genuinely boundary-pushing horror, and the kinds of bold swings befitting an artist who first cut his teeth on low-budget Troma fare. By the time fate brought him face to face with the most famous and traditional cape-wearing character of them all, well, of course Gunn found a way to take a huge risk with “Superman” and get away with it.

Against all expectations, Gunn’s reinvention of Superman is actually even subtler than the minute differences in appearance between new lead David Corenswet and previous star Henry Cavill. (Seriously, it’s wild how much they resemble one another.) In one of the many ways the director differentiates his take on the hero from that of close friend, collaborator, and fellow “Rick and Morty” cameo-er Zack Snyder, Gunn opts to completely eschew a long, drawn-out sequence depicting the Man of Steel’s origins and how he ended up on Earth. Instead, the 2025 blockbuster begins three years after he officially unveils himself to humanity — no clunky flashbacks rehashing what most of us already know, no dramatic scenes set during the inevitable destruction of Krypton, and no time wasted before throwing us right into the middle of the Metropolis-based action.

As it so happens, this choice to sidestep his origins immediately gives “Superman” a shot in the arm and a pep in its step. Granted, some may end up feeling that this approach robs newer and younger audiences of the ability to latch onto this version of the Big Blue Boy Scout. But here’s why that risk pays off so well, with only very minor plot spoilers to follow.

Superman didn’t need an origin story … because James Gunn weaves it into the story naturally

Of all the reasons why “Superman” feels like such a refreshing and charming crowd-pleaser, as /Film’s Chris Evangelista put it in his review, perhaps the biggest comes from how it treats so much of the Superman mythos as a given. That’s probably because, well, it kind of is a given. Nowadays, you’d have to search far and wide to find anyone who isn’t aware of that whole saga: Born on Krypton, launched to Earth in a desperate bid to save him from his home world’s destruction, and raised to do good by Ma and Pa Kent in Kansas. There are just some things that are baked into the fabric of pop culture with no other explanation needed.

Filmmakers who recognize this reality can find neat and clever ways to subvert that, using our own knowledge and assumptions against us. Look no further than an early fake-out reversal between Rachel Brosnahan’s Lois Lane and David Corenswet’s Superman, the latter of whom is currently disguised as Clark Kent working at the Daily Planet. Taking their stiff and combative interaction with one another at face value, we’re led to believe that we’re still at a point in their relationship where the talented reporter has no idea who Clark really is. The very next scene set at Lois’ apartment, however, quickly fills us in on the true depths of their intimacy together and we realize they’ve been romantically involved (they haven’t quite put a label on it just yet) for quite some time now. So much of “Superman” operates under this exact same logic, throwing us in media res into a DC Universe that seems to have existed long before the movie started and continues even after the credits roll … and the results are truly thrilling.

However, at several points along the way, the script naturally also weaves in elements of Superman’s backstory and origin into the plot as they come up. It turns out to be the best of both worlds — newcomers (read: kids) still get informed on the broad strokes of Kal-El’s entire deal, while the rest of us grumpy adults can swallow these brief moments like vitamins and simply get on with the good stuff. Despite some grumbling online, this world-building approach couldn’t have been more fitting for the story being told here.

James Gunn is right: Superhero origin stories are played out

For those somewhat reticent about the third live-action Superman reboot in less than 20 years, rest assured: “Superman” easily sets itself apart from every iteration since Richard Donner’s 1978 original. That’s in large part due to the “Just get on with it” mentality that James Gunn brings to the proceedings, as both writer and director. And if that weren’t enough, he even made sure to put his thoughts officially on the record in a recent interview with The Times, where he addressed the idea of “superhero fatigue” and explained his process behind avoiding yet another origin story:

“There are three things I don’t ever need to see again in a superhero movie. I don’t need to see pearls in a back alley when Batman’s parents are killed. I don’t need to see the radioactive spider biting Spider-Man. And I don’t need to see baby Kal coming from Krypton in a little baby rocket. We have watched a million movies with characters who don’t have their upbringing explained, like when we see “Good Night, and Good Luck” we don’t need to know the early life of Edward R. Murrow to explain how he became a journalist. Who cares?”

Of course, even this fairly benign observation launched a thousand disgruntled responses once social media caught wind of it, with many of the main complaints boiling down to one thing: Won’t somebody think of the children! 

Despite my sarcasm, it’s true that the vast majority of superhero movies ought to be made for kids, first and foremost — and that certainly goes double for Superman. Where this misses the target, however, is the presumption that there’s only one way to tell a “complete story.” There’s nothing intrinsically valuable about watching yet another storyteller go through the motions and put their own mildly varying spin on baby Superman fleeing Krypton, or Peter Parker acquiring his powers, or lil’ Bruce Wayne getting traumatized for life. Thankfully, Gunn had the same idea and figured out a way to make the story work and catch viewers up on Superman’s upbringing without retreading old ground.

Someday, maybe it’ll be necessary for the fifth or sixth Superman reboot to go back to that Kryptonian well. For now, though? We have the ideal example that Batman, Spider-Man, and other comic book movies should follow. “Superman” is now playing in theaters.

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