Croatian spoken in the new Superman film

Superman hit cinemas this week (DC/YouTube)

The new Superman film, directed and written by James Gunn, has just hit cinemas – and it features an unexpected Croatian twist.

The 2025 film simply titled Superman stars David Corenswet as Clark Kent/Superman and Rachel Brosnahan as Lois Lane.

It is the first film in the new DC Universe, produced by DC Studios under the guidance of Gunn. Alongside Corenswet and Brosnahan, the cast includes Nicholas Hoult as Lex Luthor, Edi Gathegi, Anthony Carrigan, Nathan Fillion and Isabela Merced.

What has particularly captured the attention of Croatian audiences is the appearance of award-winning Croatian actor Zlatko Burić, who plays a key villain in the film.

Burić takes on the role of Vasil Gharkos, the authoritarian leader of the fictional Eastern European nation Boravia. In the film, Gharkos allies himself with the notorious Lex Luthor in an aggressive campaign against a neighbouring country, Jarhanpur.

This is where Superman steps in to try to prevent the outbreak of war.

Much of Burić’s screen time features dialogue in Croatian – a rare occurrence in a major Hollywood superhero film.

Although the language spoken by Gharkos and his associates is meant to represent a generic Eastern European tongue, Croatian audiences immediately recognised it.

Burić’s short but striking appearance made an impression not only because of the language used, but also due to the surreal effect it had on Croatian viewers.

As 24sata noted:

“Superman intervenes to stop a war, but is defeated by a mysterious ‘metahuman’. The leader of the aggressor nation Boravia is an autocrat played by our Zlatko Burić. Although Burić’s appearance is brief, it adds a surreal element as he and his associates speak broken Croatian.

That detail, likely intended as a generic ‘Eastern European’ language, momentarily pulls Croatian audiences out of the fantasy and makes them wonder if they’ve wandered into a bizarre co-production.”

Zlatko Burić (Photo: GabboT/CC BY-SA 2.0)

Burić has built an impressive career both at home and abroad. He rose to global recognition after winning the European Film Academy’s Best Actor award – often referred to as the “European Oscar” – for his role as a Russian tycoon in Ruben Östlund’s acclaimed film Triangle of Sadness.

He remains the only Croatian actor to receive this prestigious honour.