“Betrayal of the original IP” — Ben Shapiro claims James Gunn is not the right person for directing the Superman movie

James Gunn's Superman finally hit theaters on July 11. Starring David Corenswet as the titular superhero, the movie had a grand box office opening, earning $122 million during its weekend opening in the US. While many are appreciating Gunn’s take on Superman, some have expressed differing views on the rebooted DC Universe’s Kickstarter project.

Political commentator and podcaster Ben Shapiro has now reviewed the movie in his July 12 YouTube video. While saying that the movie was fun for many, it was "super meh" for him, and he said that James Gunn was the wrong "director, writer, creator" for the "most iconic American IP." He lashed out at Gunn for changing the origin of Superman, his parents' character, and the overall tone of the movie.

"Overall, here is my problem. James Gunn is the wrong director, writer, and creator for this thing... To me, James Gunn's sensibility is always to be subversive... Like anything that you think you know about the Superman universe, James Gunn is determined to debunk it in the first half hour of the film. I think that it's a betrayal of the original IP and mildly upsetting," Shapiro commented.

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What did Ben Shapiro say about James Gunn's new Superman reboot?

In his July 11 YouTube video titled Ben Shapiro's Review of 'Superman,' the podcaster said his standard for the Kryptonian son character was the 1978 Superman. He criticized the director for "subverting" many aspects of the movie. Shapiro said that the movie was "overstuffed" and called it an "ADHD film."

"He decides he's just going to toss everything into the stew. And so, you end up with this sort of ADHD film where a bunch of things are going on at the same time, but you never get a good, interesting perspective on anybody who's in the film," Shapiro said.

Although the podcaster blasted the director, he approved David Corenswet as Superman and Rachel Brosnahan as Lois Lane. Ben Shapiro also debunked the allegations about many political references in the movie.

"I think that they are overestimating how much politics is in this. I think they're deliberately misinterpreting some of the politics that are in there... There may be references there if you're if you have politics on the brain, but other than that, I really don't think that there's that much of this there," Shapiro commented.

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James Gunn's thoughts on his Superman

James Gunn was appointed as a co-chairman and CEO of DC Studios along with Peter Safran in 2022. The two rolled out a 10-year vision for the DC universe. The 2025 Superman marks the first work of the rebooted universe. In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Gunn revealed why he chose this movie as the debut film of the new roadmap.

"I was already writing Superman...he's one of the three biggest characters at DC, one of the most important characters in all of Warner Bros.' catalog, but was also really the figurehead of DC in a lot of ways because he's the first ever superhero. So it seemed like the right movie to do first," Gunn said.

In an interview with BBC Radio 1, aired on July 11, Gunn was asked why he chose David Corenswet as the lead in the movie. To which the director replied,

"First of all, he looks like Superman. So, there's that. That's not that many people. I had a lot of people audition for Superman, and not that many looked like Superman... He's got the acting chops. He's got the comedic chops. He's able to deliver the fast-paced dialogue in the way that I want it. And he's also an incredibly athletic guy."

Gunn also shared the challenges faced during the shoot of this movie; he said the shooting of the actual flying scenes was "hard."

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On July 13, James Gunn shared a post on his Instagram in which Superman can be spotted flying, and reviews from multiple outlets were popping up in the background. The movie has a 7.7 IMDb rating and scored 83% on Rotten Tomatoes.