James Gunn’s Superman was always going to become a number one hit when it flew onto streaming, and David Corenswet’s Man of Steel has done just that on his HBO Max debut. The biggest superhero movie of the year joined the streamer’s lineup on Friday, September 19, and immediately soared to the top of the global chart. While it is too early to see what kind of numbers the movie has been doing, the film has been pulling in significantly more than its nearest rivals, including Seth Rogen’s R-rated animated comedy Sausage Party.
The swift arrival of Superman on HBO Max was something of a surprise, just a month after it made its digital VOD debut and 70 days after its theatrical debut. However, Gunn previously explained that the streaming release of the movie was to tie in with the upcoming Season 2 finale of Peacemaker, which has ties to the summer blockbuster for those who like to cross the boundaries of TV and cinema with their superhero universes.
Superman blasted its way to a $615 million worldwide box office this summer, becoming a higher grossing film than its MCU rival, The Fantastic Four: First Steps, and the first DC movie to top $300 million at the domestic box office since Robert Pattinson’s The Batman three years ago. Although some still saw the movie’s performance as a disappointment, there is no denying that as a first step for the new DCU, the return of Superman to the top of the box office was pretty much the best start Gunn could have wished for.
While Superman made sense as the first big screen outing for the new DCU, David Corenswet’s Man of Steel is going to be an integral part of what comes next in James Gunn’s grand plan for the DC Universe’s upcoming slate. Supergirl arrives in cinemas next summer, with potential for a Superman cameo. Now we also know that Corenswet will also have a pivotal role in the third movie in Gunn’s Superman Saga, Man of Tomorrow.
In a recent podcast, Gunn revealed that Man of Tomorrow will essentially be a Lex Luthor movie, but naturally, where there is Luthor, there is his nemesis. Except this time around, it looks like the enemies will be forming an unlikely alliance – just don’t expect it to be one that lasts for more than the length of the movie. There have been plenty of rumors that Peacemaker’s Season 2 finale will feature a cameo from Nicholas Hoult as Luthor, and will set up the 2027 movie.
While some have questioned the need for so many Superman-centric movies coming out in the early part of the DCU’s first “chapter,” especially when everyone just wants to know who will be playing Batman, Gunn clearly has a plan for how he wants the franchise to pan out. Whether this fits with what fans want is an entirely different matter, but it seems they have a choice to either go along for the ride, or go and grouch about it on social media.
- Release Date
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July 11, 2025
- Runtime
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130 minutes
- Director
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James Gunn
- Producers
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Peter Safran
