Superman - The scoop and digest

Originally titled Superman: Legacy, writer-director James Gunn reboots series and kicks off the DCU.

Oh, David Lewman's tie-in prequel novel Superman: Welcome to Metropolis isn't canon.

David Corenswet - Clark Kent/Superman

Rachel Brosnahan - Lois Lane

Nicholas Hoult - Lex Luthor

Edi Gathegi - Michael Holt/Mister Terrific

Nathan Fillion - Guy Gardner/Green Lantern

Isabela Merced - Kendra Saunders/Hawkgirl

Anthony Carrigan - Rex Mason/Metamorpho

María Gabriela de Faria - Angela Spica/Engineer

Skyler Gisondo - Jimmy Olsen

Wendell Pierce - Perry White

Summary

Three decades ago (1995), Jor-El and Lara Lor-Van sent their extraterrestrial son Kal-El from Krypton to Earth to escape planet's destruction.

In 2022, aged 27, he announced himself as Superman, the most powerful metahuman of all, who recently prevented Boravia invading Jarhanpur, sparking controversy around the world.

Genius billionaire Lex Luthor is secretly selling arms to Boravia's President to expand territory and hates Superman for making humans like him appear inferior.

Lex unleashes a gigantic fire-breathing Kaiju on Metropolis, which the Justice Gang (Green Lantern, Hawkgirl and Mister Terrific) help defeat.

Diversion allows Lex to broadcast a Kryptonian message from Superman's parents, which Lex, Ultraman and Engineer earlier stole from the Fortress of Solitude, revealing that Superman was actually sent to rule Earth, not protect it.

Public alien number one is imprisoned in a pocket universe, where Lex forces metahuman Metamorpho to conjure Kryptonite.

Lois and Terrific rescue Superman, but inadvertently create a black hole, which must be closed before rift destroys the world.

Mid-credits

Superman and Krypto chill out on the moon together.

Post-credits

Superman and Terrific observe a split building.  Terrific repairs it, prompting criticism from Superman.

Funny.

Hope revitalises our hearts

The Snyder snobs haven't got what they wanted.

Don't get me wrong - it's not great, but convoluted mess certainly wasn't a disaster either.

Corenswet does a good job, and definitely one of the better portrayals.

Score by John Murphy and David Fleming is the first since Superman Returns (2006) to incorporate elements of John Williams' epic music from Superman the Movie (1978).

Action sequences (which spin a lot) naturally let CG do heavy lifting and quality varies.  Just don't get me started on pixelated river in the pocket universe or baby Joey though.

Of the JG, Terrific nearly lives up to his name and given the most to do.

Ahead of her own film next year, Superman's cousin Kara Zor-El/Supergirl (Milly Alcock) shows up drunk in the final scene to pick up Krypto.

Hey girl - don't drink and fly.

As it's HER dog, extra scene doesn't make sense.

Exposition is nearly as relentless as humour, and any chance of emotional pay off is ruined by a joke, particularly at the end when Krypto bursts into Lex's office and starts attacking him.

Considering film isn't set in the distant future, why is tech so ridiculously advanced?

Hoult's character frustrated me.  One minute he kills somebody in cold blood playing Russian Roulette.  The next - he's throwing tantrums like a petulant child.

On Superman:

"He's not a man, he's an 'it'. A thing with a cocky grin and a stupid outfit."

Err, okay.

When infiltrating the Fortress, explosions are virtually touching his head and geezer doesn't even flinch.

Dumb.

By the way, Jor-El (Bradley Cooper) and Lara (Angela Sarafyan) are made evil.

Radical change is bound to sit well with ardent fans.

(Laughs).

Superman IV: The Quest for Peace (1987)

Geezer has a yellow "S" symbol on the back of his cape.

Lex created Ultraman by extracting Superman's DNA from a strand of his hair.

Shaggy-haired clone shouldn't be confused with unrelated Japanese superhero of same name.

Made for film villain Nuclear Man was born by similar means.

Introductory text

3 centuries ago (or 1725), metahumans first appeared on Earth.

Shit continues (in descending order):

Decades, years, weeks, hours and finally minutes.

Notice something?

Yeah, they 'forgot' about months and days (seconds don't count).

Omissions aren't a mistake - just weird.