After watching the sterilized MOS Snyder & Goyer shat out and that slightly less depressing yet well-intentioned, headache, mess of a film Gunn gifted upon the world as of late in '25, and that amateur as hell My Adventures show Wyatt vomited on the script--
Superman vs The Elite by Joe Kelly (same guy that wrote the original Action Comics #775) is still top 2 best modern Superman takes we've gotten in motion media since the turn of the century. And top 3 best Superman movies including live action standards, the other being The Death of Superman 2018, #1 being the obvious candidate.
And it's funny cause 2013 is when Ultraman of Steel dropped, and it was a few months after that film is when I fortunately found this film.
No origin story here, Superman is on the world stage, so much so he's given the mic in the actual United Nations to address his moral code and the possible issues with his beliefs, which was a consistent throughline in the entire movie, challenging Superman's ideals on a global scale.
Keyword being: Consistent (which is what Gunn should've done instead of hop-scotching from plot point to plot point)
The use of Supes' powers is all here, he's not some depressing, melancholy, deadpan Jesus narrative who truly had no business being in the suit before being properly trained or given a legit reason to even be Superman. He's not a melodramatic, emotional man-child with good intentions, good heart but can't handle a disagreement with his girlfriend, and apparently can't catch a W for himself unless his opponent is literally AFK or rescued by a dog, which makes him look weak af.
This Superman has a strong moral compass, disagrees with Lois with grace & humility on the topic of executing far-gone opponents and can stand his ground without being disrespectful, throwing tantrums or borderline threatening. He smiles, he has presence, he's corny af, strong as shit, reliable, qualified: Superman. Like 2025, Lois knows his secret, they're already a couple, no time wasted there, which i appreciate in both movies. We even got the damn robots in this movie lol too.
How old fashioned he is interacting with the new school "The Elite", how edgy they are, how screwed up & grimy they are, their methods, it's interesting watching two generations clash in just how they wrestle on dealing with criminals.
And all of this is without mentioning that godtier trolling he did to the entire world at the end of the movie, showing just 0.000000.1% of his true power that no live-action movie has come close to yet.
**The entire reason why this movie works is it's a genuine modern Superman movie without having to be "modern", a movie that \*gets the point of Superman\*, that's it. Joe Kelly gets Superman.**
* And one of the reasons why Supes' stance works in this movie specifically is because he's not infallible, there's a moment when after he beats Atomic Skull, Supes is staring him down with his fist raised & trembling, tempted to just end this dude. Showing that despite Supes' adamant position, he's still human and feels what we all do, but it's a discipline to stay on the path to be a better example. **The fact is, he's not above the temptation, he's not perfect, he's not boring because Superman feels those natural impulses when agitated. That's why the narrative works.**
I watched the movie with the guy's commentary on my 5th time watching this movie, and it's amazing how much he gets it.
If Gunn had any sense he would've stood tf back, let Matthew Vaughn direct and rightfully let Joe Kelly write the film himself.
Superman vs The Elite has the same exact standing as The Dark Knight Returns Part 1 & even Wonder Woman '09, those movies execute the story in a concise way simultaneously while getting the characters right in ways most of the recent live action movies never did & in Supermans case-- likely never will.
It's just something about DC & their some of their animated movies that just gets it right. I've noticed it for years now, it's insane. They need to lean into their strengths and let go of the live action cinematic scene.
The other take that's miraculously a great modern Superman that is definitely not that horrendous My Adventures with Lois-Chan tumblrina vomit, but instead the DCAU Superman from TAS to JLU, comics included. Great take, shows Supes highs & especially his attitudes, even including a Kara Snore-El that I can somehow tolerate, which is a statement in itself, well done on their part.
Difference is, it's amazing how much this one film (despite how much of Action Comics #775 was changed to translate to the film) gets it in just one shot anyway.
Only issue I've got really (besides some of the omissions of #775) is how the character designs overall look, but It's not El Cid levels of wonky, so I've gotten used to it and it doesn't mess with the writing; it's just an aesthetic gripe. The style is simple and the animation's pretty good.
Otherwise I've watched this movie more times than 78', it's a decent movie & better as a Superman movie.
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