Legendary New York sports radio personality Mike Francesa absolutely torched James Gunn’s new Superman movie during his latest podcast, calling it “unmitigated garbage,” “pure torture,” and “the worst thing I’ve ever seen.”
Known for his decades-long career on WFAN and Mike and the Mad Dog, Francesa usually sticks to baseball and football, but when he dives into movies, he doesn’t hold back.
And he did not hold back here.
“This Was Awful. This Was Torture.”
Francesa opened his Superman rant by clarifying he’s not the core superhero audience, but he grew up watching George Reeves as Superman and has always appreciated the character.
But James Gunn’s version?
“You better dress it up because you know what? When you’re going to present the kind of stuff that I saw last night, you better dress it up and really dress it up because it was awful. It wasn’t bad — it was awful.”
And that was just the beginning.
“Superman Got Beat Up for Two Hours”
Francesa couldn’t believe how weak the Man of Steel looked throughout the movie:
“This was two hours of this new Superman who was a D. He wasn’t Christopher Reeve, but he was okay. Two hours of him getting the crap beat out of him. Who wants to see Superman get beat up for two hours?”
“Everybody in the movie is beating the heck out of him. I thought Jimmy Olsen was going to take a shot at him. I thought Lois Lane was going to throw him out a window.”
“Who Came Up With a Dog With a Cape?”
Francesa was completely baffled by the addition of Krypto the Superdog, among other elements:
“First of all, early on there’s robots. I don’t want robots. Okay, I don’t want robots taking care of Superman. I don’t. Then there’s a super dog. Who came up with a super dog? I mean, we all like dogs, okay? But who came up with a dog with a cape?”
He added:
“The dog was a bigger hero than Superman. Lois Lane was a much bigger hero. And Jimmy Olsen, who used to be a, you know, an 18-year-old cub reporter with a brownie camera, he’s basically dissing supermodels every
weekend.”
“Lois Lane Driving a Spaceship? What Am I Watching?”
He lit into the film’s wild sci-fi plot twists:
“This is not made for Lois Lane to be driving a spaceship to save Superman. I’m like, what the heck am I watching here?”
“This movie is so bad that if you ask me to go sit through it again, I would want major, major cash before I could do it.”
“This Was an Affront to My Senses”
Francesa, again who grew up watching Superman on TV, felt the movie disrespected the character’s legacy:
“It was a bad sci-fi movie and an insult to the Superman tradition, to the Superman legend. As someone who used to watch him on Channel 11 on Saturday morning, this was an affront to my senses.”
“This was a disaster before you get into all the Middle East innuendos.”
“If My Name Was on the Credits, I’d Hide It”
He slammed the filmmakers (James Gunn) and questioned what they were thinking, even guessing they were on drugs:
“This is just awful… I actually think the people who wrote this must have been on some kind of hallucinogen before they decided that this was a wrap and this was what they were going to go with.”
“The creative consultants and the writers in this thing must have all been absolutely rocked before they made this thing. That’s how bad it was.”
Francesa’s Final Word on Superman
Francesa didn’t bother naming David Corenswet or James Gunn, but his message was loud and clear:
“This was dreadful. The worst thing I’ve ever seen. I was thinking about inflicting pain to myself just to keep myself awake.”
“I’m not even going to debate with someone who liked this.”
Bottom Line
Mike Francesa didn’t just dislike James Gunn’s Superman — he obliterated it. His takedown is easily one of the most brutal reviews the film has received so far, and it’s already going viral on social media and making waves among moviegoers and fans alike.
If you’re going to the theater expecting classic Superman? Francesa’s advice is clear:
“Give me a break. That’s not Superman. That’s garbage.”
Watch Mike Francesa’s Superman review:
