Guillermo del Toro has built a career turning nightmares into Oscar gold, yet the man clearly has a soft spot for Superman and DC superheroes. Dropping by the Happy Sad Confused podcast, the 60-year-old filmmaker didn’t hold back his love for James Gunn’s Superman. “I really enjoy the way James Gunn is viewing the universe,” he said. “When I saw Superman, you feel the healing power of goodness from someone that believes in it.”
Gunn’s movie arrived as the first major swing for the DCU, and instead of retreading Krypton exploding for the millionth time, it introduces Clark already wearing the suit and figuring out his place in a world that doesn’t always trust caped strangers. Then Clark learns his biological parents didn’t send him to Earth to save anyone. They wanted him to rule the place. His whole identity collapses, and he begins to question his purpose.
But here’s where the movie delivers practical life advice. Instead of sulking in the Fortress of Solitude with a tub of ice cream, Clark leans on real influences: Ma and Pa Kent, actual friends, the people who shaped him. Pa Kent nails it with one of the film’s best lines: “Your choices, Clark. Your actions, that’s what makes you who you are.” You don’t need superpowers to apply that.
Then there’s Superman’s own moment after being called an alien. “I am as human as anyone. I love, I get scared. I wake up every morning, and despite not knowing what to do, I put one foot in front of the other, and I try to make the best choices that I can. I screw up all the time, but that is being human, and that’s my greatest strength.”
Superman soared to $616 million worldwide and sits at 83% on Rotten Tomatoes. Gunn already confirmed the next chapter: Man of Tomorrow, flying into cinemas July 9, 2027, where Supes will even team up with Nicholas Hoult’s Lex Luthor to punch Brainiac in his cold, computer face.
If Guillermo del Toro loved James Gunn’s Superman, so should you.
RELATED: Pierce Brosnan Teases Doctor Fate DC Comeback In James Gunn’s Man of Tomorrow
