For all the talk of shared universes, DC has spent the past 15 years grappling with one core issue. Aside from a few bright spots, movies based on its comics haven’t been very good. The grimdark nature of the Snyderverse hardly bred corporate synergy for the brand’s other properties. Somewhere along the way, people forgot that the S that Superman wears on his chest stands for hope.

James Gunn kicked off his new DC Universe with Superman, an earnest film that eschews origin stories that everyone is familiar with by now in favor of something simpler. There’s no need to rehash the destruction of Krypton, or the arrival of its last son to Smallville, Kansas in a spaceship bassinet to be raised by a couple of farmers. Gunn throws his audience right into the action, quickly taking aim at the myth that Kal-El is just a tad too powerful to be relatable.

The film starts off with Kal-El (David Corenswet) suffering his first defeat, three years into his journey as Superman. After interfering with a war between two fictional nations, Boravia and Jarhanpur, Superman gets a whooping at the hands of the “Hammer of Boravia” back in Metropolis. Rescued by his rambunctious canine friend Krypto, Superman takes solace in the Fortress of Solitude, while Lex Luthor (Nicholas Hoult) is fast on his tail.

Luthor spends much of the film trying to get the government to sanction his crusade Superman, while secretly putting his thumb on the scale in the Boravia/Jarhanpur war. If domestic imperialism didn’t hit too close to home, Luthor also wields the media against Superman, quickly turning the masses against the Man of Steel by releasing the longform message that his Kryptonian parents left before their death. Having only previously seen a fragment of his birth parents’ last wishes, Clark is horrified by the urging to conquer Earth. To make matters worse for Clark, Lex Luthor has a secret weapon, “Ultraman,” that he can control remotely, having compiled a database with all of Superman’s moves in a battle of brains versus brawn.

Gunn, known for his humor, was the perfect counterweight to the self-indulgent sense of seriousness that defined most of DC’s output for the past 15 years. Superman isn’t necessarily a barrel of laughs, but the film doesn’t take itself too seriously either. Corenswet is a calm, grounded Clark, still trying to find himself three years into his mission. Rachel Brosnahan shines as Lois Lane, ever-ready to challenge Clark’s perception of the world, and Superman’s obligations to it. Clark and Lois butt heads frequently, a refreshing change of pace from the “boy scout” accusations that often circle their corner of the DC universe.

As Luthor, Hoult rearranges the gravitational force of the film to center around him, not Superman. Channeling his inner Elon Musk, Hoult brings an “I alone can fix this,” mentality that makes him both effective and instantly detestable as the villain. Billionaires are not meant to be empathized with. Gunn does skirt some corners on Luthor’s overall characterization, an issue that does recur throughout the brisk 129-runtime.

Though franchise-building is far from Superman’s mind, Gunn does throw in three fun B-list heroes, Guy Gardner (Nathan Fillion), a Green Lantern than many in the audience would be unfamiliar with, Hawkgirl (Isabela Merced), and Mister Terrific (Edi Gathegi), who form a group known as the “Justice Gang.” Fillion brings fantastic jerk energy to Gardner, a fan favorite with perhaps the worst haircut in the history of comics. Gathegi is the film’s secret weapon, stealing every scene that he’s in, even when Mister Terrific isn’t the focus, the only hero unfazed by the film’s universe-shattering stakes.

The film does occasionally forget to breathe. Gunn is thoughtful in his effort to give each of the cast their moment to shine, sometimes coming at the expense of the principals. Audience familiarity with Kent, Luthor, and Lane, is not irrelevant, but the film does lean on knowledge of these characters to such a degree that it leaves Corenswet, Brosnahan, and Hoult with fewer opportunities to make their marks.

Gunn is perhaps too preoccupied with showcasing Superman’s vulnerability. Corenswet sells Clark’s natural charm that draws in everyone around him, but there’s a layer to the character that doesn’t really get pulled back with all the nonstop action going around him. Too often, Superman feels like the object of the film, not its primary driver.

The film does present a thorough case for the value of immigration and America’s role on the world stage, earning accusations of “wokeness” from far-right media despite leaving the character’s origin story largely unchanged since his debut in 1938, hardly the most progressive era in our nation’s history. Less can be said of journalism as a profession. Gunn tackles the ethical dilemma at play when Superman interviews himself. Lane takes a well-intentioned stab at the same conflict of interest, though failing to escape the optics of what some might reasonably refer to as fake news.

Gunn has plenty of confidence throughout the film, particularly in its third act, which lands well despite some pacing issues that undercut the drama at hand. There remains the sense that these characters are better suited for a follow-up story that fully allows them to dispel with any obligations toward being the first entry in the new DC Universe. But for now, it’s a fantastic start.