by David Slifer

DC has started a new cinematic universe since Co-CEO’s James Gunn and Peter Safran took over. This summer, DC Studios released their first DCU film with “Superman.” Written and directed by James Gunn, this film stars David Corenswet as Clark Kent and Superman, Rachel Brosnahan as Lois Lane, Nicholas Hoult as Lex Luthor, Edi Gathegi as Mr. Terrific, Nathan Fillion as Guy Gardner and Green Lantern, Isabel Merced as Kendra Saunders/Hawkgirl, Sara Sampaio as Eve Teschmacher and Skylar Gisondo as Jimmy Olsen.

A quote by James Gunn really helps to explain this story, “Superman must reconcile his alien Kryptonian heritage with his human upbringing as reporter Clark Kent. As the embodiment of truth, justice and the human way he soon finds himself in a world that views these as old-fashioned.” The story focuses on Clark Kent, trying to be the best hero he can be in a world where most heroes are not seen doing that. Later in the story, Clark learns something that causes him to question who he is and if he is truly the hero that earth needs. Although he needs to discover some of this on his own, that does not mean he will not need help along the way.

This film was a great way to kick off this new universe. It did a great job at showing us Clark’s humanity, something that has been used in other previous Superman films, but this one really digs heavily into that aspect of this character. One thing that many people appreciated with this movie was how “lived” the universe felt. At the beginning, we are given the history of the universe and are made aware of how long metahumans (superpowered beings) have existed. Not only that, but we also see other heroes and hear references to them and others not in the film. You just jump right in – We did not need the basic set up of Superman’s story because it has been told many times before.

David Corenswet played Superman. When it was announced that they were looking to recast Superman, Corenswet was the most popular fancast for the character. He looks the part and many of his previous works showed that this was a character that he could pull off – he absolutely succeeded in this task. Superman is someone who goes the extra mile and takes the extra steps to make sure everyone is safe; not only did he save many people from a kaiju, but he saved a squirrel. With the issue that Clark finds out, he had a lot to process. Corenswet portrayed the reactions and grief that Clark feels in those moments. Corenswet just perfectly showed us all what it means to be a good person with his performance.

Nicholas Hoult as Lex Luthor was amazing. Lex is a character who is driven by envy and hate. Hoult embodies the hate that this character has towards the Man of Steel. Hoult performs every emotion he has beautifully. We see his obsession and the hate he has for Superman fueling it. He went as far as to start a war just to annihilate Superman. That is an extreme length to go to, but with how Hoult plays the character you absolutely believe he would do that. Many people online made memes about him basically saying “Lex Luthor showed me I am not hating to my full potential.”

A big standout performance for most fans was Edi Gathegi as Mr. Terrific. Gathegi stole every scene he was in. The man had one of the best fight scenes in the movie as he took out Lex Luthor’s soldiers and acted like it was nothing. Mr. Terrific is a “get it done” type of person in this movie. He is the second smartest character in DC Comics and does not have time to deal with drama; Gathegi pulled that performance off very well. He may have seemed like he was there to do a job but he really was wanting to do the right thing. When the time came, he was there saving the day with Superman – that line was well established and Gathegi knew where to balance the mentality and aspects of Mr. Terrific.

The Collegian asked GC student Kit Withers about her thoughts on the film. When asked about if they enjoyed the film, they said, “I enjoyed it so much, I watched it six times in theater and then bought it on digital the day it came out.” She said her favorite character was Eve Teschmacher, “I really liked Eve – usually when you see a female character in these comic book movies, especially one with a more ditzy personality, they could often been put to the side, but her major role in the film stuck with me. She did something meaningful and was super important to the story. She was not just Lex Luthor’s girlfriend. She saved the story.”  When asked about what they felt was different between this film and other comic book movies, Withers said, “I thought there were a lot of elements that really showed that it was a comic book movie and it was not afraid to make a joke out of itself. It felt based on a comic book. I have seen the movie at least ten times and I feel like every time I watch it I am still noticing new things, and I think that sticks out for a comic book movie for it to have so many details.” Getting to hear from a fan of the comics and movie was great as we got to understand why there was so much anticipation for this film.

For comic book fans this was a big deal. Not only was this the official start of the new universe, but it was also a film about a superhero that felt like it was ripped from the pages of a comic book. This was a big intention that James Gunn had, and he was successful in this task.