James Gunn’s Superman reboot featuring David Corenswet is upon us, and legions of fans are feeling the buzz. From the excited response to its goofy yet colourful trailer to the welcomed course correction from the DC Extended Universe’s disastrous missteps, the reception and box office receipts for this suped-up spectacle have set the franchise up in good stead now that it’s available to buy or rent from streaming service stores.
With a list of actors playing the live-action Big Blue Boy Scout as long as that iconic red cape, Supes has a colourful history, so let’s take a trip down memory (Lois) lane and revisit the Man of Steel’s previous celluloid outings with this ranking. And since we’re feeling generous, we’re also including the ensemble entries featuring Superman, such as Justice League.
12. Superman IV: The Quest for Peace (1987)
Superman IV, the late, great Christopher Reeve’s final appearance as the Man of Steel, is sadly one of the most panned superhero movies of all time, earning itself two Golden Razzie nods.
Taking inspo from Rocky 4 and on a one-man mission to end the Cold War, Supes vows to rid the Earth of its nukes by jettisoning them into the Sun. This, besides likely bringing about a diplomatic nightmare, also inadvertently creates powerful nemesis Nuclear Man, a bleach-blonde gym bro in dire need of a manicure, with a bad case of narcolepsy come sundown.
With egregious effects, lazy editing, woeful performances and risible slow-mo fisticuffs, you should never give The Quest for Peace a chance.
11. Justice League (2017)
We’ve had a Golden Age Superman, we’ve had a gritty reboot Superman, but Justice League gave us a Superman none of us deserved — a decidedly boring one. This ponderous movie was plagued with production issues, including drastic reshoots that altered Zack Snyder’s original darker tone, now a clumsy mishmash of uninspiring sequences and a nonsensical plot with criminal editing and atrocious color grading. It all feels like a shoddy, Temu-Avengers, with the hero-on-hero bickering feeling extremely forced and cliché. Sadly, the film never registers past your senses, making you feel like you’d just woken up from a 120-minute snooze post credits.
Plus, that mighty morphin’ moustache intro alone should have sent this movie straight to the Phantom Zone.
10. Superman and the Mole Men (1951)
The Mole Men are subterranean creatures who venture out of an oil shaft in small-town Texas. Initially friendly to kids, these poor souls are subjected to fear, loathing and violence by the adult populace, until George Reeves’ Superman shows up to save the day and quell tensions.
The first theatrical film starring the Man of Steel, Superman and the Mole Men features decades-old SFX — you’ll quickly realise the aforementioned Mole Men are diminutive folk sporting shower caps — but it still carries much earnestness and charm. Plus, its underlying message, “racism = bad,” is fairly heavy-footed, but 70 years later, some people still need to take heed. A faithful and fairly comic-accurate tale of our favourite symbol of hope.
9. Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016)
Supes’ city-leveling brawl with General Zod during the events of Man of Steel puts him in the crosshairs of the US government and a vengeful and world-weary Batman. Goaded on by a mysterious enemy, the two caped heroes get set for an inevitable showdown.
Despite Dawn of Justice raking in enough coin to be considered a box office success, it was met with middling reviews, claiming the film a dark, hot mess and a flagrant departure from who the two superheroes were at their cores. It also featured Jesse Eisenberg as Lex Luthor, reborn as a 20-something tech bro with annoying Joker-esque mannerisms and a giddy persona, in perhaps the worst incarnation of a Superman big bad to date.
Sadly, it’s Cavill who’s most wasted here, relegated to looking either serious or glum when not in punching-supervillain mode. As a highlight, Ben Affleck’s Batman metes out bloody justice to a warehouse of goons in the closest equivalent to the Arkham Asylum games. Then again, there are plenty of subpar bits too, with the meme-famous “Save Martha” moment threatening to derail the entire franchise. DoJ is a wild swing at least, but it’s far from a homerun.
8. Superman III (1983)
After a stellar duo of Donner Superman movies comes this adventure that often veers like a speeding bullet into wacky territory.
This time, it’s computers that are the big bad, as programmer whizzkid Gus Gorman, played by the inimitable Richard Pryor, is seduced into a life of crime with his new talents at the behest of industrial tycoon Ross Webster.
While a somewhat serviceable Superman adventure, the lack of emotional stakes in favour of whimsical lollygagging makes this a pale retread of the Donner movies that also happens to take a layer of sheen off them too.
There are some arresting sequences, particularly the good versus evil Supermans duking it out in a scrapyard, and a corrupted Supes trolling by straightening the Leaning Tower of Pisa and dousing the Olympic Flame. Plus, the live transfiguration of side villain Vera into a killer AI haunted an entire generation of kids.
7. Superman Returns (2006)
From the not-so-subtle nods to that golden sheen enveloping nearly every frame, Superman Returns is a nostalgic love letter to the Christopher Reeve films that came before it. Serving as a direct sequel to Superman I and II, the Man of Steel returns to Earth following a 5-year hiatus, and the world has seemingly moved on.
Returns represents a solid telling of this Superman story, though at 154 minutes — an eternity in 2006 — pacing is an issue, and its action sequences, particularly its climax, feel largely underwhelming. Superman versus a Kryptonite island? C’mon… Still, it had lots to like — newcomer Brandon Routh captures Reeves’ mild-mannerisms perfectly and serves as a dead ringer for the late actor.
While securing decent box office takings, bums on seats were still short of what Warner Bros had expected, and they canned the planned 2009 sequel.
6. Man of Steel (2013)
As you’d expect from Zack Snyder’s MO, this gritty reboot of Superman hits all the serious and dour notes, with a darkened choreography, world-ending events, and a very un-Super ethical question: save or not save?
Played with a quiet stoicism by an absolutely shredded Henry Cavill, who doesn’t really get much to work with, he nevertheless looks the part. And though its Kryptonian-on-Kryptonian dustups are legit entertaining — the US military desperately trying to survive getting wrecked by Zod and his rebels is great — it eventually gets tiresome when Kal-El and Zod high-rise after high-rise with their air-based brawling.
Importantly, as good as it looks, the film lacks the optimism and hope that the Big Blue Boy Scout is all about and what made the original Superman movies so special. Sure, the spectacle is there, but for a well-rounded movie, it’s got to do the Clark Kent persona justice too.
5. Superman (2025)
James Gunn’s Superman reboot plonks viewers into a world already long inhabited by metahumans, skyscraper-felling kaijus and interdimensional portals. It’s a massive, lived-in and very comicbook-y universe that has characters piloting spacedrones and spouting lines about pocket dimensions like it’s just another Tuesday.
As a reenvisioning of the red-caped franchise for a new generation, Gunn gets to shoehorn a kitchen sinkful of comic book weirdness into Superman, and it’s… mostly successful, but also messy. There’s a huge roster of side characters and bit players, but not all of them get their chance to shine. Importantly, though, all the key constituents are all there — David Corenswet plays an optimistically earnest yet vulnerable Kal-El, Rachel Brosnahan channels her inner Kidder as Lois Lane (and has molten levels of chemistry with her co-star), while Nicholas Hoult gives a menacing turn as supervillain Lex Luthor, an antagonist who rivals the Guardians’ High Evolutionary as big bads you just love to hate.
Set in a chaotic world obsessed with optics and under the threat of mass disinformation, Superman once again serves as humanity’s way out of the darkness, and we need this version today more than ever. Convoluted and all over the place it may be, it’s still entertaining and full of hope.
4. Zack Snyder’s Justice League (2021)
Director’s cut movies can be a funny thing — while they no doubt align more closely to the auteur’s original vision, their pacing and length can feel languid compared to the theatrical cut, and their stories can veer too far down the rabbit hole. Thankfully, this hyperlong version of Justice League manages to be a compelling vindication for Team Snyder.
Pretty much all six Justice Leaguers get their due and characterization here, with deep lore that explains much of our heroes’ actions and motivations. Of particular note is Cyborg, who barely gets any backstory in the abridged cut, now propelled front and centre of the group with a hugely resonating emotional depth akin to the Tin Man finding his heart. Plus, the Flash, relegated to third-rate cheap quips and comic relief, now gets his MVP moment in the film’s endgame battle.
At its epicentre, there’s still lots of Snyder-esque slow mo and nonsensical grandiose action, but at least this Justice League provides much-needed insight and character work to its cast. Still, at more than 4 hours long, set your lounge to extra comfy.
3. Superman II: The Richard Donner Cut (2006)
Superman II, despite its success, was beset with production issues, with original director Richard Donner controversially sacked due to creative differences, opening the door for Richard Lester to helm.
The Donner cut didn’t see the light of day until the 2006 DVD release of Superman Returns, with original shot footage interlaced with deleted scenes, screen tests and theatrical version shots.
Yes, there are plenty who would purport that the Donner Cut is superior to the theatrical version, raising the seriousness and giving our characters more agency. However, for our money, this version largely feels more uneven, with often jarring transitions and dialogue, while the theatrical cut, albeit with its goofy, slapstick charm, is the more polished, final product.
Additionally, the Donner ending retreads the turn-back-time trope (only once per franchise, please), undoing Clark’s personal sacrifice and conflict from the movie.
2. Superman (1978)
Sent to Earth from the dying planet Krypton, baby Kal-El grows up to uphold truth, justice and the American way as Superman. Meanwhile, scheming industrialist Lex Luthor hatches a plan to destabilise the San Andreas Fault to create an entirely new US West Coast. It’s simple yet devious supervillainy stuff.
However, it’s Reeves’ superb turn that really sells Superman. Pulling double duty as the awkward and bumbling journo Clark Kent and the confident, charismatic, and unflappably optimistic Superman, his instantaneous physical and psychological transformation is always a wonder. He also has fissile chemistry with Margot Kidder’s feisty Lois Lane.
Remember when Superman was all about saving people and stopping perps? Or even liberating felines from trees, simply put, if Superman sees there’s good to be done, he’ll never waiver, never hesitate, never tire. Full of optimism, hope and pure good, Superman perfectly captures the superhero who we all should aspire to be.
1. Superman II (1980)
There’s barely a hair between them, but the follow-up to Superman joins the hallowed pantheon of sequels that manage to improve on their originals. When the destruction of a hydrogen bomb frees General Zod and his minions from the Phantom Zone, it’s up to Supes to battle this trio of big bads. There’s just one hitch — he’s just given up his powers to be with Lois. Superman II is all about love, sacrifice and duty, as well as the inner conflict that comes from living two identities.
Additionally, the Kryptonian big bads were genuinely intimidating, and knowing that just one could go toe to toe with Kal-El was an intimidating prospect. You’ve also got Terence Stamp in his prime as the cold and arrogant General Zod, nailing his line delivery and chewing up the scenery like a bulldozer on Monster Energy. “Kneel before Zod!”
