James Gunn’s “Superman” is a love letter to many previous incarnations of the character, with a lot of influence being pulled from different eras of the comics. But it also takes a lot of cues from the original 1978 Richard Donner “Superman” film — a movie that Gunn has said on multiple occasions had a massive impact on him as a kid. You can see that influence on things like David Corenswet’s Superman valuing all life (even saving small animals in the middle of fights), the campy nature of some of the story and dialogue, and the back-and-forth between Clark Kent and Lois Lane (Rachel Brosnahan). Unfortunately, Gunn’s film also does one character from the ’78 film incredibly dirty.
Yes, I’m talking about Eve Teschmacher, Lex Luthor’s ditzy girlfriend played by Sara Sampaio in the 2025 film. Eve isn’t from the comics. Rather, she was created specifically for the 1978 movie, not entirely unlike how Harley Quinn was created for “Batman: The Animated Series.” In Donner’s film, the role was played by Valerie Perrine, and if you didn’t know, let me be the first to tell you: She’s an incredible character. While clearly playing into the “dumb bimbo” archetype, she stands up to Lex constantly, saves the day by saving Superman (and, uh, kissing him non-consensually, but more on that later), and is shown to be immensely capable.
The version we get in Gunn’s film somehow feels more backward than the one we got 47 years ago. It’s an insult to a great character, and quite frankly, it’s one of the weakest parts of the new “Superman.”
