Let's hope that Superman is as impervious to bad reviews as he is bullets after several embargo-breaking reports seemed to throw cold water on the much-hyped and hoped revamp of the beloved DC superhero directed by James Gunn.
It all started when someone at The Daily Beast hit publish on their official take of Superman a day too early, describing the film as the “final nail in the superhero movie coffin”. The internet and Superfans went into overdrive. It was a less-than-rave review for a movie that had already struggled to win over cautious fans. Claims of bad CGI, campy storytelling, bad suits, a character list that was growing longer and more convoluted by the day. And now this . . .
But just as quickly, it was taken down. But not 24 hours later, when embargo officially lifted, there may be some hope for our alien defender after all. Turns out not everyone saw the same movie.
Rotten Tomatoes reflected a very different picture: an 85 per cent “fresh” score, based on more than 100 reviews. A steady chorus of tempered praise emerged. Variety’s Owen Gleiberman described it as “arresting and touching,” while USA Today‘s Brian Truitt celebrated its “bright comic-book aesthetic” and “pervasive positivity”. Even Time Out’s Phil de Semlyen conceded it was “a perfectly adequate superhero movie” that “flies high but hits turbulence”.
The clash between early takedowns and the broader consensus creates an odd whiplash. A reboot accused of being both overwrought and unnecessary had suddenly found defenders willing to sift past the digital wreckage of CGI skyscrapers and a cluttered plot in search of Gunn’s intended emotional arc. For every critic like Donald Clarke, who saw “low garbage” and declared it “devoid of humanity”, there were others noting its earnest tone, a good dog named Krypto, and Gunn’s layered, if chaotic, attempt at breathing life into a fatigued franchise.
It’s a case study in how review cycles can now begin long before the curtain officially rises. A single embargo break can go viral and calcify into the narrative. The irony, of course, is that most embargoes exist to give studios a fair shot at curating first impressions, allowing all voices, critical and otherwise, to arrive at once. But in a media environment of leaks, social algorithms and performative hot takes, the first through the door often gets to frame the room.
Whether or not Superman succeeds, at least critically, is already a complex answer. Some found joy in its chaos, others nothing but more of the same, a CGI apocalypse dressed up as meaning. Peter Bradshaw of The Guardian called it “a film fatally unconvinced of the reason for its own existence” and bemoaned its “square-faced soulless” lead, David Corenswet, who steps into the cape under the shadow of Henry Cavill, who literally bodied the role. But in the end, the only score Warner Bros. will be watching this weekend is at the box office. Critical reception might shape a legacy. But in the age of billion-dollar franchises and fan-driven momentum, the opening week’s gross still flies higher than any review. Let’s see who’s laughing then.
Superman is now in theatres
