Superman: Legacy First Look

[JKCarrier]

18 hours ago, TTRPGWhiz said:

But I do think that adapting a story that has already been very well-received in its original format is noteworthy.

 

2 hours ago, ZacKing said:

How can you know if it's good or not if you haven't even seen it yet?

 

If you don't know what a word means, it's okay to look it up.

note·wor·thy

/ˈnōtˌwərT͟Hē/

adjective

interesting, significant, or unusual.

[ZacKing]

1 hour ago, TTRPGWhiz said:

All I said was “this is based on a book that was really well received”.

 

Right, and you were attempting to use this comic winning some award to refute someone else saying they didn't care for the depiction of Supergirl this story was based on.  You're implying that since the source material was an award winner, the movie will be good.  You haven't even seen it yet.  

[ZacKing]

17 minutes ago, JKCarrier said:

If you don't know what a word means, it's okay to look it up.

 

I know what it means, thanks. 😉  I'm glad you know what a dictionary is!

[TTRPGWhiz]

2 minutes ago, ZacKing said:

 

Right, and you were attempting to use this comic winning some award to refute someone else saying they didn't care for the depiction of Supergirl this story was based on.  You're implying that since the source material was an award winner, the movie will be good.  You haven't even seen it yet.  

Actually I was expanding on OG’s description of the comic as “True Grit in space with a dog”. 

[ZacKing]

11 minutes ago, TTRPGWhiz said:

Actually I was expanding on OG’s description of the comic as “True Grit in space with a dog”. 

 

Anyway, go and see Superman.  I think you'll enjoy it.  Maybe you can even talk about it here since you'll have seen it. 😉

[Krimson]

I don't want to see this movie because it feels like I've already seen it. I have never had a movie feed trailers in ads like this one does. It's like they are aggressively trying to make people forget the DCU they barely got off the ground. Maybe when it shows up on Netflix. 

[BrandX]

On 7/17/2025 at 3:33 PM, TTRPGWhiz said:

I don’t see how or why there’s any issue. “This movie is based on an Eisner award nominated comic book” is just a fact, not sure why it triggered so much back and forth. /shrug

 

I don’t really think the general movie going public cares what source material gets adapted. But I do think that adapting a story that has already been very well-received in its original format is noteworthy.

 

I'd say it's the same thing as any other adaption.  People want to see their known property adapted.  I can see people going "I want to see a live action version of the CHARACTER I know and not some other version" quite easily.

 

I'm going to see the movie and see how it plays out, but that doesn't mean I wouldn't have, for example, loved to have seen JLU version, if that was all I've seen of her and enjoyed.

[ThaOGDreamWeaver]

23 hours ago, BrandX said:

I'd say it's the same thing as any other adaption.  People want to see their known property adapted.  I can see people going "I want to see a live action version of the CHARACTER I know and not some other version" quite easily.

One of the eternal problems of adapting a comic book. For one, you need to square the character people know with what you want them to do: if you just go through the motions of what they always do, some fans are happy, some fans think it's dull. Challenge the character (and audience expectations) too much, and you get "this isn't my Supergirl/Superman/Batman/Nelvana Of The Northern Lights/Howard The Duck" etc.

 

Then, of course, you've got one 100-140min flick to pack it into, rather than a 200-page graphic novel  where you can play tricks with levels of art, scripting, detail, format, and so on. And bring in enough butts on seats to pay for it.

 

If Gunn's clever enough to square that circle - introduce us to a beaten-up Kara who becomes the heroine the audience know and love, or an approximation thereof - that should work all round.

[ZacKing]

For those who are thinking that Lex doctored Jor-El's message, he didn't.  Directly from James Gunn himself.  

 

https://www.superherohype.com/news/613782-superman-jor-el-message-real-fake-james-gunn-origin

 

 

[BrandX]

3 hours ago, ZacKing said:

For those who are thinking that Lex doctored Jor-El's message, he didn't.  Directly from James Gunn himself.  

 

https://www.superherohype.com/news/613782-superman-jor-el-message-real-fake-james-gunn-origin

 

 

 

Well, still won't be bothered by it, and like I've said, I thought it was weird he had all those videos of him and the Kents and the broken message from his parents is what soothed him.

[JKCarrier]

19 hours ago, BrandX said:

I thought it was weird he had all those videos of him and the Kents and the broken message from his parents is what soothed him.

Well, he knows the Kents love him -- he gets to see them demonstrate it every time he's with them. But for his birth parents, whom he never really knew, I can see why a reassurance that they loved him and wished him well would be a comfort.

[Luminara]

It's going to be a long time before I can see this, so I have to ask:

 

Did Hoult shake the sweetie pie persona well enough to carry the role?  Was his portrayal up to Spacey's simmering menace and utterance of "Now fly." after he shanks Supes with a piece of kryptonite?  That's the bar.  Did Hoult reach it?

 

Spoil it to make a comparison, it won't bother me.

[BrandX]

2 hours ago, Luminara said:

It's going to be a long time before I can see this, so I have to ask:

 

Did Hoult shake the sweetie pie persona well enough to carry the role?  Was his portrayal up to Spacey's simmering menace and utterance of "Now fly." after he shanks Supes with a piece of kryptonite?  That's the bar.  Did Hoult reach it?

 

Spoil it to make a comparison, it won't bother me.

 

I thought so.  Not to mention, his Lex straight up murders one guy.  And the way they do what is basically him versus superman in a fight was great.

[Ghost]

Watched this today.

Thought the portrayal of Lex was great.  Krypto was more entertaining than I thought he’d be.  I want more Hawkgirl - we got lots of Mr Terrific, but barely any HG.  I wouldn’t mind seeing her again in future movies, if she gets more to do.

My biggest complaint?  At times, it felt like I was watching SuperQuill.  I could actually very easily picture Chris Pratt, playing Quill as Superman.

 

Other than that, it entertained.

Definitely wasn’t great, but also not bad. 
Will add to my collection.

[El D]

57 minutes ago, Ghost said:

Thought the portrayal of Lex was great.  Krypto was more entertaining than I thought he’d be.  I want more Hawkgirl - we got lots of Mr Terrific, but barely any HG.  I wouldn’t mind seeing her again in future movies, if she gets more to do.

 

Fully seconded on wanting more Hawkgirl. Isabela Merced killed the few scenes she had. Given the variant they're going with, my hope is that they'll lean hard into Kendra's archeology aspects and have her interact with Wonder Woman once that gets going. If they keep the whole 'immortal reincarnated Ancient Egyptian warrior-woman' angle (and they damn well should) there's a huge connection between ancient Greece and ancient Egypt to work with there. Hell, Diana could have known one of Kendra's past lives. So much room to build with in a way that doesn't just rehash the Diana/Steve fish out of water dynamic of the prior films.

 

My sole gripe for Hawkgirl is with the eyes on the helmet. Give her white combat lenses that slide down when she fights, dang it! It worked great for Mr. Terrific, let Hawkgirl's mask also be comic accurate sometimes and actor friendly other times.

[ThaOGDreamWeaver]

And now: some acting.

It’s not quite as spectacular as Chris Reeves’, but still… John Oliver hamsternerd into self-confident cape is quite the shift.

[El D]

22 hours ago, ThaOGDreamWeaver said:

It’s not quite as spectacular as Chris Reeves’, but still… John Oliver hamsternerd into self-confident cape is quite the shift.

 

It helps that Corenswet plays both earnestly with neither of them being 'one pretending to be the other.' He's always Clark Kent and Superman, which is how it ought to be.

 

Plus actually being allowed to emote. That helps too. <.<

[Ghost]

Made it just over the $600mill mark to be the highest grossing superhero movie of 2025.

 

 

[ShardWarrior]

Watched it this past weekend and thought it was alright.  Nothing spectacular, but nothing I would say was awful about it either.  I do like the more colorful and comic accurate costumes, very much like David Corenswet and Rachel Brosnahan.  I thought they had wonderful chemistry together.  I thought Nicholas Hoult was great as Luthor too.  I would have liked seeing a little more of the Justice Gang.  Overall casting was solid.   There were parts of the story I enjoyed and parts I did not like at all, but overall a decent popcorn movie.

 

What I liked

• Comic accurate and colorful costumes.  Although if I am being honest, I did not care for the "S" symbol.  I preferred the texturing and shape of the "S" on the Cavill costume.  This is a minor gripe for me though.
• The casting.  Everyone except Jimmy Olsen I liked.  As mentioned, I thought David Corenswet and Rachel Brosnahan had excellent chemistry.
• The lighter tone and less brooding, although at times it bordered on eye-roll/cringey.  
• The Justice Gang.  Not enough of them though!

 

What I did not like

• Jimmy Olsen.  I found him more annoying than anything else.
• At times, the dialogue was a bit too camp for me.
• The "new and improved" message from Jor El and Lara El.  This did not work for me and seemed rather pointless.  I feel it was something that was shoehorned in and was not at all necessary to the story.
• Superman's speech about "being human".  I not care for the whiney parts with Superman yelling at Luthor to explain how "human" he is.  Superman is not human.  He is not like us.  He is better than us.  He is supposed to rise above and be an inspiration to us.  Thank God that line abut Lex hurting his feelings was left on the cutting room floor.  

Overall a likeable movie, definitely worth a watch.  

 

On 8/17/2025 at 12:10 PM, Ghost said:

My biggest complaint?  At times, it felt like I was watching SuperQuill.  I could actually very easily picture Chris Pratt, playing Quill as Superman.

 

I got that vibe at certain times as well.  I did not care for this characterization for Superman either.

[El D]

1 hour ago, ShardWarrior said:

• The "new and improved" message from Jor El and Lara El.  This did not work for me and seemed rather pointless.  I feel it was something that was shoehorned in and was not at all necessary to the story.
• Superman's speech about "being human".  I not care for the whiney parts with Superman yelling at Luthor to explain how "human" he is.  Superman is not human.  He is not like us.  He is better than us.  He is supposed to rise above and be an inspiration to us.  Thank God that line abut Lex hurting his feelings was left on the cutting room floor.  

 

See, these two points are at odds, because Superman 'rising above us and being better' is exactly what Jor and Lara's message was about. The whole surprise Kryptonian ethos of 'become the undisputed leader of their lesser world through your innate superiority' is something movie immediately establishes that Supes himself hates. He doesn't want to be an otherwordly, godlike ruler, just a good person. Superman's core isn't his alien blood but his human spirit. Even with all the fantastic Kyrptonian powers and space technology he has access to, things that could or arguably should make him the ubermensch, Supes chooses instead to just help people. He doesn't control their lives, only does what he can to let everyone live them safely. Hence the rant to Lex, because the movie presents Lex as the actual the embodiment of the El's message. Someone who has elevated himself 'above' the rest of humanity, who sees himself as beyond the greatest humans who ever lived, who has fantastic resources that no one else does and rather than use them to help anyone, uses them at his sole, selfish discretion to enact his vision of the future. Lex is the 'better than us' super leader who will inspire Earth, the exact thing El's wanted Superman to be, deliberately because Lex eschews living his humanity in-favor of treating the elevation of human-kind as an objective. One that only he, in his greatness, can achieve.

 

Hell, given the pocket dimension scene with his exes trapped there, Lex technically even has his own harem. I'm starting to think Jor and Lara just sent the tape to the wrong kid.

Edited Wednesday at 02:51 PM by El D

[ShardWarrior]

43 minutes ago, El D said:

See, these two points are at odds, because Superman 'rising above us and being better' is exactly what Jor and Lara's message was about. The whole surprise Kryptonian ethos of 'become the undisputed leader of their lesser world through your innate superiority' is something movie immediately establishes that Supes himself hates. He doesn't want to be an otherwordly, godlike ruler, just a good person. Superman's core isn't his alien blood but his human spirit. Even with all the fantastic Kyrptonian powers and space technology he has access to, things that could or arguably should make him the ubermensch, Supes chooses instead to just help people. He doesn't control their lives, only does what he can to let everyone live them safely. Hence the rant to Lex, because the movie presents Lex as the actual the embodiment of the El's message. Someone who has elevated himself 'above' the rest of humanity, who sees himself as beyond the greatest humans who ever lived, who has fantastic resources that no one else does and rather than use them to help anyone, uses them at his sole, selfish discretion to enact his vision of the future. Lex is the 'better than us' super leader who will inspire Earth, the exact thing El's wanted Superman to be, deliberately because Lex eschews living his humanity in-favor of treating the elevation of human-kind as an objective. One that only he, in his greatness, can achieve.

 

Hell, given the pocket dimension scene with his exes trapped there, Lex technically even has his own harem. I'm starting to think Jor and Lara just sent the tape to the wrong kid.

Edited 41 minutes ago by El D

 

You are certainly welcome to your opinion, although you are obviously misunderstanding me.  There is a rather obvious and quite enormous difference between the hopeful and inspiring words of Jor El from the Donner Superman and Man of Steel films and the "go forth, get yourself a harem and rule over everyone" message in the Gunn Superman.

 

I agree with you that Superman's actions are a big part of what shows his good and noble intentions.  With that said, Superman in the Donner film did not go on a whining rant about Lex Luthor hurting his feelings.  He captured Luthor, dropped him off at prison with a smile and a wink letting Luthor know he did not get the better of him.  Again, Superman is not us.  He is better than us.  

 

Changing the inspiring message of Jor El did not make sense to me and I did not care for it.  You are more than welcome to disagree.  

[battlewraith]

36 minutes ago, ShardWarrior said:

Again, Superman is not us.  He is better than us.  

 

You are certainly welcome to your opinion, but I think you're misunderstanding the point of Superman. 

The thing that makes him heroic is that he is a superior being that embodies the small town decency of the Kents. He does not hold himself to be better than other people, just more capable. Superman is fundamentally a helper, not a leader. Even in the Donner film, Kal-el never fully embraces Jor-el's vision of his purpose, as when Superman breaks the rules to save Lois at the end.

 

While the Richard Donner scene is certainly far more benevolent than Gunn's, there are still questionable things about it.

First of all, he's talking about the people of Earth being capable of good things if they have the proper leadership. Why are we to just assume that a Kryptonian, from an advanced civilization that did not survive and produced evil characters like Zod, is the one to be this leader? During the scene where Jor-el explains things about immortal beings, the galaxy, etc. he casually remarks that Clark has been gone 12 years. It's not like he told in advance, oh we're going to go on an educational voyage for 12 years. Martha's just left hanging. It's exactly this casual disregard for the concerns of the little people that Superman is not about. And it's a pretty consistent theme in Superman representations that people fear Supes will lose touch with humanity and start imposing his will.

Edited Wednesday at 04:19 PM by battlewraith

[Ghost]

With the “message” being brought up.  
What does everyone make of this?

Did Lex really fake it, or is the Daily Planet trying to squash fear and distrust in Superman?

 

[ShardWarrior]

14 minutes ago, battlewraith said:

You are certainly welcome to your opinion, but I think you're misunderstanding the point of Superman. 

 

I am not misunderstanding anything about the character, nor will I get baited into a protracted argument over what Superman is or is not.

 

15 minutes ago, battlewraith said:

The thing that makes him heroic is that he is a superior being that embodies the small town decency of the Kents. He does not hold himself to be better than other people, just more capable. Superman is fundamentally a helper, not a leader. ... First of all, he's talking about the people of Earth being capable of good things if they have the proper leadership.

 

Superman leads by example through his actions, not by using his super powers to lord over anyone.

 

[ZacKing]

1 hour ago, El D said:

See, these two points are at odds, because Superman 'rising above us and being better' is exactly what Jor and Lara's message was about. The whole surprise Kryptonian ethos of 'become the undisputed leader of their lesser world through your innate superiority' is something movie immediately establishes that Supes himself hates.

 

That doesn't make sense.  Telling Superman that he should rule over the people of Earth, have a harem and spread his Kryptonian seed isn't the same thing as telling him to lead by example. 

 

"Go and get a harem and rule over the people of Earth"

vs.

"They only lack the light to show the way"

"You will give the people of Earth and ideal to strive toward."

 

They're completely separate messages.  One is "be a conqueror and rule" and the other is more "be an inspiration and lead by example".   I didn't like the "new and improved" message either.  It was the dumbest part of the whole movie IMO.