Ranking the Superman movies from worst to best

With a new Superman movie swooping into cinemas, here’s our ranking of every Man of Steel film from worst to best.

Superman was the subject of the first big-budget superhero movie, and director Richard Donner’s collaboration with star Christopher Reeve changed Hollywood forever.

The film was a box office smash that proved comic book stories could work for adults as well as children, and spawned three sequels of varying quality. The character then belatedly returned in Bryan Singer’s soft reboot, before the Snyderverse unfolded and imploded in spectacular fashion.

Which brings us to James Gunn’s new take on the character, a fresh iteration that kicks off the new DC Universe. Head here to find out what it has fared on Rotten Tomatoes, or scroll down to find out where the movie sits in our Superman ranking….

8. Superman IV: The Quest for Peace

Release Date: July 24, 1987
Director: Sidney J. Furie
Cast: Christopher Reeve, Gene Hackman, Jackie Cooper
Runtime: 1 hour 30 minutes

What it’s about: With plans to end nuclear war for good, Superman collects Earth’s missiles and hurls them into the sun, but the resulting energy discharge creates a new nemesis in the shape of Nuclear Man.

What we think: Christopher Reeve deserved better than this. Just before principal photography commenced on Superman IV, production company The Cannon Group ran out of money, and the budget was slashed by more than 50%. The result is a film that looks cheap, while Quest for Peace also features a truly terrible villain in Nuclear Man, who is laughable when he should be intimidating.

7. Superman III

Release Date: June 17, 1983
Director: Richard Lester
Cast: Christopher Reeve, Richard Pryor, Jackie Cooper
Runtime: 2 hours 5 minutes

What it’s about: The third film in the original series sees the Man of Steel doing battle with three foes – a corrupt tech tycoon, a deadly supercomputer, and himself when Clark Kent faces off with evil Superman.

What we think: Superman suffers something of an identity crisis in Part III – as does the film itself – as much of the movie is a Richard Pryor comedy vehicle, which somewhat undermines the title character. The one highlight is watching the Man of Steel beat the proverbial out of himself in a genuinely jaw-dropping sequence, while Vera Webster turning into a robot at the end of the movie is still the stuff of nightmares.

6. Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice

Release Date: March 25, 2016
Director: Zack Snyder
Cast: Ben Affleck, Henry Cavill, Amy Adams
Runtime: 2 hours 31 minutes

What it’s about: As public fear grows over Superman’s unchecked power, Batman decides to do something about it, before supervillain Doomsday appears on the scene and threatens the entire planet.

What we think: If your movie is called Batman v Superman, you need a good reason for those heroes to fight, and Dawn of Justice simply didn’t provide us with one. Which could be forgiven, were it not for the fact that the reason they stop – “Martha” – is even more stupid. Making this one both a missed opportunity, and an overlong and undercooked ordeal.

5. Superman Returns

Release Date: June 28, 2006
Director: Bryan Singer
Cast: Brandon Routh, Kevin Spacey, Kate Bosworth
Runtime: 2 hours 34 minutes

What it’s about: After a mysterious five-year absence, Superman returns to a changed world where Lois Lane has moved on from him, and Lex Luthor is stealing land using Kryptonian technology.

What we think: Superman Returns was criticised for leaning too far into what had worked before, with director Bryan Singer utilising John Williams’ score throughout, and star Brandon Routh looking and acting a little too much like Christopher Reeve. But that still makes him a great Man of Steel, and taken on its own terms, Returns is a solid Superman movie that deserved better than ‘one-and-done.’

4. Man of Steel

Release Date: June 14, 2013
Director: Zack Snyder
Cast: Henry Cavill, Amy Adams, Michael Shannon
Runtime: 2 hours 23 minutes

What it’s about: While his home planet of Krypton is exploding, Kal-El is sent to earth, where he struggles to fit in. But the alienated alien eventually finds his place in the world, and steps up to do battle with a fellow Kryptoian when General Zod arrives with plans for world domination.

What we think: Where Returns was similar to its predecessors, Man of Steel was a radical departure, with director Zack Snyder delivering a downbeat take on what it’s like to be a weapon of mass destruction with a pulse. The action is spectacular and at times overwhelming, but Man of Steel is best in the small moments where Kal-El is discovering his powers and his past.

3. Superman

Release Date: July 11, 2025
Director: James Gunn
Cast: David Corenswet, Rachel Brsonahan, Nicholas Hoult
Runtime: 2 hours 9 minutes

What it’s about: Superman is living on Earth alongside both humans and metahumans, but efforts to protect the planet bring him into conflict with evil billionaire Lex Luthor, who wants the Man of Steel gone for good.

Superman review: “This is a Superman movie unlike any you’ve seen before; for (mostly) better and (barely) worse. It’s epic, emotional, and proof that the Man of Steel isn’t boring; by the end, you’ll believe that James Gunn’s DCU can fly.”

2. Superman II

Release Date: June 19, 1981
Director: Richard Lester
Cast: Christopher Reeve, Gene Hackman, Margot Kidder
Runtime: 2 hours 7 minutes

What it’s about: Three Kryptonian criminals escape from the Phantom Zone and endeavour to conquer earth, at much the same time as Superman sacrifices his powers to be with Lois Lane.

What we think: The superior Richard Donner cut of Superman II would be Number 1 on this list. The slightly sillier Richard Lester version loses a spot, but nevertheless remains one of the great comic book movies. That’s because General Zod and his evil cohorts Ursa and Non are a genuine threat to the Man of Steel, meaning there are genuine stakes in their spectacular battles.

1. Superman

Release Date: December 15, 1978
Director: Richard Donner
Cast: Christopher Reeve, Marlon Brando, Gene Hackman
Runtime: 2 hours 23 minutes

What it’s about: The last son of Krypton is raised on earth, and when he discovers his powers, becomes Superman to help protect humanity, and save the people of California from Lex Luthor’s dastardly plan.

What we think: Superman is a wonder because being the first of its kind, the various screenwriters – as well as director Richard Donner – weren’t working from any kind of template. Instead, by depicting Superman’s origin, spending time with him as he works a job and finds loves, and then pitting him against a larger-than-life villain, they created the template.

Cutting edge special effects meant that for the first time, audiences really believed a man could fly. But the real special effect was Christopher Reeve, who delivered one of the great performances as Clark Kent/Superman, not just in superhero movies, but in film full-stop. When paired with John Williams’ iconic score, the film truly takes flight, and remains the best of the Man of Steel movies.