NFL
By: Mark T. Wilson
Superman is now in theaters, and before its release to the public, critics were divided. Now, the public has had a chance to view the latest version of Superman spearheaded by James Gunn, and let’s just say, work needs to be done.
But that alone is a cause for concern. I’ll be first out of the gate to say that I was never a fan of Gunn’s vision. Guardians of the Galaxy, in my opinion, didn’t sit right with the MCU. It was just something off with the movies and characters. While I’m in the minority on this take, what Gunn was awful at, he brought that over to the new DCU. And for that, Superman suffered.
For as long as I’ve been tuned into Superman from the movies to the TV shows, I’ve always held this superhero in high regard. The reason was, he was one of those heroes who you had to take seriously. Superman was not about the funny business. It was to protect Earth and love Lois.
This version that Gunn has given us, well, it was more Star-Lord than the Man of Steel. While Superman was not the No. 1 jokester in the film, everyone around him was. That felt off. It felt like Gamora or Drax taking shots at Quill while he’s trying to save the Galaxy.
Then, if you want to go further into it, this version of Superman appeared to be more mortal than any other version. Yes, the powers were still there, but he took a backseat to everyone else. Hawkgirl, Green Lantern, and Mr. Terrific were more heroes than he was. Every time you saw Superman, he was either bleeding, getting tossed around like a rag doll, or dealing with a bruised face. How many times have we seen Superman like this over the decades?
I can understand they wanted him to be more human-like, but that’s the thing, Superman was never viewed as human, Clark Kent was. There is a difference. Clark was the guy we rooted for, and Superman was the guy we depended on. In this version, we didn’t get either.
The world turned on Superman. Hell, even Lois Lane admitted to Mr. Terrific that she was about to break up with Clark and Superman. Say what?
One of the things I’ve always loved about most versions of Superman was Lex Luther. This version was tame. He had his moments, but it never felt like he was the great criminal mind we’ve known him to be. For the most part, he stayed in a tower overlooking a giant game room where he tried to kill Superman from behind a keyboard.
The promos show what should have been an emotional storyline in the movie between Lois and Clark, but their normally tight bond was nonexistent. There was no real screen time between the lovebirds. It was like Gunn couldn’t decide who he wanted on camera, Clark or Kal-El.
Despite the bad vibes, there is some promise with the new direction of the DCU with David Corenswet as Superman and the rest of the cast, but I fear that this is the foundation for Superman. What I’m saying is that in the next movie, Gunn can’t change him. He can’t go from the comedic route to a serious tone. Imagine Quill becoming a Steve Rogers clone after being the driving force on comedy for the MCU for so long. It’s a tough road ahead.
I’ll forever love Superman the character. However, James Gunn is making it hard to love his version.
