It took about 40 years from Superman first gracing the pages of a comic book to finally getting his own, full-fledged live-action blockbuster. In the 40 years since that, the Man of Steel has appeared on the big screen nine times, if you include this week’s latest iteration by James Gunn. By that math, we may be in for many, many more Superman movies over the next few decades. So, before that does or doesn’t happen, we thought it would be time to put them up against each other.
Below, we have our ranking of the nine modern, live-action Superman films, as well as the extended version of one that debuted on streaming. We’re skipping a few of the extended serials from the 1950s because, frankly, we haven’t seen them, but our friends at Screencrush say they’re pretty good. Do you agree with these rankings? Let us know below.
More Than Honorable Mention—Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story
Just so we can all start this list on a happy note, I didn’t rank—but absolutely love—this incredible 2024 documentary about Superman actor Christopher Reeve. It’s not only poignant and heartwarming; it captures everything magical about Superman happening in real life. It’s wonderful and, probably, the best Superman movie ever. I’m not going to count it here just because we’re focusing on the fictional versions, but I did want to give it a shout-out. Watch it here.
10. Superman III
I recently wrote about this at length, but I detest this movie. It’s a Richard Pryor movie with Superman in it that does no favors to either. At least some of the lesser movies on this list after this actually respected the character of Superman. Superman III does not. Read more here.
9. Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice
Imagine telling your 8-year-old self that Hollywood would make a movie where Batman fought Superman but that it would be bad. Seems wild, but it happened. The biggest issue with Batman v Superman is that it’s just trying to do too much. We introduce Batman, reintroduce Superman, there’s Wonder Woman for some reason, Lex Luthor, Doomsday—it’s like 15 movies in one, something director Zack Snyder would get a grasp on later in his career, but not with this movie.
8. Justice League
Sticking in the Snyderverse, I’m one of the few people around who does not hate Justice League. Yes, it’s a mess. And yes, when we got to see Snyder’s full vision years later (more on that in a few), it was much, much better. But even though the theatrical Justice League is a little too goofy and underbaked, it has a certain power about it just because we get to see all these characters—Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, Flash, Aquaman, and Cyborg—on screen together at once. It’s kind of fun, but not fun enough.
7. Superman Returns
The one that time forgot. While fans are still constantly talking about the Henry Cavill/Zack Snyder Superman films, and we’ll never forget the Reeve films, there was a movie directed by Bryan Singer (yikes) starring Kevin Spacey (uh-oh) with a pretty good Superman, played by Brandon Routh. Unfortunately, the movie made the odd choice to be the sequel to the first two Reeve films but not the second two, which left it in this weird void of authority. But it looks cool, has a solid cast, and made the smart choice to fully embrace the John Williams score.
6. Superman IV: The Quest for Peace
I know. I know. If you clicked over to my Superman III takedown piece, you’ll see that I call this movie horrible. And it kind of is. But I like it more than these other films because, flawed as it may be, it was the Reeve Superman franchise trying to be a real Superman movie once again. It has a big, powerful villain; Margot Kidder is back as Lois Lane; and even Gene Hackman makes his return. There was a good movie in there. It’s just not on screen.
5. Zack Snyder’s Justice League
There are a lot of good things to say about Zack Snyder’s Justice League, the extended supercut version of Snyder’s original vision. Mostly, it takes that goodwill having all these heroes in the same movie together buys and lets you spend more time with each of them. As a result, the payoffs at the end carry more weight and simply work better. It’s not the masterpiece some consider it to be, but it’s much better than one may expect and continues Superman’s story in a dark, satisfying way.
4. Man of Steel
“An epic and heartfelt adventure that successfully reboots the Superman character in a realistic and humanistic way.” That was me in 2013 when I reviewed Man of Steel for a previous employer. I’m not sure I still stand by that rave wholeheartedly, but I do know that Snyder’s film—and in particular the casting of Henry Cavill, Amy Adams, Michael Shannon, Kevin Costner, and Diane Lane—works as a solid, unique Superman origin story. It gets the character mostly right. Sure, he snaps a dude’s head at the end. But that was this Superman, and we are cool with it.
3. Superman (2025)
As I was writing this, I flipped numbers 3 and 2. Originally I had James Gunn’s new film at number two, but after writing what I just did about Man of Steel, I realized maybe this new movie is still too fresh in my head. Sitting with a movie—seeing how many times you watch it, quote it, think about it—is a big part of lists like this. So, while my initial instinct was to put the new Superman at number two, I’m going to put it at number three, just because it’s only been a part of my life for a short time. It is, however, the type of film that’s sure to grow on you, just like the next and final two movies on this list.
2. Superman 2
Director Richard Donner famously thought of his Superman movie as two movies. It was conceived as one long story, and when you watch them together, that’s pretty obvious. So, while Donner didn’t end up finishing this sequel, the way it continues and builds on the story of the original really works. Reeve, Kidder, and Hackman all shine. Also, we finally get the full-on superhero battle missing in the first one, thanks to Terence Stamp’s General Zod. It’s a super solid Superman movie, but mostly, we love it because of its link to…
1. Superman: The Movie
Was there ever any doubt? Richard Donner’s 1978 original is just so beyond epic. The way it tells the full Superman story in such a huge, sweeping way is bold and exciting. The performances and casting are out of this world. The effects still hold up almost 50 years later. And the story builds at such an interesting pace, you almost can’t believe it. I wouldn’t call Superman: The Movie “perfect,” but it’s close, and it’s easily the best Superman movie ever.
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