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James Mottram

Created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, Superman has been with us, in comic form at least, since 1938. But it was only when Christopher Reeve took to the skies in the 1978 film Superman that people truly took notice.
After mixed fortunes in the era of directors Bryan Singer and Zack Snyder, this week the superhero flies back into cinemas – played by David Corenswet – in James Gunn’s Superman.
As the Man of Steel fights foes (and a PR battle), it is a chance to relaunch the character as part of Gunn and producer Peter Safran’s newly minted DC Universe.
“Superman is popular,” remarks one character. Maybe so. But where does Gunn’s film rank in the pantheon of Superman films? We rank all 10 below.
10. Superman IV: The Quest For Peace (1987)


Christopher Reeve’s final appearance was a reluctant one – he only agreed to return in exchange for creative input.
But the story of nuclear disarmament – whilst a worthy one at the time of the Cold War – was brutally hacked due to backers The Cannon Group undergoing a financial crisis and slashing the budget.
A scene that sees Superman land on New York’s 42nd Street was shot in England on an industrial estate with “a dozen pigeons thrown in for atmosphere”, said Reeve.
Even with the return of Gene Hackman, who had ducked out of Superman III, this was a low-rent disaster.
9. Superman and the Mole Men (1951)


Superman had already featured in animated shorts and two live-action series, played by Kirk Alyn, before this 58-minute mini-feature starring George Reeves came along.
Reeves would go on to play the character in the popular 1950s show Adventures of Superman, a series that was launched with this story that sees his alter ego Clark Kent and Lois Lane (Phyllis Coates) encounter furry humanoids in the oil-well town of Silsby.
It is creaky as hell, but the muscular Reeves set the template for “the all-time ace of action”, as the Man of Steel was then called.
8. Superman III (1983)


Producer Ilya Salkind’s wacky original script that featured Superman nemesis Brainiac and a climax involving time travel to the Middle Ages was rejected in favour of a more mundane one shuffled into existence by director Richard Lester (A Hard Day’s Night).
Superman III sees Robert Vaughn’s villainous tycoon build a supercomputer to take down Reeve’s Man of Steel so that he can control the world’s oil.
Richard Pryor’s tech genius brought the funnies, but critics rounded on the film, with Leonard Maltin calling it “an appalling sequel that trashed everything that Superman was about for the sake of cheap laughs”.
7. Superman Returns (2006)


The success of TV shows like Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman and Smallville meant Superman never drifted from public consciousness. And this return to the big screen – the first in almost two decades – should have been a show-stopper.
Sadly, this story about Superman returning to Earth after a five-year absence flopped, with Brandon Routh’s hero a nonentity.
Moreover, off-screen controversies surrounding director Bryan Singer – who effectively launched the modern-day superhero movie with X-Men – and co-star Kevin Spacey (as Lex Luthor) have since overshadowed this entry in the canon.
6. Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016)


Remember the “Sad Affleck” meme? Ben Affleck’s maudlin face in a promotional interview for this gargantuan mess of a movie said it all.
This Snyder-directed team-up was meant to herald the arrival of DC’s Justice League: Affleck as Batman, Gal Gadot as Wonder Woman and Henry Cavill as Superman.
But with visuals as gloomy-looking as Affleck, a plodding 152-minute run time and a controversial plot that sees the Caped Crusader come up against the Man of Steel, critics were left cold.
That did not stop DC fans though, with a US$874 million global box office making it the highest grossing of all Superman films.
5. Zack Snyder’s Justice League (2021)


The 2017 version of Justice League was completed by Joss Whedon, when Snyder left during post-production after the tragic death of his daughter. But disgruntled with Whedon’s reshoots, Snyder’s army of fans demanded his cut be released.
Warners buckled under the pressure – and the Snyder Cut came to pass.
An upgrade on the Whedon-finished version, the story sees Cavill’s Superman resurrected following the events of Dawn of Justice, as this new allied group of heroes takes on Darkseid.
The humour, largely thanks to Ezra Miller’s speedster The Flash, is welcome, but Snyder’s bombastic approach still overwhelms.
4. Man of Steel (2013)


Given the success of Snyder’s graphic novel adaptation Watchmen, hopes were high as he introduced the world to Cavill in the title role in yet another origin story.
There were plus points, including Kevin Costner bringing his seasoned gravitas to the role of Superman’s adopted father, Jonathan Kent.
But despite a story credit for Christopher Nolan, who also produced, this never quite (re)launched the franchise in the right way.
Michael Shannon was wasted as the popular antagonist General Zod, especially with a tiresome story that spent the final act seeing him and Superman wreck most of Metropolis.
3. Superman (2025)


James Gunn’s takeover of the DC universe begins here, with this slightly crazed rebirth.
David Corenswet is a solid Supes (even if we get very little of him as Clark Kent, sadly), who faces public suspicion, manipulated by his old enemy Lex Luthor (Nicholas Hoult).
Less earnest than the Snyder movies, this cartoonish effort puts the fun back into DC’s jewel, largely thanks to the appearance of the Man of Steel’s pup, Krypto, and the mouthy Mister Terrific, played by Edi Gathegi.
Gunn casts well, especially Skyler Gisondo as Daily Planet photographer Jimmy Olsen, though Hoult’s Luther isn’t a patch on Gene Hackman’s.
2. Superman (1978)


The poster said it all: “You’ll believe a man can fly.” Produced by father-and-son team Alexander and Ilya Salkind, this was, at US$55 million, the most expensive film ever made at the time, with groundbreaking visual effects putting Reeve’s Superman in the air with dizzying skill.
Director Richard Donner assembled a wonderful supporting cast, with Marlon Brando as Superman’s Krypton father Jor-El, Gene Hackman as his earthly forever enemy Lex Luthor, and Margot Kidder as love interest Lois Lane.
But really, this film spins on the charm of Reeve, who perfectly captures the Man of Steel’s charisma and Clark Kent’s gawkiness.
1. Superman II (1980)


This just edges out Superman, largely thanks to the genius of Terence Stamp as General “Kneel before” Zod, the baddy teased in the first movie.
The two films were largely shot back-to-back until Donner fell out with the producers, and Superman II was later completed by Richard Lester.
Hackman is fabulously oily as Luthor here, joining Zod in his attempt to rule Earth, but the real drive comes from Superman’s decision to remove his powers and become human, as he becomes more enamoured with Lois Lane.
The visual effects may have aged, but this is still the Man of Steel at his best.
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From the Christopher Reeve films to the Bryan Singer and Zack Snyder eras to the 2025 reboot, we rank all the Man of Steel movies


From the Christopher Reeve films to the Bryan Singer and Zack Snyder eras to the 2025 reboot, we rank all the Man of Steel movies.


Every Superman movie ranked, including James Gunn’s new take with David Corenswet

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}From the Christopher Reeve films to the Bryan Singer and Zack Snyder eras to the 2025 reboot, we rank all the Man of Steel movies

10. Superman IV: The Quest For Peace (1987)

From the Christopher Reeve films to the Bryan Singer and Zack Snyder eras to the 2025 reboot, we rank all the Man of Steel movies