„Superman,“ starring David Corenswet and in theaters Friday, takes the most comic-centric approach to a superhero movie in a post-Marvel world.
8 Superman, in theaters Friday, is the boldest approach to a comic book movie the genre has seen yet. Its niche is already large enough to make it an enormous hit, but its unprecedented commitment to the source material should be celebrated regardless.
The film begins after Superman (David Corenswet) has lost a battle for the first time, against the Hammer of Boravia. Right off the bat, writer/director James Gunn has made the invincible superhero vulnerable and relatable.
Superman lost the fight while interfering in a war between the fictional nations of Boravia and Jarhanpur to prevent casualties on both sides, but mainly the overpowered Jarhanpurians. This gives Lex Luthor (Nicholas Hoult) an opening to turn the U.S. government, and the world, against Superman.
Gunn depicts a world in which superheroes already exist, but the heroes never take over Superman’s movie. Superman is only the most recent in centuries of metahumans, including the Justice Gang of Green Lantern (Nathan Fillion), Hawkgirl (Isabela Merced) and Mr. Terrific (Edi Gathegi), who come to Superman’s aid.
As such, the inclusion of Krypto the Superdog is not just one unusual addition — it is the norm of this world, along with the robots in Superman’s Fortress of Solitude.
Luthor’s plan involves opening pocket universes that allow him to travel quickly between Metropolis and Boravia via portals, and abduct characters from other dimensions. Much of the film takes place in a pocket universe, and many scenes have Easter eggs from comic books in the background.
Gunn never tries to mitigate the fact that this is a comic book movie. Some such films have taken a grounded, realistic approach, while others have given a more whimsical take, but Gunn’s Superman just accepts that wild characters with extreme powers are the status quo.
Marvel, of course, built up a world like this by introducing each hero one by one. Interestingly, Superman is not presented as special, just the latest in a world of meta humans.
