Over the summer, Marvel and DC Studios both released blockbuster superhero movies. As a fan of both, I could not wait to see how they would shape their respective cinematic universes.
DC Studios announced “Superman” in 2023, as well as the reboot of the DC Universe, with the film being the beginning of the new era. Warner Bros. Entertainment appointed James Gunn and Peter Safran co-CEOs of DC Studios, leading them into a new era away from Zack Snyders’ dark DC Extended Universe.
Superman was released in theatres on July 12, 2025, finally allowing fans to enjoy the highly anticipated film. The film surpassed $600 million worldwide at the box office against a budget of $225 million, along with $125-$200 million in marketing. The film has been a box office success, surpassing initial break-even targets of $450 million.
I have been skeptical about DC’s direction in the past, especially since their first DCEU film, Man of Steel. While successful at the box office, it did not quite capture what I believe Superman truly stands for. The tone was darker, and the story did not express the hopeful, inspiring hero from the comics and past films.
But this new Superman film? It feels different. From the vibrant color of his suit to his ambition to save lives and prevent disasters. This movie captures the heart and soul of the character, and David Corenswet is perfect for the role.
One moment that truly stood out to me was Superman’s emotional speech to Lex Luthor near the end, where he speaks about being ‘human’. The speech gave the character real depth, something I hadn’t felt from recent iterations.
Aside from Superman, other characters like Guy Gardner, Mister Terrific, Hawkgirl, Lois Lane, and Lex Luthor in the movie are portrayed fantastically as well.
Gardner is a Green Lantern, he is a bright character that adds comic relief, very accurate to the comics, which I love.
Michael Holt, also known as Mister Terrific, is portrayed by Edi Gathegi has genius level intellect, and is known for his advanced technology, particularly with his T-Spheres.
Terrific is a laid back and sort of cocky, but the amount of aura farms he has in this movie is amazing.
Although it’s not explored much in this movie, Holt is a billionaire who is the founder and CEO of Holt Industries. I like to think of him as the Iron Man of DC, but he’s my favorite character from the movie.
Nicholas Hoult portrays Lex Luthor, who is also a genius, and a billionaire. The difference is that Luthor is a villain in this movie. It is explained that Luthor is jealous of Superman in this movie, resulting in Lex secretly creating a clone of Superman to fight him. I think Luthor was a great character to introduce, and I’m excited to see him in future DCU projects.
On the Marvel side, after Disney’s acquisition of 21st Century Fox in 2019, the rights to the Fantastic Four finally returned home to Marvel Studios. The announcement was made by Marvel president Kevin Feige at San Diego Comic-Con that same year, so it’s been exciting to watch the team’s return unfold.
The Fantastic Four: First Steps was released on July 25, 2025, marking the team’s first movie in a decade, as well as its first Marvel Cinematic Universe appearance ever. The movie made over $500 million, with a budget of about $200 million, breaking even as well. The marketing costs also reached about $100 million.
In the past 15 years, Marvel has given us the best Superhero films, far above what DC has been able to deliver. In my opinion, Marvel has created the greatest canon cinematic universe of all time, especially the story of the MCU Infinity Saga.
However, since Avengers: Endgame, Marvel has yet to recapture the same aura of past films. The only Marvel projects in the past 5 years that were able to deliver for me are the Loki tv series, Doctor Strange: Multiverse of Madness, Deadpool and Wolverine, and this recent Fantastic Four movie.
Back to the movie, I think the castings were okay, my favorite being Ebon Moss-Bachrach as Ben Grimm, also known as ‘The Thing’.
The design of The Thing looked great, and his character feels real and interactive, rather than just being a mean big guy. I loved the scene where Johnny Storm tells him to say his comic catchphrase “its clobbering time” while they’re midair.
Storm, also known as ‘The Human Torch,’ is played by Joseph Quinn, which at first i thought was a questionable casting, but he did a good job acting as Storm.
Sue Storm also known as the Invisible Woman and Reed Richards also known as Mister Fantastic is played by Vanessa Kirby and Pedro Pascal respectively.
Kirby does an amazing job as Storm, who is pregnant, with Richards being the father, throughout the movie. However, upon learning that the Earth has been marked for death by Galactus, and his herald, the Silver Surfer, the four go visit the two of them to bargain with them.
Galactus states the only way he won’t devour the planet is if the family gives up Storm, and Richard’s baby. The family refuses, causing the public to be outraged at the team.
In the end, Reed develops a device that would teleport Galactus to another universe, and as a team, and with a last shot help from the Silver Surfer, they defeat Galactus and keep their son and world safe.
That is until the post credit scene where Doctor Doom is seen talking to their son a few years into the future, setting up for the future ‘Avengers: Doomsday’ movie.
With Superman leading the charge, I wonder if we’ll see a shift towards more character-driven, optimistic stories from DC. Meanwhile, the Fantastic Four is still opening the MCU’s door to even more cosmic adventures, setting up the Multiverse Saga, and more Avengers films.
