🪦 Superman is DEAD at the box office?!
James Gunn’s DC reboot just got its first numbers… and they’re bad. Like, genre-ending bad. 😬
📉 Lower than The Flash
💸 Blockbuster budget, indie returns
🎬 Is this the beginning of the end for superhero movies?
👇 The numbers don’t lie — but the fans might:
In what was supposed to be the triumphant rebirth of the DC Universe, Superman: Legacy has instead debuted with a thud — and the implications for the comic book movie industry may be more than just financial.
After months of high expectations, fan speculation, and aggressive marketing, the box office returns are in — and they’re grim.
$48 million domestic opening. $97 million worldwide.
For a film with a reported production budget north of $210 million, those numbers are nothing short of disastrous.
And the question now isn’t just: What went wrong?
It’s: Did James Gunn just preside over the death of the superhero genre?
🚨 The Big Picture: A Genre Already On Life Support
It’s no secret that comic book movies have been struggling post-Avengers: Endgame.
Marvel’s Eternals, The Marvels, and Ant-Man: Quantumania all underperformed.
DC’s The Flash and Shazam: Fury of the Gods bombed despite big IP and bigger budgets.
Sony’s Madame Web became a meme before it hit theaters.
Audiences are no longer showing up just because there’s a cape on the poster.
And now, even Superman — the most iconic hero of all time — couldn’t bring them back.
💥 What Happened to Superman: Legacy?
This film was meant to be the cornerstone of James Gunn’s new DCU — the fresh start after the collapse of the Snyderverse. With David Corenswet in the title role and Rachel Brosnahan as Lois Lane, the film promised a hopeful, classic take on the Man of Steel.
But the warning signs were there:
Confusing messaging: Was this a reboot? A soft reboot? A multiverse continuation? Fans were never sure.
Mixed trailer reactions: Many said it felt “TV-level” or “too safe.”
Fatigue: The superhero genre’s biggest villain right now may be… oversaturation.
The final result? A movie too big to fail — that failed anyway.
📊 The Numbers: Just How Bad Is It?
Let’s break it down:
Film
Opening Weekend (Domestic)
Budget
Final Gross (Global)
Superman: Legacy (2025)
$48M
$210M+
TBD
The Flash (2023)
$55M
$200M+
$270M
Man of Steel (2013)
$116M
$225M
$668M
Guardians Vol. 3 (2023)
$118M
$250M
$845M
For context: Shazam 2 did $30M and was considered a flop. Superman: Legacy, with all the expectations of rebooting a cinematic universe, only slightly cleared that.
🗣️ Early Reactions: Polarizing, At Best
Critics were split.
Some praised the earnest tone and performances.
Others said it lacked edge, energy, or urgency.
The fanbase, fractured from years of Snyder-vs-Gunn tribalism, was quick to sharpen their knives:
“This is not my Superman.”
“It’s too cheesy, too safe.”
“Why reboot if this is all you’ve got?”
The Rotten Tomatoes audience score sits at 61%, with CinemaScore polling at B- — troubling for a four-quadrant blockbuster.
🔍 What This Means for James Gunn and DC Studios
James Gunn has been heralded as a creative genius, and deservedly so — Guardians of the Galaxy revitalized C-list Marvel characters. But Superman: Legacy was different.
This wasn’t a quirky ensemble. This was Superman — the flagship.
With this film’s underperformance, Gunn’s entire DCU vision is now in jeopardy. Future projects like The Authority, Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow, and Swamp Thing may face budget cuts, delays, or outright cancellation.
One Warner Bros. insider reportedly told Variety:
“If Superman can’t sell tickets, we’re in serious trouble.”
🧠 Is This the End of Superhero Cinema?
Not quite. But it may be the end of superhero cinema as we know it.
Here’s what’s changed:
Audiences want variety.
Cape fatigue is real. People crave originality, or at least reinvention — not another “chosen one saves the world” plot.
TikTok buzz > IP.
The younger audience that once idolized the MCU now cares more about meme value, tone, and virality than legacy.
Streaming rewired attention.
Long-form storytelling on Disney+ and HBO Max has conditioned audiences to expect “wait and binge,” not “buy and watch.”
Hollywood’s risk aversion backfired.
Playing it safe to please everyone results in pleasing… no one.
✍️ So What Now?
Marvel has Deadpool 3 and Fantastic Four on the horizon — possible genre lifelines.
DC’s next entry (The Batman Part II) exists in a separate universe — one fans still trust.
Indie superhero deconstructions (The Boys, Invincible, Joker 2) are thriving.
In other words: the genre isn’t dead… but the formula is.
🎬 Final Thoughts
James Gunn bet big on Superman — and lost the opening round. The tragedy isn’t just box office failure — it’s the sense that even the most iconic superhero of all time can no longer save a genre built on him.
Is this just a stumble, or the start of something far more final?
One thing’s for sure:
The age of invincible superhero blockbusters is over.
From here on out… it’s survival of the boldest.
