Superman, released in theaters July 11th 2025 and directed by James Gunn, acts as a part of the soft reboot to the DCEU (DC Extended Universe). Now simply called the DCU (DC Universe) This movie tries to reintroduce and recharacterize Superman to new and old audiences, so, did it work out well?

I personally enjoyed this new Superman more than the 2013 version of Superman shown in “Man of Steel.” James Gunn’s direction on the new movie really shows some of Superman’s best traits. In an interview with Morning Edition host A Martínez, James commented, “This is a personal story, this is a story about Superman in the way he looks at himself. And despite all of the big, huge battles and monsters and robots and colorful characters, this is about a guy who is challenged with how he thinks about himself as a person and how he comes out of that on the other side.”

This characterization of Superman made this movie feel better for me. He feels like an actual hero who cares about the people of earth. The movie also tackles how Superman feels as if he isn’t actually human. Over the course of the movie he realizes that being “human” does not just depend on your DNA, but rather your emotions, your mind, and how you treat others. The general plot line of the movie was also really intriguing. Introducing other heroes as well as Superman’s biggest villain really makes the movie feel whole and worth watching. Having so many side characters ranging from Hawkgirl to Krypto the super-dog gave this movie so much more personality compared to Man of Steel in my opinion.

If I were to give this movie a rating out of 10, it would be a solid 8. It’s a good movie, but I don’t see myself rushing to rewatch it anytime soon. I’ve never been a big fan of superhero movies in the first place, but this movie really captured my attention and is probably placing in my top 5 favorite superhero movies. I think this movie is good for both young and old audiences. The large range of side heroes makes it easy to at least like one of them, they each have differing personalities and interact with different problems in different ways.

General audiences seem to like the 2025 version of Superman rather than the 2013 Man of Steel version. With an 83% on Rotten Tomatoes, James Gunn’s version beats out Zack Snyder’s 57% for Man of Steel. Although there has been lots of talk about which is better, it seems that people simply prefer Man of Steel based on nostalgia or seeing Man of Steel actor Henry Cavill as a better fit for Superman. Some people note that the new Superman feels “weak”. I think this is a bad argument. Superman isn’t a god, he isn’t some all powerful hero, he can lose, he can feel negative emotions, he can put others first.

At the end of the day, it doesn’t matter which movie is actually “better”. It just matters what you personally enjoy. Personally, I think the 2025 movie “Superman” was a great watch, with an interesting cast of characters and a great plot. I liked it much better than Man of Steel, but that doesn’t mean that Man of Steel is a bad movie. If either of these movies sound interesting to you, I would give a solid recommendation to watch them.