Reign of the Supermen

Right now you can watch Reign of the Supermen on streaming — and it goes further with its ideas than most genre entertainment bothers to. It knows exactly what kind of film it is from the opening scene, and never loses that thread. 699 viewers have already rated it on TMDB — the kind of consensus that does not happen by accident. Jerry O'Connell sets the tone, and the world-building does the rest. There is no real reason to keep putting it off.

Part of the current wave of titles people are actually watching, Reign of the Supermen earns its spot. The world-building is meticulous, but it is the characters who carry Reign of the Supermen through its more ambitious moments. In the wake of The Death of Superman, the world is still mourning the loss of the Man of Steel following his fatal battle with the monster Doomsday. However, no sooner as his body been laid to rest than do four new bearers of the Superman shield come forward to take on the mantle. The Last Son of Krypton, Superboy, Steel, and the Cyborg Superman all attempt to fill the vacuum left by the world's greatest champion. Jerry O'Connell and Rebecca Romijn lead a cast that brings real weight to the material. It was released in 2019. The world-building is meticulous enough to sustain multiple rewatches, with details early on that only make sense later. It knows exactly what it is, and does not try to be anything else.

Viewers burned by ambitious sci-fi that could not sustain its premise should give Reign of the Supermen a chance. It stands on its own even without an obvious comparison point. Short enough to finish in one sitting, substantial enough to feel satisfying. Jerry O'Connell grounds the bigger ideas in something human. Once you are in, you will want to talk about it.