I don’t know how unique a perspective “Marvel fan watches DC movie” is going to be. But James Gunn’s Superman is the first DC movie I’ve been interested enough in to watch since the Dark Knight trilogy. Sure, that means I can’t compare it to more recent attempts or the stalled Justice League ‘verse, but I have thoughts.
Superman is a fresh start for DC, and it might just be the kick up the behinds that Marvel has been needing. On one hand, it does the things that drew me to the MCU better than some MCU projects. There is something fresh and hopeful about this movie; it’s not grey and grim, or lost in a CGI soup.
Is It A Bird..
It makes its central character very human and appropriately sets the stakes by keeping the scale small and personal. I can’t even remember the last superhero movie I watched where the hero protected innocent people. There were a few bits way back in Age Of Ultron, but that got a little lost in preventing an extinction-level event. There have been various battles and even an evacuation in The Marvels, but it never feels like the focus like it does for Superman.
There’s something refreshing about not being tied down to 15 years of previous movies and TV series, but having leadership bold enough to drop viewers into a fully formed world. There’s no origin story; superpowers/meta-humans are just a common thing now. In some ways, it reminds me of Invincible and My Hero Academia, both of which bring their own spin on superheroes. I’m not as burnt out on Marvel as some people are, but Superman made me hopeful that someone is going to be making the kind of superhero stories I want to see.
And that brings me to talk about hopeful stories. Marvel has kinda fumbled this kind of storytelling. Maybe Thunderbolts* recaptured the idea, and hopefully Fantastic Four’s family dynamic can carry it on, but I want to see heroes fighting for a better world. I want to see how we can do better, and that people still believe that’s worth fighting and sacrificing for. I don’t want to see heroes deconstructed and brought down without knowing there’s something that makes it all worth it.
Is It A Plane…
It’s why I bounce off of Cyberpunk 2077 and Edgerunners with “the system’s rigged” and “the house always wins” and an endlessly turning wheel. But I went all in on Callisto 6, an RPG show with a “hopepunk” ethos. Whereas Marvel seems to be content turning the downtrodden and vulnerable into villains who had a good point but took it too far.
I don’t know how much of Superman was influenced by current world events, given when it was written and filmed, but it seems very topical and not afraid to broach the subject. Although there’s a Sean Gunn cameo at the end that feels like a direct reference to something rather recent. Something to do with deranged billionaires and politics.
The movie has even drawn right-wing backlash for the radical idea of basic human kindness. Where Marvel still draws fire for featuring anyone that’s not a straight white guy. I have all my fingers crossed for Marvel to use the same strong messaging as Star Wars: Andor and X-Men ’97 when they finally add the X-Men to the MCU.
No! It’s Superman!
As a fan of Guardians of the Galaxy, there were some Gunn-ian touches that I recognised. The action sequences are used to further your understanding of characters, and one well-choreographed battle is set to a licensed song. I guess showing how an alien can be human is also becoming a bit of a trademark. Although, is it cheating to make Superman a dog-person? Krypto the super dog is going to be a fan favourite, but I’m guessing other movies wrote him off as too silly.
It’s a bit of an assumption that the VFX sequences are well-planned out and artists are given enough time to actually complete them, but they all feel really intentional and well put together. There is one muddy CGI mess of an environment, so Superman isn’t completely immune to VFX issues.
P.S
As I return to this article, my procrastination has granted me an opportunity, as I have now seen Marvel’s latest movie, Fantastic Four: First Steps. Given my hopes and criticisms above, Marvel has certainly taken their “First Steps” in the right direction. The Fantastic Four occupy their own parallel earth with a similar pre-built, lived-in world to Gunn’s Superman. It also brings back the actual heroing, and the whole reality seems to be more optimistic. I’m a little disappointed that the next Avengers movie seems set to leave this dimension behind. But at least it’s proof that Marvel can do visually distinct movies with themes of belonging and hope.
P.P.S
A final note before we hit publish on this article. Recent political shifts, the rise of anti-woke and both Disney and CBS bending to political pressure have really added some weight to my ramblings here, I really want more of these kind of stories but maybe we can’t rely on the mega corporations to provide them. Look for the indies, support your friend’s projects.
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