Before I saw James Gunn’s new Superman movie, which sets out to lay the cornerstone of a new era for DC superhero characters, I was pessimistic.
Over my years as a critic, I’ve loved a few Gunn projects for their humor and cleverness (Slither, Guardians of the Galaxy) but more recently hated others for their adolescent glibness (Peacemaker) and cheap sentimentality (Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3), respectively.
But I’ve spent far more years — decades, in fact — as a Superman fan. A few years back I channelled that fandom into an egregiously nerdy form of scholarship, when I wrote Superman: The Unauthorized Biography, a cultural history of the character that tracks which aspects of him have changed over the years (and why) and which have remained constant (and why).
Here’s the TL;DR for that book: The two central, definitive attributes to any Superman story are selflessness and resolve. He must always: 1. Put the needs of others before those of himself and 2. Refuse to give up. If either of those factors are missing, our minds rebel — it’s simply not Superman.
Superman próbuje pogodzić swoje dziedzictwo z ludzkim wychowaniem. Jest ucieleśnieniem prawdy, sprawiedliwości i ludzkiej drogi w świecie, który uważa te wartości za przestarzałe.
The back of Superman and Krypto sitting and looking at the Earth. The image is stylized: Superman and Krypto are red, blue, yellow, and white. The Earth is the same colors, but darker.
Hold on to your undies-outside-your-trousers, folks. The reviews for James Gunn's "Superman" movie are in, and they're good. Really good — the movie's Rotten Tomatoes score currently sits at 87%. Here's a
@Flipboard Storyboard including reviews, interviews, a breakdown of filming locations, and a ranking of "Superman" movies from worst to best. We want to know: Do you intend to watch the movie?