James Gunn’s hotly-anticipated Superman leaps into multiplexes with a single bound this week, bringing us new versions of Clark Kent, Lois Lane, Lex Luthor, Jimmy Olsen, and a general hope for humanity.
Side-stepping the origin story, and set in a world already populated with superheroes and villains, Superman is the first feature film in DC Studios’ new Gods and Monsters slate – which began with animated series Creature Commandos (and Peacemaker: Season 1 sans Justice League cameo). So with birds and planes and Supermen once again soaring through the skies, and the DCEU officially in the rear view, it’s time to look back at all the Superfilms and pick out the best.
Let’s lay down the guidelines here: We’re ranking live-action Superman movies, with Superman in the title. And even that, we’re not getting into the weeds with Superman II: The Donner Cut or Superman and the Mole Men (from 1951). But 1950s icon George Reeves, who starred in Mole Men and the long-running series Adventures of Superman, is worth mentioning here as an integral part to Superman’s live-action history.
Also, before we’re gifted with a new Gods and Monsters-era Supergirl movie, let’s call out Helen Slater as Supergirl in the ill-fated 1984 Supergirl movie, which fell on its face between 1983’s Superman III and 1987’s Superman IV. It was an early attempt at a connected Super-verse and sadly it didn’t pan out.
Without further ado, it’s time for Truth, Justice, and the Listicle Way with our official ranking of Superman headlining on the big screen!
7. Superman IV: The Quest for Peace (1987)
Superman IV placing dead last should come as no surprise. Not only was 1987 not the right cultural era for a new, earnest Super-flick but The Quest for Peace was so shoddily made that it was barely recognizable as a Superman film compared to the ones that came before it. With Super-producers the Salkinds out of the picture for the first time and Cannon Films severely slashing the budget, Superman IV, which still starred Christopher Reeve, felt like a silly knock-off. It’s a shame that this was the last time Reeve donned the cape as it was a film so disastrous that it shut down Superman movies for twenty years. In an alternate universe, a movie where Kal-el battles a nuclear powered villain while trying to broker peace talks during the Cold War could have been quite good, but everything here falls apart.
6. Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016)
Definitely not ineptly made like Superman IV, the mega-budgeted Batman v Superman just has too many missteps and cluttered incongruous parts to resonate as an intact movie. People still liked the idea of Henry Cavill as Superman and, despite a ton of pre-judgement, fans got on board with Bat-fleck. But 2013’s Man of Steel had failed to deliver a worthy, upstanding Superman, instead opting for a fledging, grumpy hero whose third act collateral damage rivaled a battle from Invincible. Thus, Dawn of Justice had to make Superman’s massive mass-casualty event the core of its story, burying poor Clark even further into murky anti-hero horribleness unbeffiting of his character.
Add to this Warner Bros.’ desperate attempt to catch up to the hefty head start the MCU had, trying to replicate that franchise’s success in two films instead of six, and you get an overcrowded mess that ALSO, of all things, kills Superman at the end. Looks pretty, feels shitty.
5. Man of Steel (2013)
Excitement was through the roof for Zack Snyder’s Nolan-produced Superman movie. There was even warm anticipation for it being a more “serious” take on the last son of Krypton, as a counterpoint to the MCU. And still, to this day, there are redeemable elements, such as the Hans Zimmer score and a couple of soaring action sequences. But, ultimately, Man of Steel failed to produce a Superman who fans, or even the world within the film itself, could unite behind. No one faulted star Henry Cavill, really, instead looking to Snyder’s penchant for refusing to make superheroes “good” people. Character complexity is great and all but when you create a Superman who is more or less ambivalent about humanity, where even his mom says “you don’t owe this world a thing,” and you’ve got a bummer of a blockbuster. On top of this, the movie gets too big and sloppy with its General Zod plot, making Supes’ first mission an overwrought Extinction Level Event.
4. Superman Returns (2006)
Superman Returns — which delivered unto us a long-awaited (pseudo) sequel to Superman and Superman II — is definitely the most interesting of the Superman films (while also being the most retro-problematic given director Bryan Singer and star Kevin Spacey). Instead of rebooting the classic hero, the decision was made to continue the saga with different actors as the same characters, with a story about Superman returning to Earth after five years in space after being tricked into following a Kryptonian signal faked by Lex Luthor.
Upon his return, Superman discovers that Lois Lane is engaged to someone new and that Luthor is up to his old evil schemes involving causing cataclysms to reshape continents. Newcomer Brandon Routh (who’d later play The Atom and then eventually reprise his role as Superman in the ArrowVerse) was decently received for what may not be the most exciting Superman movie ever made, but definitely one of the best-looking ones. Ultimately, it may wind up being similar in ways to James Gunn’s take as we’re dropped off in the middle of an already-established Super-verse, where Superman and Luthor have an accepted, entrenched enmity.
3. Superman III (1983)
You might be surprised to see Superman III this high in the rankings but there’s a lot of nostalgic appreciation for this one, making it proof that even Christopher Reeve’s third-best Superman outing is better than most other Super movies. This was a double bill too, as Reeve was paired with legendary comedian and movie star Richard Pryor for an adventure that not only leaned heavily into Pryor’s comedic stylings but also the early-80s computer/video game boom. It’s the third Superman movie in our rankings to get a Razzie nomination (after Batman v Superman and Superman IV) but it’s also fondly remembered for its dark doppelgänger sequence, in which synthetic Kryptonite causes Clark to surreally split into two beings. There’s a lot of nonsense here but there’s also a playfulness that works more than it doesn’t.
2. Superman II (1980)
Filmed back to back with the 1978 original — with director Richard Donner helming 75% of this sequel before getting fired by father/son producers Alexander and Ilya Salkind — Superman II still manages to be a glorious, rollicking follow-up that delivers one of the first (and most fun) super-battles of all time. It builds off of what was set up in Superman and expands the character in ways that superhero movies today still emulate. Can Superman lead a normal life with the woman he loves or is he forever destined to sacrifice happiness for his higher calling? What do his superpowers mean when faced with beings just as strong as he is? How can Superman’s saga still use Lex Luthor as a perennial thorn in Supes’ side, even when new villains arrive with even deadlier agendas? Reeve was still perfect here, embodying a being you could believe as both the awesome, adept Superman and the bumbling, beefhead Clark. The real Kryptonian is somewhere in-between, both powerful and vulnerable.
1. Superman (1978)
It’s not hard to guess that, yes, the original Superman is still the gd best. With the tagline “You’ll believe a man can fly,” Superman barreled into theaters in 1978 with locomotive power and bullet-like speed. Groundbreaking special effects and the absolute perfect actor in Christopher Reeve helped turn the world’s most famous comic book character into a bonafide movie triumph.
Superman was jaw-dropping, and on the heels of Star Wars it was further proof that movies could now deliver large-scale fantasy epics like never before. Reeve, who’d been a star of some TV and a whole lot of theater, became a household name overnight after wowing audiences with endearing slapstick as Clark Kent and noble kindness as Superman. And like its portrayal of Superman and Clark, the movie itself also struck the perfect balance between goofy antics and heroic exploits. John Williams’ score provided the perfect backdrop for what still remains a one-of-a-kind adventure.
Which Superman film is your favorite? Let us know below…
Matt Fowler is a freelance entertainment writer/critic, covering TV news, reviews, interviews and features on IGN for 17+ years.
