‘Superman’ Is Here to Save the Day. Are We Saved?

The newsbefore the main event

Dune: Part Three 2026

Officially real, titled 'Dune: Part Three' (not 'Dune Messiah'), with Timothée Chalamet, now in production and dated December 16, 2026, the same day as 'Avengers: Doomsday.' Sean and Amanda figure one of the two moves.

‘Superman’spoilers throughout

Superman 2025

James Gunn's seventh feature and the first film of the rebooted DCU, drawn heavily from Grant Morrison's 'All-Star Superman.' David Corenswet plays a vulnerable, emo, early-30s Superman opposite Rachel Brosnahan's Lois Lane and Nicholas Hoult's Lex Luthor. Amanda, allergic to Gunn's joke-a-minute patter, still finds half of it works; Sean calls it a great Superman movie if not a perfect one, with a Saturday-morning-cartoon tone, brisk under two hours, and a Metropolis (shot in Cleveland) that feels real. They read the Luthor plot, old footage weaponized by internet troll armies against 'the last good man,' as Gunn re-litigating his 2018 Disney firing, and compare that self-regard to 'The Brutalist' and to Taylor Swift. Both flag the second-act pocket-universe/black-site detour as the low point: CGI space junk, a proton river, torture staged as an ICE parallel. The film's Baravia/Jarnapur war gestures at Israel/Palestine and Russia/Ukraine but lands on a Superman-is-good bromide. Corenswet and Brosnahan draw raves; the Justice Gang, Krypto, and the Gunn sci-fi goofiness draw sighs. Bradley Cooper cameos as Jor-El; Supergirl (Milly Alcock) and a stinger set up what's next.

Superman (1978) 1978

Richard Donner's original, which both watched this week and which still casts a long shadow: the John Williams score, the suit, the hopefulness. Sean credits Gunn with echoing its spirit while replicating almost none of its style.

The Brutalist 2024

Sean's mid-movie comparison: a great-man, main-character-energy story about an artist exiled and used by powerful forces, Brady Corbett pouring himself into it the way Gunn does here.

Black Panther 2018

Cited as the rare comic-book movie with real ideas about isolationism, interventionism, and national identity, the company Gunn's 'Superman' is trying to keep when it reaches for geopolitics.

The Superman box-office ledgerdomestic grosses, worst to first

Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice 2016

The domestic Superman-movie record at $330 million, and per Sean, Amanda's favorite. Zack Snyder's Jesse Eisenberg Lex prefigured the evil-tech-billionaire type.

Man of Steel 2013

$290 million. Sean thinks Henry Cavill struck the right figure but was failed by the writing, and played Superman with almost no humor.

Superman Returns 2006

$200 million, with Brandon Routh and Kevin Spacey. A movie Amanda doesn't remember.

Superman (1978) 1978

The Donner original made $134 million.

Superman II 1980

$108 million. Sean is especially fond of the Donner Cut.

Superman III 1983

$59 million.

Superman IV: The Quest for Peace 1987

The fiasco: $15 million. Sean predicts the new one opens to $150 million and could be the first Superman movie to clear a billion.

What's next for the DCUthe slate to come

Supergirl 2026

Dated June 2026, directed by Craig Gillespie ('I, Tonya,' 'Cruella'), with Milly Alcock (of 'House of the Dragon') teased at the end of 'Superman.' Amanda was annoyed by the found-family setup; both found Alcock and Corenswet's timing promising.

Clayface 2026

Out September 11, a standalone horror movie about the Batman villain, a Hollywood actor who uses a special clay to transform. Written by Mike Flanagan, directed by James Watkins ('Speak No Evil'), starring Tom Rhys Harries. Likely a ~$50M movie, which Sean thinks is a cool swing for the third DCU film.

Swamp Thing 1982

James Mangold is writing and directing a new one; Sean recalls the memorable-if-not-good Wes Craven 1982 version with Adrienne Barbeau.

The Batman Part II

Matt Reeves reportedly turned in a script Sean hears is very good, after a lot of deadline-shaming. Gunn played coy in Rolling Stone about whether Robert Pattinson's Batman and Corenswet's Superman ever share a screen; both hosts would watch it.

Sergeant Rock

The Luca Guadagnino DC project (a Captain America/Nick Fury-ish military figure), now in doubt after Daniel Craig exited.

Also mentioned raised along the way

Around the comic-book-movie complex The Fantastic Four: First StepsAvengers: DoomsdaySpider-ManGuardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3Captain America: Brave New WorldDeadpool & WolverineSpider-Man: No Way HomeCaptain MarvelAquamanWonder Woman 1984The FlashJustice LeagueZack Snyder's Justice LeagueDark PhoenixX-Men: Days of Future Past

Nicholas Hoult's genre run NosferatuJuror #2RenfieldWarm Bodies

Craig Gillespie's filmography Lars and the Real GirlDumb Money

In passing Mad Max: Fury RoadTriangle of SadnessGoodfellasThe ReturnAvatar: The Way of WaterSe7en

Not films filtered out: TV, games, ads

TV PeacemakerHouse of the DragonBarryMad MenSuperman & LoisLois & ClarkSmallville

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