The Superman Cinematic Universe tells the story
of an alien orphan sent from his dying planet to Earth, where he grows up to
become his adoptive home's first and greatest superhero.
This guide is based on a video from my YouTube channel Cinema
Awards Archive, where I cover every film in this era of Superman on the big
screen, from Christopher Reeve’s iconic debut in 1978 through Superman
Returns.
The Superman Cinematic Universe (6 films)
An alien orphan is sent from his dying planet to Earth, where he grows up to
become his adoptive home's first and greatest superhero.
- Superman (1978)
- Superman
II (1980)
- Superman
III (1983)
- Supergirl (1984)
- Superman
IV: The Quest for Peace (1987)
- Superman
Returns (2006)
1. Superman (1978)
It is a 1978 superhero film based on DC Comics featuring the eponymous character and was directed by Richard Donner.It is the first of four installments in the Superman film
series starring Christopher Reeve as Superman.
It depicts the origin of Superman, including his infancy as
Kal-El of Krypton, son of Jor-El (Brando), and his youthful years in the rural
town of Smallville.
Ilya Salkind had the idea of a Superman film in 1973 and,
after a difficult process with DC Comics, the Salkinds bought the rights to the
character the following year.
Several directors, most notably Guy Hamilton, and screenwriters were associated
with the project before Donner was hired to direct.
Tom Mankiewicz was drafted in to rewrite the script and was
given a creative consultant credit.
It was decided to film both Superman and
its sequel Superman II (1980) simultaneously, with principal
photography beginning in March 1977 and ending in October 1978.
Tensions arose between Donner and the producers, and a
decision was made to stop filming the sequel, of which 75 percent had already
been completed, and finish the first film.
The most expensive film made up to that point, with a budget
of $55 million, Superman premiered at the Kennedy Center in
Washington, DC on December 10th 1978 and was released in the United Kingdom on
December 14th and in the United States on December 15th.
The film was a critical and financial success; its worldwide
box office earnings of $300 million made it the second-highest-grossing release
of the year.
It received praise for Reeve's performance and John
Williams's musical score and was nominated for Best Film Editing, Best Music
(Original Score) and Best Sound at the 51st Academy Awards and received a
Special Achievement Academy Award for Visual Effects and received Best Science
Fiction Film award at the Saturn Awards.
In 2017, Superman was selected for
preservation by the Library of Congress's National Film Registry.
2. Superman II (1980)
It is a 1980 superhero film directed by Richard Lester and written by Mario Puzo based on the DC Comics character Superman.It is the second installment in the Superman film series and
a sequel to Superman (1978). A direct continuation of the
first Superman, Christopher Reeve reprises his role as Superman.
The film's plot features the arrival of General Zod and his
comrades on Earth, following their release from the Phantom Zone (a prison that
had been made by the people of Krypton).
Zod seeks revenge for imprisonment by pursuing the planet's
last son, Kal-El, alias “Superman”. As a result, Kal-El, who had unknowingly
freed them, must now face threats from his long-dead home planet.
Zod also allies with Lex Luthor, who still aspires to world
domination. The hero also faces an internal conflict, torn between his duties
as Earth's hero and his desire to live amongst them solely as Clark Kent, and
especially with his love interest Lois Lane.
After the release of Superman in December
1978, Donner was fired as director and replaced by Lester. Several members of
the cast and crew declined to return to complete the sequel in the wake of
Donner's firing.
In order to be officially credited as the director, Lester
re-shot most of the film.
Principal photography resumed in September 1979 and ended in March 1980.
The film was released in Australia and most of Europe on December 4th 1980 and
in other countries in 1981.
It received positive reviews from film critics, who praised
the performances of Hackman, Kidder, Stamp and Reeve as well as the visual
effects and the humor.
It grossed $216 million worldwide against a production budget of $54 million,
which meant it was a box office success, albeit less so than its predecessor.
A sequel, Superman III was released in June
1983 for which Lester returned as director.
A director's cut of the film, restoring the original vision for the film under
Donner's supervision titled Superman II: The Richard Donner Cut was
released on November 28th 2006 in various home media formats.
READ: Batman: The Legendary Backbone of the DC Animated Universe
3. Superman III (1983)
It is a 1983 superhero film directed by Richard Lester from a screenplay by David Newman and Leslie Newman based on the DC Comics character Superman.It is the third installment in the Superman film series and
the sequel to Superman II (1980).
In the film, Superman battles a corrupt businessman who has
constructed a powerful supercomputer to kill him.
Superman III was released in the United States
on June 17th 1983.
The film proved less successful than its predecessors, both critically and
financially, grossing $80.2 million worldwide.
A sequel, Superman IV: The Quest for Peace was
released in 1987.
4. Supergirl (1984)
It is a 1984 British superhero film directed by Jeannot Szwarc from a screenplay by David Odell based on the DC Comics character of the same name.It is the fourth film in the Superman film series, set after
the events of Superman III (1983) and serving as a spin-off of
the series. The film stars Helen Slater as Supergirl.
The film was released in the United Kingdom on 19 July 1984
and in the United States on 21 November 1984 but failed to impress either
critics or audiences while also underperforming at the box office.
Dunaway and O'Toole earned Golden Raspberry Award
nominations for Worst Actress and Worst Actor respectively.
Slater was nominated for a Saturn Award for Best Actress. The
film's failure ultimately led producers Alexander and Ilya Salkind to sell the
Superman film rights to The Cannon Group, Inc. in 1986.
Its first DVD release was by the independent home video company Anchor Bay
Entertainment in 2000, under license from then-rights holder StudioCanal.
Warner Bros Pictures acquired the rights to the film and
reissued it on DVD late in 2006 to coincide with the release of Superman
Returns.
Although it is canon with the Christopher Reeve Superman
films, it is not included in any of the Superman DVD or Blu-ray box sets by
Warner Bros.
5. Superman IV: The Quest for Peace (1987)
It is the fifth film (including Supergirl) in
the Superman film series and a sequel to Superman III (1983).
It is the first film in the series not to have the
involvement of the Salkinds as producers.
The film also marks the final appearance of Reeve as
Superman, who agreed to return in exchange for a large salary and some creative
control where he contributed to a script dealing with nuclear disarmament.
Shortly before the film's production, the film's producer
The Cannon Group suffered a major financial crisis that forced major budget
cuts and 45 minutes of footage were deleted after negative test screenings.
The film received overwhelmingly negative reviews from
critics and fans, citing poor special effects and plot holes.
Plans for Superman V were cancelled and no
Superman films were released until Superman Returns in 2006.
The movie grossed $15.6 million in the United States and
Canada and $14.6 million internationally for a worldwide box office gross of
$30.2 to 36.7 million.
6. Superman Returns (2006)
It is a 2006 American superhero film directed by Bryan Singer and written by Michael Dougherty and Dan Harris, based on the DC Comics character Superman.It serves as a homage sequel to Superman (1978)
and Superman II (1980), ignoring the events of Superman
III (1983), Supergirl (1984) and Superman IV:
The Quest for Peace (1987).
The film stars Brandon Routh as Superman.
In the film, Superman returns to Earth after five years and
discovers that his love interest Lois Lane has moved on from him and that his
archenemy Lex Luthor is planning to kill him and reshape North America.
After a series of unsuccessful projects to resurrect Superman following the
critical and financial failure of The Quest for Peace, Warner Bros
Pictures hired Singer to direct Superman Returns in July 2004.
The film received generally positive reviews from critics,
who praised its visual effects, storyline and Singer's direction but criticized
its screenplay and runtime.
While the film was one of the biggest films of the year,
earning $391.1 million on a budget of $204–223 million and becoming the
ninth-highest-grossing film of 2006, Warner Bros was disappointed with the
worldwide box office return and cancelled a sequel for release in 2009.
The Superman film series was rebooted in 2013 with Man
of Steel directed by Zack Snyder and starring Henry Cavill as
Superman.
Routh later reprised his role as Superman in the 2019
Arrowverse crossover "Crisis on Infinite Earths".
Looking for more cinematic universes, long-running sagas, and connected movie timelines? Dive into these in‑depth franchise guides:
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