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SÃO PAULO, SP (FOLHAPRESS) – Two countries are entering into war. Firearms are supplied by a businessman who cares little about the lives lost. In the streets, people murmur cries for help, calling with faith for a savior.
They are scenes from the new “Superman,” but they also serve as a portrait of what is happening in different countries in real life. This is the fourth incarnation of the character on screen — and also the most political one. The plot criticizes the arms industry, the neglect by superpowers, and greed in times of disaster.
It is a nod to the armed conflicts taking place around the world right now. “When writing the script, I thought: ‘This is a fictional world with robots, flying dogs, and giant monsters, but what if Superman were real? How would he get involved in conflicts or support governments? Would he be a problem?'” says the film’s director, James Gunn, who visited Rio de Janeiro in June.
Superman has never been an apolitical character, but he also hasn’t taken sides. Comic book arcs such as “Superman: Red Son,” which became an animation five years ago, directly address politics, but most classic stories only subtly touch on social issues, portraying him as a nonpartisan hero, a “neutral one.” This is different from Captain America, the patriotic one, for example, or Batman, who denounces the criminalization of American suburbs.
Gunn gave fictional names to the two countries that go to war in his movie, but both have names with spellings and pronunciations similar to real territories in the Middle East, where armed conflicts are taking place now.
In conversations with journalists during the film crew’s visit to Brazil, Warner Bros. Pictures blocked questions about real-world wars. This happened because, days before the cast arrived in Brazil, the American president, Donald Trump, had announced the United States’ attack on Iran in the conflict with Israel.
In line with the rejections of questions about real conflicts, Gunn avoided direct references when talking about the film’s political tone, and limited himself to saying that this approach is essentially linked to the story he always wanted to tell about Superman.
Openly critical of Trump, Gunn was fired by Marvel in 2018 after supporters of the president unearthed his posts on X, the former Twitter, which were considered offensive, including jokes about pedophilia and rape. At the time, Gunn apologized, said he had changed, and was eventually rehired after pressure from fans.
Actors David Corenswet and Rachel Brosnahan also traveled to Rio de Janeiro, who play Superman and journalist Lois Lane, the main characters of the story. For Corenswet, the film discusses politics without assigning a party to the superhero. “He does not represent a government or a country, but ideals. And above all, he wants to represent himself and his desire to do good, to be one of us, to elevate humanity.”
Rachel Brosnahan, cast as the reporter who is Superman’s girlfriend, adds that the film should make fans question concepts of strength, unity and community. “What keeps us moving, what unites us? This seems particularly important now,” she says.
Famous for starring in the series “The Wonderful Mrs. Maisel,” the actress plays a journalist who investigates not only the problems of the city she lives in, but also those of Superman himself, who in this version is less like a superpowered alien and more like a flawed human.
Gunn says he has always been more interested in the earthly part of the hero’s stories. “In this movie, he is too stubborn, idealistic, and hypocritical. He is not a god. In fact, this Superman wants to be like us.”
With the new movie, DC tries to revive a character who, despite having carved out a place in the popular imagination, was going through a low period because he was considered unattainable, the epitome of goodness, with an unshakable nature. Thus, in times when characters succeed and fail equally, Superman ended up losing appeal.
But Gunn is an expert in making boring characters cool. It was he who brought the Guardians of the Galaxy out of obscurity, forgotten by Marvel comic fans, who in the hands of the filmmaker became a colorful and musical trilogy that earned almost US$ 2.5 billion.
Gunn became one of the most important figures for Marvel’s dominance at the box office in the last decade. This made the eyes of executives from the rival studio, DC, sparkle, and they took advantage of the director’s humor—he wrote the live-action “Scooby Doo” films—to bring the rowdy group of anti-heroes, the Suicide Squad, out of limbo. The team had gained a forgettable movie in 2016. Thus, four years ago, the filmmaker released his own version of the team, with powerful doses of loud comedy and blood.
Now, Gunn is leading the new phase of DC in cinema, which in recent years has suffered the box office and critical failures of “Aquaman 2” and “Black Adam.” The idea is that starting with “Superman,” a new universe will emerge, featuring updated versions of the characters.
From the formula of Marvel’s success, Gunn says he wants to reproduce the idea of a shared universe, where characters exist in the same reality. But he is not yet aiming for a super-reunion like “The Avengers,” and says his model will be closer to that used by “Star Wars,” with stories that coexist but do not necessarily cross paths.
Gunn also promises to bet on different tones and genres. “The series of the Suicide Squad is for adults. We will have a series of the Green Lanterns for HBO. And the Supergirl movie, in turn, will be a space opera,” he adds.
Superman himself has appeared in various ways on the big screen. Eternalized by Christopher Reeve, his four films, released between 1978 and 1987, helped popularize superhero stories, which had previously been considered childish and silly. The first film won an Academy Award for visual effects with its flying scenes, which were considered a technological advancement at the time. The hero’s theme music, composed by John Williams, became one of the most iconic in cinema.
He was only resurrected on screen two decades later, in 2006, with “Superman: Returns,” played by Brandon Routh. The movie was well-received, but not enough to secure sequels. Years later, Henry Cavill donned the red cape in “Man of Steel,” from 2013, which was criticized for overdoing the drama and megalomaniac action scenes.
It was an era when serious, heavy, substantial films were valued. Now, Corman and Gunn try to get the best of both worlds. They build a politicized and shrewd hero, but he ends up wearing red underwear over his pants, trying to recover the innocence that is missing in the chaos.
SUPERMAN
– When Qui., day 8, in cinemas
– 14 years old classification
– David Corenswet, Nicholas Hoult and Rachel Brosnahan
– Production United States, 2025
– Direction James Gunn
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