mention that it was a very visually compelling film with an amazing cast and soundtrack. And if that didn’t convince you Krypto is so adorable he will win over your heart in a second. However this is all just my opinion so please watch the film for yourself if you can because I believe that even if it isn’t your cup of tea it is still interesting to see how different people have taken on the complex and historic character that is Superman.