The Big Picture · Discussion · Rankings
July 14, 2025/ 118 min/ Sean Fennessey · Rob Mahoney · Van Lathan
Rob Mahoney and Van Lathan join Sean Fennessey to talk James Gunn's Superman, then rank all 11 Superman movies from Donner to Corenswet.
12 films across 2 segments.
AI-generated This episode was transcribed and analyzed with AI models. The matches aren't perfect — expect the occasional misheard title or a link to the wrong film.
James Gunn's Superman, the box office, and the DCUbefore the rankings
Opened to $217M worldwide ($122M domestic), solid at home but light in Europe, for a movie the panel reads as openly about immigration and Gaza. All three praise the Corenswet/Brosnahan/Hoult casting and Gunn putting Superman in a world built to fit him. The bar for whether the DCU works, they agree, is Clayface.
The Superman Movie Rankingsworst to best on air; No. 1 first here
No. 1. 'The father of all the other films': patient zero for big-budget superhero storytelling, and Reeve is Superman. Sits just below Jaws and Star Wars in the '70s pantheon.
No. 2. The Lester theatrical cut. Van makes the case it's better than the original: more happening, sharper Lois-and-Clark chemistry. The panel keeps it at 2 on Sean's 'importance' grounds.
No. 3. The Corenswet/Gunn film, already in the pantheon on first watch. Brosnahan's Lois might 'snatch the crown' from Margot Kidder; not as good as the '78 original, and that's no knock.
No. 4. Sharper, more adversarial Lois and the blanks-gunshot reveal, but it recycles the spin-the-Earth-back ending and never cohered as a finished film.
No. 5. Ends up here by default. A Richard Pryor comedy that keeps forgetting it's a Superman movie; the junkyard fight between good and evil Clark is the highlight.
No. 6. Beats Superman IV on ambition and scale: high fantasy inside a superhero movie, plus the Knightmare coda the panel wishes had been its own film.
No. 7. Cannon Films schlock and Reeve's nuclear-disarmament passion project: Nuclear Man, Gene Hackman dubbing his voice, 90 minutes. Van's sentimental favorite, ranked honestly.
No. 8. Only makes narrative sense in the Ultimate Cut. Affleck's Batman is the best thing in it; the Martha ending is 'heinous.'
No. 9. Snyder 'doesn't get Superman': the Metropolis-leveling punch-fest and the snapped neck. Russell Crowe's Jor-El and the Krypton opening are the salvage. Sean's most-hated of the lot.
No. 10. Singer's inert nostalgia-porn sequel to Superman II: Routh and Bosworth have anti-chemistry, and its five-years-gone premise doesn't hold. Roundly disliked.
Last. The Whedon theatrical cut, 'in the running for the worst movie of its scale ever made.'
Also mentioned raised along the way
The Batman rankings they recapped The Dark KnightBatmanBatman ReturnsThe BatmanBatman: Mask of the PhantasmBatman BeginsThe Dark Knight RisesBatman ForeverThe Lego Batman MovieBatman: The MovieBatman & Robin
Warner Bros.' 2025 slate A Minecraft MovieSinnersFinal Destination BloodlinesF1Jurassic World RebirthWeaponsThe Conjuring: Last RitesOne Battle After AnotherMortal Kombat II
The DCU's next moves SupergirlClayfaceThe Batman Part II
Name-checked in passing JawsStar WarsStar Wars: The Last JediAvengers: EndgameThe RingThe EdgeSilver Streak300LegendSteelMortal Kombat (1995)Mortal Kombat (2021)Army of the DeadThe Island of Dr. MoreauConspiracy TheoryInside MovesThe OmenLethal WeaponThe Three MusketeersA Hard Day's NightHelp!Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story
Not films filtered out: TV, games, ads
TV Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of SupermanSmallvilleSeinfeldJustice League / Justice League Unlimited (animated)Adventures of Superman (1950s)Batman (1966 series)The PenguinLanternsThe Rings of PowerBET Uncut
Podcasts & media The RingerverseHouse of RThe Midnight BoysThe RewatchablesThe WatchHigher LearningThe Bill Simmons PodcastThe Ryan Rosillo PodcastThe Ryan Russell PodcastPrestige TVDavid LettermanThe Dinah Shore Show
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