The Best Superman Movies and Shows in History (Ranked!)

How does the new ‘Superman’ film stack up against the classics?

Glenn Kenny,

AARP

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Published July 14, 2025

David Corenswet as Superman in DC Studios’ and Warner Bros. ‘Superman’ (2025)

Jessica Miglio/Courtesy Warner Bros. Pictures

America’s first comic-book superhero, aptly named Superman, was the 1938 creation of two all-American immigrants' kids from Glenville, Ohio, Joe Shuster and Jerry Siegel. James Gunn, 58, director of the new film Superman, told the Times, "I mean, Superman is the story of America." In comics, on radio, TV and cartoons, and in movies with eye-popping action, the character has been more powerful than a locomotive for 87 years. Here are the 10 iterations of Superman we love the most.

10th Place: Man of Steel (2013)

This is the one to watch if you like your Superman on the dark and edgy side. The 2013 picture, the first of director Zack Snyder’s DC Comics adaptations, is a spectacle first and foremost. The film’s vision remains controversial — there’s actually a Reddit board titled “Why does everyone despise Zack Snyder’s Superman?” But British-born Henry Cavill is an impressively built and intriguingly stoic Superman. And Michael Shannon, 50, is the most despicable iteration of villain General Zod ever. Zod’s demise, which troubles Superman's conscience, remains controversial to this day. (Admittedly, he had it coming.) The movie features the greatest Pa Kent ever (Kevin Costner, 70). Happily, Snyder carried Cavill into other DC films, including Batman Vs. Superman and Justice League.

Watch it: Man of Steel

Ninth Place: The Adventures of Superman (1952-58)

B-movie producer Robert Lippert cast journeyman actor George Reeves (who played Scarlett O'Hara's unsuccessful suitor in 1939's Gone With the Wind) as Superman for a low-budget 1951 picture called Superman and the Mole Men. Its moderately cheesy effects (a modified vacuum cleaner as a “laser weapon”) and earnest acting set the tone for what would become this popular 1952 series, first in black and white and then in color. The stirring narration stating that the Kryptonian immigrant stands for “truth, justice, and the American way!” originated in a 1940s radio show. But the TV show made it stick in our heads forever. For some reason, there’s no mention of that slogan in the ‘70s and ‘80s pictures.

Watch it: Adventures of Superman

Eighth Place: The Fleischer Superman cartoons (1941)

Animation pioneer Max Fleischer gave Disney a run for his money in the 1930s and ‘40s, but the mouse eventually put him out of business, breaking his heart. When the going was good, however, he produced some beautifully designed and animated Superman cartoons. There are 17, and the first nine are great, the best being 1941’s "The Mechanical Monsters,” which originated Supe's phone-booth changing room. After that, Fleischer’s studio was fired, budgets were slashed, Lee Royce (Bluto in Popeye) replaced Budd Collyer as Superman's voice and quality took a dive.

Watch it: Max Fleischer's Superman

Seventh Place: Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman (1993-97)

The ABC series had two spectacularly charismatic leads, Dean Cain, now 58, as Superman and Teri Hatcher, 60, as Lois Lane. Cain was arguably the handsomest Clark Kent ever, and Hatcher somehow split the difference between Lois as bombshell and girl next door. Their chemistry was terrific, their banter pretty sharp. But the show had trouble maintaining the “will they or won’t they” romantic tension. Its final-season wedding episode was actually titled “Swear to God, This Time We’re Not Kidding.”

Watch it: Lois & Clark

Sixth Place: Superman III (1983)

This is the closest the movie franchise (begun with 1978’s Superman) came to out-and-out comedy — the slapstick chain of mishaps righted by Clark Kent in tights set the tone. Comic maestro Richard Pryor plays a computer hacker who explains the Man of Steel to villainous rich guy Robert Vaughn (The Man From U.N.C.L.E.). Pryor was a genius, director Richard Lester, 93, still is a genius, but the movie feels a little off — its oddball components never quite mesh. But many individual bits are a lot of fun.

Watch it: Superman III

Fifth Place: Superman Returns (2006)

Brandon Routh is a breath of fresh air as the Man of Steel, albeit a slightly bland one. He’s styled to look very much like Christopher Reeves’ Clark Kent — the studio wanted that ‘70s magic back. Director Brian Singer, while not-quite Zack Snyder-level dark, brought some welcome edge to the project, mostly in the person of his favored actor Kevin Spacey, now 65, here playing, yes, Lex Luthor. In other innovations, this movie makes Superman a dad. Talk about bringing the character into the 21st century!

Watch it: Superman Returns

Fourth Place: Smallville (2001-11)

Superman as prime-time soap opera — sounds a little goofy until you consider that the human side of Superman is part of what makes the character so appealing. The CW show gave us the absence of Superman, depicting the life of Clark Kent as a Kansas teen. As Clark, Tom Welling never donned the cape, and didn’t even fly. Instead, he performed heroics on the sly and had a winsome first love with Kristin Kreuk’s Lana Lang, and a doomed friendship with rich-kid nepo baby Lex Luthor (Michael Rosenbaum).

Watch it: Smallville

Third Place: Superman (2025)

There were worries that the frequently gonzo writer-director James Gunn (Guardians of the Galaxy, Suicide Squad) would get a little nuts with Superman. But his new vision of the character is only as odd as the stuff he’s dug up from decades of Superman comic books allows him to be. (Yes, the highly cinematic “pocket universes” originated in print.) David Corenswet is a top-tier Supes, Rachel Brosnahan is a great Lois, and Nicholas Hoult is really despicable as Luthor. Everything works here. Including the dog Krypto. Really.

Watch it: In theaters now

Second Place: Superman II (1980)

Taking over the series from the more straightforward Richard Donner, inventive director Richard Lester (A Hard Day's Night, Robin and Marian) battled the producers to turn out this distinctly playful and antic iteration of Superman. It’s also the most romantic, showing Christopher Reeve’s Clark Kent and Margot Kidder’s Lois Lane impersonating newlyweds for a Daily Planet assignment and falling in real love in the process.

Watch it: Superman II

First Place: Superman (1978)

Viewers were startled that a comic-book movie could be this good. Its tried-and-true heroics are unusually stirring, and the characterizations are also surprisingly sweet. This is a genuinely magical movie. And so much of the credit goes to the once-underrated Christopher Reeve, who plays both Clark and Superman with equal belief in, and admiration for, the characters. The secret sauce here is the inspired score by John Williams, now 93, including the lovely song “Can You Read My Mind.”

Watch it: Superman

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Glenn Kenny, a regular AARP film critic, is a contributing critic for The New York Times and RogerEbert.com, former chief critic for Premiere and MSN Movies, and the author of Made Men: The Story of Goodfellas.