Latest news with #ManOfSteel
CTV News
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- CTV News
Superman helping Humane Society get more dogs adopted
The Winnipeg Humane Society received a special visit from the Man of Steel and the Maiden of Might to help boost adoptions.
New York Times
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- New York Times
The Many Takes on Superman: Gruff, Charming or Menschy?
Kal-El, Man of Steel, Last Son of Krypton: Superman has many names, and also many faces when it comes to live-action takes on the hero. With the release of 'Superman,' David Corenswet joins the society of actors who have played arguably the most famous of all superheroes. But Superman, more so than a lot of his superpowered peers, often serves more as a symbol than a fully drawn character. Below is a rundown of some of the most prominent depictions of Superman in the last few decades and what these actors brought to their embodiments of the Man of Tomorrow. Superman I-IV (1978-87) The Archetype Christopher Reeve set the standard for a live-action Superman, creating a pop culture phenomenon on the big screen. Now the trend for those taking on the role is to find new angles on the hero, to modernize or subvert the character. Much of that can be attributed to Reeve's portrayal, which was that of a quintessential comic book savior. His Superman is confident, upstanding and authoritative, and between his powers and his unimpeachable sense of justice, he's downright unstoppable — as when he reverses the Earth's rotation to go back in time to save a life. Whether he's posed with his arms crossed in judgment of a foe or standing fists on waist and arms akimbo at the end of a battle, there's a machismo power in his bearing. And his disarming smile and self-assured voice, which occasionally offers calm but firm scoldings to wrongdoers, paint him as a hero of the people. These early Superman movies were less about developing the character and more about reinforcing fans' love for the original figure. Lois & Clark:The New Adventures of Superman (1993-97) Rom-Com Superman Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
Yahoo
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Superman and Why the Battle for Truth, Justice, and a Better Tomorrow Is Never-Ending
There is a Superman for all seasons. When we need him, when the hour grows dark and hope grows dim, he appears, imagined by artists and writers and filmmakers, reborn again and again in the crucible of chaos to deliver us a single gift: hope. The character has been an arbiter for that hope for nearly 90 years, offering a balm to readers and viewers alike who need a reminder that there is inherent good in this world. Superman Ending and Post-Credits Scene Explained Superman Review James Gunn Took a Huge Risk By Changing Superman's Origin Story, Does It Work? Ranking the Superman Actors The Utterly Bizarre History of Superman's Powers Superman Movies Ranked Worst to Best and Where to Watch Them Through the span of a little under a century, the Man of Steel has shown us time and time again that the battle for a better tomorrow is never-ending. Champion of the Oppressed In the opening to 'Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow,' legendary author Alan Moore calls Superman 'A perfect man who came from the sky and did only good.' Kal-El is a modern-day champion of unconventional wisdom, respecting kindness, compassion, and even humility as true strength in the face of evil. He sees the world through the lens of what is possible just outside of the horizon, that he and human beings can all become better and better through generosity, understanding, decency, and perhaps most importantly, by saving one another. Economic strife birthed Superman. His creators conceived him at a moment of cultural and fiscal uncertainty unimaginable to most now living in the U.S. In the 1930s, American society was unraveling at the seams, critically wounded by the unchecked greed and corruption that fed the Great Depression. Peaceful protesters in Washington were ridden down by the army. Homeless campers in California were beaten by local mobs. Hunger, debt, and suicide were everywhere, a pattern that worsened year after year until President Roosevelt began reforms that slowly reversed the decline. Many of these helpful laws and acts were blocked by the judicial opposition, resulting in over a decade of concentrated economic disruption. And across the sea, the rising tide of Nazi fascism and Soviet expansionism threatened all the world's people with the shadow of a global war. This discord was the womb in which Superman incubated. We needed a hero, and near-revolution conceived that hero in the minds of two creators. He was born into a threatening, brutal, and violent historical America that kids reading comics at the time knew and understood. The dystopian reality forged by powerful men was far more terrifying than any monologuing metahuman. When the Man of Steel first appeared, his four relatively tame superhuman abilities (strength, durability, leaping, and speed) still placed him among the most powerful fictional characters in comics to that date. But for quite some time, Superman rarely used these incredible gifts against monstrous beasts, petty criminals, or superhuman foes. Instead, Superman's early adventures pit him against threats inspired by the real world: corrupt politicians, arms manufacturers, greedy business owners, and establishment landlords. Most of the folks he takes down in those early years are rich old men too powerful to be held to account by the law. The earliest appearance of Superman introduces him with brilliant conciseness: 'Superman! Champion of the oppressed.' Into an unexpecting world comes Clark Kent, reporter, and Superman, a blunt instrument of rough-and-tumble problem-solving. While not brutal, he is not at all sheepish about breaking and entering, destruction of property, or roughing up a spousal abuser. His first act of heroism? Fighting his way into a state governor's mansion to prevent an unjust execution. He wrecks fetid slums owned by corrupt landlords so that Roosevelt can build decent housing in their place. He threatens mining magnates to secure decent working conditions for the miners. When confronted with the problem of a regional war fermenting overseas, the earliest Superman goes to the source: corrupt American arms manufacturers using US government connections to fuel the conflict. Superman's solution? Kidnap a millionaire weapons dealer, then haul him into the trenches of a war zone. Superman then strips off his own costume, dons an army uniform, and leads the robber baron on a trip through the horrors of armed conflict. The owner repents, and Superman goes on to forcefully negotiate an end to the campaign. Bad things happen, Superman moves to correct them, and consequences be damned. That's the core of the character, an almost biblical commitment to ethical action. Thus began Superman's never-ending battle, certainly for truth and justice. But for the American way? At that time, not so much. For a better tomorrow? Most Will Believe a Man Can Fly Superman stories have changed to keep pace with the world. Sometimes those changes are not great, like the postwar Silver Age silliness where Superman divided his time between battling Lex Luthor and antagonizing Lois Lane and Lana Lang. And we've seen a few more sinister examples: he's drowned ships full of men, posed for racist WWII propaganda, and snapped a Kryptonian neck or two. Pink Kryptonite once 'made' him gay. But more often, Superman story changes have been updated to positively address a new age, and to continually allow Superman to represent a good example and a heroic reminder that in dark hours, hope for the future lights the way forward. In the '40s, Superman fought fifth column spies on the homefront and served as a correspondent, informing the public. In Vietnam, he became a combat medic. Outside of a few stories, he rarely interfered with war directly, mostly because the DC authors realized that he could end any conflict in a day. So instead, they told Superman tales that a kid living in America during a war could relate to. They are mostly stories nudging you to do your best from where you are at any moment, tackling problems in your community fearlessly and ethically. Gradually, a lot of this got lost under the Comics Code, resulting in fewer stories about doing good and more stories about stopping bank robbers and robots. (The Comics Code enforced regulations that discouraged Superman's previously-nuanced storytelling, demanding that authority figures usually be treated as benevolent and severely limiting what was permissible on a page.) By the late 1970s, America was in a colossal funk. Crime, prices, and unemployment were on the rise. American power and prestige was failing. The President of the United States had just resigned in disgrace for massive corruption. Many of his key lieutenants were in prison. The failure of the Vietnam War had drained the life from much of American society, and a massive fuel crisis damaged an economy utterly dependent on auto and truck transport. It was in the midst of this chaos that Superman: The Movie landed in theaters like a red, blue, and yellow blaze of optimism. A tall, unknown actor named Chrostopher Reeve played the Man of Steel as if inhabited by the spirit of every great comic story that came before. His Clark Kent embodied the awkward humility of The Daily Planet's second-best reporter, and his Superman exuded a collected kindness masking almost limitless physical power. Superman: The Movie (often now referred to as simply Superman) was far and away the most impressive Hollywood foray into superheroics, with special effects that seemed impossible at the time and the very capable director Richard Donner at the helm. Viewed today, the film seems almost quaint in its optimistic tone and saturated colors... and that's exactly what it meant to evoke in the '70s as well. Clark Kent, with his awkward politeness and unfailing kindness, stepped straight out of another era, evoking the best of America's collective past. And Clark's alter ego, Superman, pointed us constantly to the possibility of a better tomorrow. He took on the problems of his day and age: lost hope, a sense of powerlessness, the corruption wrought by the emerging culture of economic disparity in America, and showed us that we could work together to find a way out. It was an extraordinary return to form for the character created during an age of national malaise. What super-menace did the Man of Steel face in Superman: The Movie? Not Brainiac or Ultraman or Darkseid, but rather Gene Hackman's Lex Luthor, a madcap real-estate speculator. Superman's most famous foe was reborn as an evil property investor with nuclear weapons at his command, a motif that soon made its way into the comics with Lex's transformation into an evil businessman... the original Golden Age Superman archetypal foe. Superman: The Movie lived up to its tagline: 'You'll believe a man can fly.' In uncertain times, Superman reminded us that the world is what we make it together, that as he reminds one character 'we're all on the same team.' He respected everyone around him, told the truth, rescued the needy, and used the trustworthy platform of The Daily Planet to provide tremendous transparency to his mission. John Williams' theme blazing in the background, this new Superman was really nothing but a return to form for the original character concept, an outsider that chooses to walk among us doing good, no matter what, and inspiring all he comes in contact with. The inspiration proves vital to the story: When Lex has Superman dead to rights with green kryptonite, reluctant villain Eve Teschmacher changes sides to free the Man of Steel and save his life. And for a time, this movie Superman became the core of comic Superman again, until the cynical, grimy debacle of Death of Superman and Reign of the Supermen confused the issue for a bit. A New Century Needs an Old Hero Superman is a spiritual presence throughout DC's 9-11 Vol. 2, an artist and writer's tribute to the tragedy of September 11, 2001. As 9/11 was a deeply traumatizing and irreversible event, DC avoided involving Superman in any acts of prevention. Rather, the non-canonical tributes serve as an outlet for expressing the still-fresh wounds of comic creators living in a city under attack. The most poignant is a short, stunning tale. We encounter Superman and the Justice League just after their successful evacuation of the World Trade Center. Though both towers are destroyed, the people inside are rescued. The League begins to quickly rebuild the towers, taller and more beautiful than before. As we continue reading, the art distorts, unraveling into the scribbles of a child's handwriting. We learn that this is all the fantasy of a child watching 9/11 on TV. As roads and trains are shut down, his father is walking out of New York City on the day of the attacks, and the boy is scrambling to finish writing his comic before his father gets home so he can share it with him. This minute comic story exemplifies the spirit of Superman. Like Superman, it speaks quite literally not to what is, but what could be. A better world. A better tomorrow. A Better Tomorrow But what about this new movie, this new Superman, and the here and now? These are quite simply the darkest days for America since the near-apocalypse of the Cuban Missile Crisis, when humanity stood at the edge of self-made extinction. The end of the world was just barely averted by clear heads in the U.S. and Russia. Now again we face a day when the world seems on fire and much seems hopeless: war spreading, tyrants dismantling human rights across the planet, unspeakable violence in Gaza. Falsehood and injustice reign. And once again, in our hour of need, Superman appears, representing not lies and lawlessness, but truth and justice, and the hope of a better tomorrow. The slogan hasn't been truth, justice, and the American way for some time. Four years ago DC combined The Man of Tomorrow's signature slogan with his nickname, declaring that he fights for 'truth, justice, and a better tomorrow.' That's hardly the first time Superman's slogan has changed... he's actually had quite a few. Truth, justice, and the American Way mostly sticks in our minds through its appearances in George Reeves' Superman TV series and Christopher Reeve's charming line delivery in Superman: The Movie. But he's had plenty of mottos and nicknames... he's been 'The Man of Tomorrow' since 1939! But recently, we're being told to 'look up.' We've seen Superman in the trailers saving people from disaster, and we've in turn seen him rescued by ordinary people lifting him with outreached hands. We've seen him vulnerable, bleeding, wheezing. We've seen him plead for understanding that preventing the loss of life outweighs any system of authority. We've seen him imprisoned by the government, locked in a cage, and we've seen him somehow escape. He is walking alongside us, fighting alongside us, carrying our burdens as the world spirals into chaos. Critics have mostly been very pleased with the new Superman film. IGN's Tom Jorgensen thought it was great. But across certain media ecosystems, it's been heavily attacked, mostly by people who haven't seen it yet. The animus mostly seems to be fueled by the film's heavily-advertised focus on human kindness and decency, as well as the fact that Clark Kent is, as always, presented as an "illegal" don't need a lot of Superman history to dispel these attacks. Kal-El has, over the years, fought the Klan and battled Nazi sympathizers while at the same time championing equity, friendship, decency, and self-identifying as an American. Yet the very fact that such an expression of disdain toward the Man of Steel could build so quickly is a testimony that Superman's work, that our work for a better tomorrow, is very far from over. When you consider the earliest roots of the character and place him in our day and age, well, he's the man for our hour. If you'll indulge a personal revelation, I'm a Quaker, part of a quirky little corner of Christianity. One of the core beliefs of my religion is that people are capable of inherent good, that there's no curse or force holding us back from decency except our own shortsightedness. I think Superman believes the same thing, that his life story is of one very powerful, very lonely man trying to show us again and again that a better tomorrow is in our reach, if we would merely outstretch our hands and grasp it. If we did, we'd discover something amazing. Tomorrow is already here. Jared Petty is a mild-mannered video game reporter for a great Metropolitan newspaper. You can find him at Bluesky as pettycommajared and at Threads as
Geek Tyrant
6 days ago
- Entertainment
- Geek Tyrant
James Gunn Explains the Circumstances Where His Superman Might Kill Someone — GeekTyrant
James Gunn's Superman is finally here, and it's looking like the DCU is off to a strong start. With David Corenswet donning the cape and a stacked cast including Rachel Brosnahan, Nicholas Hoult, and Nathan Fillion, this rebooted take on the Man of Steel already is very different, brighter, more hopeful, and a little weirder. But don't assume that means Gunn is softening Superman's edges completely. At a recent Wired Q&A, Gunn was asked directly about whether his Superman would ever kill. After reading a card that asked, 'Why doesn't Superman kill?', Gunn turned to Corenswet but answered the question himself: 'I believe he believes in a basic right to life. I mean, I think that's just not in him.' However, Gunn quickly followed up with some added complexity: 'I think that if, for instance, he had to kill to protect somebody's life, he would probably do that, even though that would be hard for him.' So no, we're not likely to see a trigger-happy Kryptonian, but Gunn is leaving the door open for morally grey situations where Superman might make an impossible choice. This echoes the divisive moment in Zack Snyder's Man of Steel , where Henry Cavill's Superman kills General Zod to save innocent lives. Snyder stood by that decision in a GQ interview last year, arguing: 'Zod wasn't going to stop. He would fight [Superman] until either he killed him or Superman killed Zod… If Superman can't handle that position, then he's fake… He had to address the scenarios that come to him. He doesn't get to pick and choose when something is outside of your morality.' Whether you love or hate that moment, Gunn seems to be acknowledging a similar reality. This new Superman may face choices with no clean outcomes. It's not about abandoning his values. It's about what happens when those values are pushed to the brink. Interestingly, Corenswet himself has expressed interest in exploring a darker path for the character in future projects. In a previous interview, he said he'd love to see his Superman in an R-rated setting. That doesn't mean we're heading toward a hyper-violent Superman movie, but in the world Gunn is building, it's clear that even the most virtuous hero might face the kind of dilemma that makes him question everything.
NDTV
6 days ago
- Entertainment
- NDTV
James Gunn's Superman Becomes Highest-Grossing Superman Film Ever In India
New Delhi: James Gunn's Superman has opened to strong box office numbers globally, becoming the highest-grossing Superman film of all time in India and one of the few DC titles in recent years to cross the $100 million mark domestically. What's Happening The film also recorded the third-highest opening for a DC movie in India, after Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice and The Batman. The film earned $122 million in North America from 4,135 theatres and $95 million from 79 international markets, for a global opening of $217 million. Domestically, it beat Zack Snyder's Man Of Steel ($116.7 million) to become the biggest-ever launch for a solo Superman title. It has had a record-breaking opening weekend with a Box office collection of Rs. 32 Crores (Gross) across 3037 screens (including all IMAX screens). It is the biggest opening weekend for a DC Film in India. First Comic Book Movie To Earn $100 Million Superman is a crucial film for Warner Bros. and DC Studios, marking the first step in a 10-year plan to reboot the DC Universe. Written and directed by James Gunn, who now also serves as co-head of DC Studios alongside Peter Safran, the film cost $225 million to produce before marketing. It's the first release under their new leadership. Despite superhero fatigue at the box office in recent times, Superman became the first comic book movie in a year to earn over $100 million domestically. The last superhero film to do so was Deadpool & Wolverine, which opened with $211 million in 2024. Among all 2025 releases so far, Gunn's Superman is the third to debut above the $100 million mark, behind Warner Bros's own Minecraft Movie ($162.8 million) and Disney's live-action Lilo & Stitch ($146 million). It is also only the third DC film in eight years to open above $100 million, after Wonder Woman (2017) and The Batman (2022). Superman also outperformed Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 ($118.2 million) to become James Gunn's second-best domestic opening ever, though it still trails behind Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 ($146.5 million). Denzil Dias, VP & Managing Director, India Theatrical, Warner Bros. Discovery said, 'To see India embrace our hero with such phenomenal enthusiasm, making us the #1 movie and soaring to the 8th highest-grossing international market in the world, proves that hope truly is universal. Our heartfelt congratulations go to James Gunn, Peter Safran, and the entire creative team for delivering a Superman that not only embodies strength, kindness, and an unwavering spirit, but also joyfully brings our much-loved Krypto to the big screen. We are incredibly proud to see India at the very heart of this new dawn for DC storytelling.' How Did The Competitors Perform? Elsewhere at the box office, Universal and Amblin's Jurassic World Rebirth crossed $500 million globally in its second weekend. In North America, it made $40 million for a domestic total of $232.1 million. It also performed strongly overseas, collecting $68.1 million this weekend for a worldwide total of $529.5 million. The film continues to dominate in China, where it has now earned $62.7 million. Apple and Warner Bros's F1: The Movie, directed by Joseph Kosinski, made $13 million in its third weekend for a domestic total of $136 million and over $375 million globally. Universal and DreamWorks' live-action How To Train Your Dragon added $7.8 million domestically and $13 million overseas, taking its global total to $560.8 million. Pixar's Elio rounded out the top five with $3.9 million, crossing the $100 million mark globally but still tracking as one of Pixar's lowest-performing titles to date. Background Superman stars David Corenswet as Superman/Clark Kent, Rachel Brosnahan as Lois Lane, and Nicholas Hoult as Lex Luthor. The ensemble cast also includes Skyler Gisondo as Jimmy Olsen, Isabela Merced as Hawkgirl, Beck Bennett as Steve Lombard, Nathan Fillion as Guy Gardner, Anthony Carrigan as Metamorpho, and Edi Gathegi as Mister Terrific. Superman, as a character, has had a long screen history. The first voice actor to play him was Bud Collyer in The Adventures of Superman radio show (1940-1951). Collyer also voiced the character in the animated Superman (1941-43) and The New Adventures of Superman (1966-70). Kirk Alyn became the first on-screen Superman in the serials Superman (1948) and Atom Man vs. Superman (1950). He was followed by George Reeves in Superman & the Mole Men (1951) and the TV series The Adventures of Superman (1952-1958). Later actors who played Superman include Christopher Reeve, John Haymes Newton, Gerard Christopher, Dean Cain, Tom Welling, Brandon Routh, Henry Cavill and Tyler Hoechlin. Superman has also been voiced in several animated films and series by actors like Tim Daly, George Newbern, Jerry O'Connell, Benjamin Bratt, Kyle MacLachlan, and Mark Harmon. With David Corenswet now stepping into the iconic red cape, Superman begins a new chapter.
