Every Superman Movie Explained in One Line

Almost every single live-action Superman film has been made by people who despise him. They despise him for being a sweet country boy, for coming off as a little outdated, conservative, or religious perhaps, or for being more powerful than we are without being corrupt. Nobody could have that much power without being corrupt! fumes the cynical movie executive between snorting lines of coke off child actors. Except for me! I should have this power!!! In other words, Superman films are made by Lex Luthor for Lex Luthor. No wonder they’re so bad.

Modern writers almost seem to be apologizing for our hero. “Look, we know he’s literally named ‘Superman,’ but we promise he hates himself just like you do, you disgusting slob, so please don’t reject him out of hand just because you’re a pathetic proletariat!” When audiences don’t get particularly excited for this, Hollywood blames them — or they blame the most universally recognized fictional character on earth — instead of questioning whether their formula might be broken.

I am here to say that I love Superman just the way he is, because he’d be an enjoyable person to spend the afternoon with and because I could trust him to babysit my kids. I admire him as a person. As you’ll see below, from his very first big screen debut, Superman as he is has been approached as a character nobody could possibly unironically enjoy. There are exceptions, but this problem emerges again and again.

Superman: The Movie (1978) — lol this quaint, old-fashioned dork doesn’t fit into our Modern Times or Modern Phone Booths lmao

Superman II (1981) — oh my Zod

Superman III (1983) — Richard Pryor had a fever dream and when he woke up, he’d starred in a movie.

Superman IV: The Quest for Peace (1987) — look, man, nobody wants to be here

Superman Returns (2006) — Weren’t those quaint and old-fashioned Superman movies cute?

Man of Steel (2013) — Just kidding, we know what you all really want is EXPLOSIONS!

Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016) — We gave Titano the Super-Ape a typewriter and this is the script he wrote!

Superman (2025) — great casting, mid directing, and terrible writing.

My argument has always been that Superman is an adventure tale for children. While (understandably) prone to being just a tad pompous, he loves his ma, he loves his pa, he loves America (wouldn’t that be a pleasant experience), and he’s STRONK! This guy is meant to cheer you in the trenches of world war and evoke a sense of childlike wonder and that’s it. Don’t mess. For that reason, and you can hate me for this, the movie I prefer to watch with little kids is Superman IV. It’s short, it’s easy for them to follow, and it’s touchingly stupid. If I were to sit down and watch a Supes movie with my husband, I’d go with Superman Returns, the classy, “boring” one written as a love letter to Christopher Reeve’s films and taking them far more seriously than they themselves ever did.

Straight-to-video animated films often turn out better because there aren’t a bunch of vulture producers gathered around to sink their blood-stained beaks into the project’s carcass. Plus, David S. Goyer isn’t invited. Though they’re sometimes rushed, these smaller-budget movies give creators room to breathe and tell a good story that, ironically, would probably be a blockbuster success if it were filmed in big budget live-action.

Most of these still fail my “Superman should be family-friendly” standard, as there is often something just slightly inappropriate, but almost all of these are worth at least one watch.

The Batman/Superman Movie: World’s Finest (1997) — this is what Batman v Superman should have been like; 10/5 stars

Superman: Brainiac Attacks (2006) — Silly.

Superman: Doomsday (2007) — the worst thing ever to happen to comic books, now happening to movies!

Superman/Batman: Public Enemies (2009) — extremely gay; 10/5 stars

Superman/Batman: Apocalypse (2010) — oh it’s Darkseid again

All-Star Superman (2011) — adapted from comics, so the structure is weird but the story is extremely watchable.

Superman vs. The Elite (2012) — Superman learns there’s air on the moon and Scots can’t be trusted.

Superman: Unbound (2013) — a well-told story that fails to be appropriate for the whole family at the very last moment (LOIS!!!).

The Death of Superman (2018) — the worst thing ever to happen to comic books, happening to movies, again! 4/5 stahz

Reign of the Supermen (2019) — Intriguing, fun, and to-the-point!

Superman: Red Son (2020) — an adaptation made in the year of our lord 2020 that somehow managed to say something negative about communism

Superman: Man of Tomorrow (2020) — pacing and voice direction are a disaster but Parasite is cool

Batman and Superman: Battle of the Super Sons (2022) — Robin and Superboy team up to save their dads and Damian somehow manages to be likable the entire time.

In a surprise to no one, my personal favorite would be the animated World’s Finest, though it’s actually three episodes of a TV show stitched together. I watched the 2018 Death of Superman and subsequent Reign of the Supermen just to write this article, and I found them excellent!

At the end of the day, the Big Blue Boy Scout is a character that launched a million others. Giant industries would not exist had young Schuster and Seigel not sat down to tell stories together. Calling the prototype for all superheroes cliche (as Max Landis did, and yes, I’m still mad about it) is like calling Shakespeare cliche. Superman was a fairly original idea at the time and there’s no need to apologize for his success now that so many others have expanded on it.

I will concede that a “dark and gritty” Superman story has its place. Not, however, if the character’s depth and likability is overwhelmed by brainless action, which is often the case when a bunch of media moguls get their meat hooks into our boy. It’s okay to tell a nice story for children. It’s okay for Superman to be nice. He is nice!

Happy Superman Day, everyone.

Do you have a favorite Superman movie?