The Superman movie, which was released in July 2025, has persuaded many viewers to embrace positivity and kindness toward others.
This surge in positivity from the movie originates from a song called “Punkrocker” by Teddybears. The song was played during a pivotal montage of Superman revisiting his childhood memories and during the end credits. MHS senior John Hlavac, who has watched most of James Gunn’s movies, said, “I always feel like the songs James Gunn uses in his movies gives us this nostalgic and hopeful feeling, and that’s why they’re usually so good.”
The song eventually skyrocketed in popularity due to its catchy lyrics and the movie’s messages of humanity and perseverance. DC fan senior Jonathan Lindsey said, “Our modern Superman shows that we can overcome our obstacles against the odds, and it inspires a lot of us to behave better.”
Furthermore, this positivity has also been derived from David Corenswet’s portrayal of the title character, as his speech to Nicholas Hoult’s Lex Luthor about humanity being his greatest strength has been one of the main focal points of discussion regarding the movie. MHS senior Grant Perrin, who owns a comic book collection, said, “It feels like nowadays people just want to be mean-spirited, but our new Superman really seems to inspire hope in people.”
Eventually, this rising trend of positive feelings has taken shape online in the form of social media posts consisting of compliments, acts of kindness, and expressions of hope. Perrin said, “The amount of TikToks and short videos I’ve seen of that darn song really show how much people love resonating with the Big Blue Boy Scout and his antics.”
Despite Superman’s widespread appeal, there have been many critical opinions expressed by fans of previous DC movies that originated from Zack Snyder’s Man of Steel. Hlavac said, “There’s definitely this group of Snyder fans who like to trash the film because Superman’s played by a different actor than Henry Cavill and the fact that Superman is goofier than Cavill’s Superman, but they’re just there to hate.”
Regardless of what people think of the new Superman movie, no one can deny the emotions that were received and spread online. Even in a society today undergoing political and social conflict, people still strive to be better versions of themselves. Maybe that’s the real punk rock.
