The Man of Steel may no longer be flying past milestones in theatres, but it continues to soar on the small screen. James Gunn’s Superman has racked up 13 million views in its first 10 days on HBO Max, becoming the streamer’s biggest 10-day audience for a movie debut since 2023’s Barbie.
While no figures were provided for the comedy musical, it still marks Warner Bros.‘ highest-grossing film ever. The hype surrounding the Last Son of Krypton also rubbed off on other related titles, including the Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story documentary feature, the 1978 Christopher Reeve-starring original, its Brandon Routh-led homage sequel, and Zack Snyder’s adaptation.
“During the week of 15 to 21 September, Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story saw a 670 percent increase in streaming compared to the week before. Superman: The Movie jumped by 155 percent, Superman Returns jumped by 120 percent, and Man of Steel jumped 40 percent during the same window,” reports Variety.
The launchpad to Chapter One of the rebooted DCU, Superman stars David Corenswet (Pearl) as Clark Kent aka the titular superhero, Rachel Brosnahan (The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel) as Lois Lane, Nicholas Hoult (Nosferatu) as Lex Luthor, Isabela Merced (Alien: Romulus) as Hawkgirl, Nathan Fillion (The Rookie) as Guy Gardner, Edi Gathegi (StartUp) as Mr. Terrific, and Anthony Carrigan (Barry) as Metamorpho. It was a box office hit, earning more than US$600 million on a US$225 million budget, and now stands as this year’s highest-grossing superhero film.
A sequel titled Man of Tomorrow is currently in development, with production set to begin in April 2026. According to Gunn, it will focus on “Lex Luthor and Superman having to work together to a certain degree against a much, much bigger threat.”
“It’s more complicated than that, but that’s a big part of it. It’s as much a Lex movie as it is a Superman movie. I loved working with Nicholas Hoult. I relate to the character of Lex, sadly. I really wanted to create something extraordinary with the two of them. I just love the script so much,” he added.
Man of Tomorrow releases on 9 July 2027, following the 2026 releases of the Milly Alcock-starring Supergirl and body horror film Clayface, led by Tom Rhys Harries as the titular villain, and before the arrival of Matt Reeves’ The Batman Part II on 1 October.
Si Jia is a casual geek at heart – or as casual as someone with Sephiroth’s theme on her Spotify playlist can get. A fan of movies, games, and Japanese culture, Si Jia’s greatest weakness is the Steam Summer Sale. Or any Steam sale, really.
