All 10 Superman Movies, Ranked

It's a bird! It's a plane! It's a Superman ranking!

Superman is officially in theaters! With the kickoff of the DCU and the return to the big screen for the Man of Steel, I figured it was time to rank all of his previous outings. Superman is one of my favorite superheroes, but I actually think his on-screen representation is a bit lackluster. There are movies of his that I like, but so many Superman films just absolutely stink. Honestly, I hadn't seen most of them until deciding to watch them for this ranking, so a lot of these are knee-jerk reactions. That said, here's my ranking of every Superman movie.

10. Supergirl

Basically nothing about this movie is good

Oh, man. This movie blows. I haven't read any Supergirl comics myself, but I do think she's a great character and works as this foil to Superman, where she grew up and had to watch Krypton be destroyed. None of that is present in this movie. Instead, it's this odd blend of terrible witchcraft and some random coming-of-age drama with truly some of the worst acting I've ever seen. Faye Dunaway is one of the best actresses of all time, but she is simply awful in this movie. The dialogue is unimaginably bad, the characters and plots are all goofy...even the wire work for when Supergirl is flying looks horrendous. Considering that the 80s were not kind to the Superman property, I am not surprised at how badly this movie turned out.

9. Superman III

An unwatchable Richard Pryor movie that, for some reason, stars Superman

Superman III sucks, and I don't get when people defend it. Like, this is not a Superman movie. The opening scene stars Richard Pryor's Gus Gorman trying to get a job, and that sets the tone for what is one of the strangest films I have ever seen. The comedy doesn't work, the movie is just so over-the-top, and the story makes no sense. I don't even really understand the villainous plan here. Christopher Reeve is great as always, I somewhat like the evil Superman plot line, and, because I love Smallville, it's fun to see Clark go back to his hometown. Besides that, I truly think this is one of the worst films I have ever seen.

8. Superman IV: The Quest for Peace

Terrible effects and mind-boggling plot holes destroy Reeve's last hurrah

Yes. I think The Quest for Peace is a better movie than Superman III. Don't get me wrong, it's still terrible, but I don't think it's quite as bad as everyone says it is. For me, I enjoy it as a much more Superman-esc story than Superman III. Lois has an actual role, Lex Luthor is the villain, etc. Nuclear Man is one of the worst villains I've ever seen. The special effects are inexcusable. This movie looks like it had a budget of $5. They keep reusing this ridiculous shot of Reeve flying and it just gets annoying at a certain point. This is just a really horrible movie, but for me, I found it much more watchable than Superman III.

7. Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice

Zack Snyder's Batman isn't much better than his Superman

Batman v. Superman is bad. Now, it slightly improves on some of the elements of Man of Steel. I like how it expands the DC Universe. The action is cool. But Ben Affleck's Batman is about as bad as Cavill's Superman. Like...just don't have Batman kill people with guns. That has never been a thing. So why make it a thing? Eisenberg's Lex Luthor is one of the worst comic book villains of all time. And don't even get me started on "Save Martha". The way that Batman and Superman resolve their cataclysmic conflict is because their moms have the same name and Superman decided to refer to his mother as "Martha". Brother. What are we doing? As with Man of Steel, I just don't get people who defend this movie.

6. Superman Returns

A feel-good love letter to the Donner era that sometimes hits, sometimes misses

Superman Returns is a decent movie, but decent is about the best compliment I can give it. I think this movie's biggest strength is also it's biggest fault. I like that it's a love letter to the Donner films and the Golden Age of the Man of Steel, but sometimes, it gets too wrapped up in being that. For some reason, movies cannot get Lex Luthor right, because Kevin Spacey's version is just this goofy, over-the-top, mustache-twirling psychopath. The plot is just kind of muddled and forgettable. Some of the action sequences are cool, some are not. Everything just kind of feels like a mixed bag. But it is infinitely better than any movie thus far on this list.

5. Man of Steel

An interesting re-imagining that really works when it works...and really doesn't when it doesn't

When I first watched Man of Steel, I absolutely despised it. It was seriously one of my least favorite movies. I had to hype myself up to rewatch it for this list...and it wasn't that bad. In fact, it was kind of good. Now, this is by no means a great movie, but it's definitely a unique, interesting take on Superman that I appreciate. I think Zod is a really good villain. I liked Henry Cavill a lot more than I remembered in this film. I feel like the themes about loneliness and the importance of Clark's role in the world really work. Hans Zimmer delivers an absolutely phenomenal score. But it still has some Zack Snyder-isms that I don't like. The action and huge CGI fight scenes are sometimes just bad. I don't like Amy Adams's Lois. And I really think the whole idea of a dark, brooding Superman, while interesting, misses the entire point of the character. That said, it's a good movie that offers a really different look at the titular Man of Steel than we've ever seen before.

4. Superman

An exciting but very messy start to the DCU

The things that worked about this movie gave me hope for the future of the DCU. David Corenswet's Superman was an absolute delight and really my favorite iteration of the character in the modern era. I loved the earnestness and the heartfelt moments...but I just found it to be too goofy and comic book-y. Now, that's what makes it unique, but I think the movie loses some of the stakes and emotion because it doesn't fully take itself too seriously. I appreciate leaning into the weirdness, but that works better in a comic book than it does in a movie. That said, this is still a solid movie with some great visuals and, most importantly, a great version of the Man of Steel.

3. Superman II

A more expansive, complex tale for Reeve that is bogged down by inconsistent tone

Superman II feels like the classic sequel formula: it expands the world and the characters with an improved budget and a bigger story. I find Zod to be a significantly better villain than Gene Hackman's Lex Luthor, because he's actually threatening and feels scary. I think that this is a very good direction to take the actual character of Superman as he has to give up his powers to be with Lois. The movie just feels like it's missing something. The Lois and Clark romance is not as developed as you'd like it to be. Clark loses his powers for, like, fifteen minutes. There's some pretty inconsistent comedy. The way it's structured is very strange. It's a frustrating movie, because it is so close to being great, but I feel like the production troubles that they faced (which is why we have The Richard Donner Cut as well) are felt heavily in this movie.

2. Superman II: The Richard Donner Cut

The original vision is an improvement over the theatrical cut

I feel like people don't appreciate The Donner Cut as much as they should. Superman II has potential to be a very good movie but really struggles with the slapstick comedy and some clearly cut down plot points. The Donner Cut is shorter yet somehow feels like a more complete, serious story. Nearly all of the ridiculous comedy is cut and the tone feels drastically more dramatic, which makes the story feel more impactful. Clark and Lois's relationship is much more emotional and compelling in this version. Zod is pretty much still awesome, Lex Luthor is still in too much of the film, but I think this is a more realized version of Superman II. Now, it does feel a bit incomplete because they used some test footage and they had to do some awkward editing to make the pieces all fit together, but overall, I think this is better than the theatrical cut of Superman II.

1. Superman: The Movie

The first real comic book movie may not hold up perfectly, but it's a classic for a reason

I first watched Superman: The Movie when I was fourteen years old. I didn't grow up with it. I don't have nostalgia for it. So that definitely colors my taste a little bit. I don't love this movie, but it's an undeniable classic that got so many of the important things right. The most important thing to get right was the Man of Steel himself, and they knocked it out of the park. Christopher Reeve's portrayal of Superman is, alongside RDJ's Iron Man and Hugh Jackman's Wolverine, the most iconic superhero performance of all time. He embodies everything that you want with the character, and that in and of itself makes the movie. It shines as this exploration of hope and humanity through this alien with the strength of a God who chooses to be a good man instead of abusing his power. This movie fundamentally understands the character, and that's the most important thing. Lex Luthor does not hold up. The special effects don't hold up. The movie is structured in an incredibly weird way to where we don't get to see Superman truly in action until an hour in. But, despite that, it still works, because it took the source material seriously and gave us the comic book genre.