What’s that in the sky? Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No, it’s more confected drama about the new DCU and Superman.
Yes, if you have a passing interest in DC movies and have been anywhere near social media this week, you’ll no doubt have seen behind-the-scenes photos of David Corenswet on the set of James Gunn’s Superman.
These photos have given fans their best look yet at the latest Superman suit, and you know what? It’s definitely a suit Superman would wear. The colors are nice and bright, the red trunks are back, and the yellow on the cape is a nice throwback to the Superman of old.
Or at least, that’s what a reasonable person might think. Unfortunately, some corners of the DC fandom reacted to the Man of Steel’s new threads in the same way Clark Kent might react to being given Kryptonite braces by a particularly sadistic dentist.
Truth, Justice, and Vitriol
Even a brief glimpse across X/Twitter, or whatever Elon’s calling it now, will reveal that an awful lot of these fans think Gunn’s interpretation of the iconic costume is a downgrade.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, these people all have a few things in common. Quite often, their profile pics are of DCEU heroes, they tweet a lot about Rebel Moon (I kid, of course. No one likes Rebel Moon), and they have a hashtag in their bio that rhymes with “Cider Hut.”
Indeed, a scan of their timelines will quickly reveal that the only thing these people love more than a shack serving fermented apples is hating anything Gunn has touched. And you know what, Snyder fans (sorry I couldn’t keep the alcoholic apple juice thing going)? It’s time to let go of your hate.
Now, I can sympathize with you to an extent. It always sucks when a thing you loved is taken away and unlikely ever to return – I feel the same way about Spectacular Spider-Man. I’ve always thought the DCEU’s cancellation felt cruel and poorly managed, so I understand the frustration.
Haters gonna hate…
Still, at this point, Snyder’s not been involved in superhero movies since 2021, and your bitterness about his defenestration from DC’s top job is starting to look less like a heroic crusade and more like a Lex Luthor-style vendetta.
Every time there’s an update about Gunn or his new universe. All I see online is a vocal minority tweeting how much canning the DCEU was a mistake, and it can genuinely get quite horrible.
These arguments are almost always in bad faith as well. They’ll criticize casting decisions without seeing a single second of performance, a suit they’ve only seen through the grease-smeared lens of a paparazzi’s camera, or they’ll pour over box-office numbers like a neurotic accountant in the hope of undermining Gunn.
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It’s the type of behavior you’d see from one of Clark Kent’s supervillains, and it makes me question whether you like DC or are just a paid-up member of the Snyder cult. To make matters worse, this obsessive behavior undermines any valid criticism you might have of the upcoming DC movies.
When I first saw the new Superman suit, there were valid criticisms to be made. The shoulders are odd-fitting shoulders, the collar was weird, and the new ‘Superman S’ will take some getting used to. Yet when people made those valid criticisms online, they often mixed in some pointed remarks about Corenswet, Gunn, and the new film. It felt icky and unpleasant.
Join him in the Sun
Change is one of the few constants in life (along with death, taxes, and new Spider-Man movies), and it can be difficult to cope with. So when someone comes in and changes a thing you’re passionate about, whether it be the DC universe as a whole or a character like Superman, it can be tough. Yet your knee-jerk reaction to this change can’t be antipathy.
If you live your life like that, looking for things to dislike, you’ll miss out on so much. After all, why would you choose to be miserable? Now, this doesn’t mean we can’t criticize Gunn; we can and should.
Constructive criticism and thoughtful discussion is an important part of the artistic process, but screaming into the void of social media that everything sucks isn’t going to make you any friends.
That means we should probably wait until we’ve seen more of the film than a few photos of the costume before we proclaim it the worst superhero costume since Ryan Reynolds slipped into the Green Lantern’s CGI underoos.
There are many reasons to be optimistic about Gunn’s new universe. He’s clearly passionate about the project and has a love for these DC characters (why else would he bring in an obscure hero like Mr. Terrific?), and the Guardians of the Galaxy films are some of the best MCU movies.
So why not be more like Superman and embrace optimism? To paraphrase Marlon Brando’s Jor-El, we can be a great people if we wish to be. We only lack the light to show the way. For that reason, above all, our capacity for good, DC has sent us… Superman.
If you love the Man of Steel, then check out our guide, which breaks down the surprisingly confusing Superman movie timeline. We’ve also got a list ranking all the best Batman movies, and we’ve ranked all the Spider-Man villains as well. Finally, check out our list of the best action movies ever made or our guide to all the new movies hitting streaming this month.
