There is something deeply fascinating about the eternal optimism surrounding Superman films, a kind of cinematic wish fulfillment that mirrors the very character himself. Much like Dorian Gray’s portrait, each new Superman movie seems to carry the accumulated weight of its predecessors’ sins, yet the industry continues to believe this time will be different. This time, the Man of Steel will finally capture the hearts and wallets of audiences worldwide. Yet as we approach James Gunn’s 2025 reboot, we must ask ourselves: are we witnessing genuine redemption, or merely another desperate plea made out of vanity and commercial necessity?
The parallels between Dorian Gray’s journey and Superman’s cinematic struggles are striking. Both began with innocence and wonder, both suffered from increasingly misguided attempts at transformation, and both seem trapped in a cycle where the surface remains pristine while the underlying soul grows more corrupted. In Superman’s case, that corruption isn’t moral—it’s commercial. The DC brand and comic book films at large, have seen diminished returns in the post-Avengers: Endgame world outside the occasional event-level performer at the box office.
The Fading Glory of Cape and Cowl Cinema
We are living through what can only be described as the twilight of the superhero movie era. 2023 may mark the end of an era for superhero films, with audiences finally growing weary of the endless parade of costumed crusaders. The numbers tell a sobering story. 2024 is likely the worst year for superhero movies among critics in nearly 30 years when Batman & Robin almost killed the genre.
Like the corrupted portrait hidden in Dorian’s attic, the true state of the superhero genre has been concealed behind marketing spectacle and studio spin. But the cracks are showing. The dreaded specter of superhero fatigue is probably the biggest reason superhero movies suffered in 2023. Recent films like “The Marvels,” “Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom,” “Joker: Folie à Deux,” and “Kraven the Hunter” have all disappointed at the box office, creating a pattern of diminishing returns that should concern anyone hoping for Superman’s success.
The industry has finally acknowledged what many have long suspected: The floor for anything less than established and extremely compelling has fallen out. That’s the new normal. In this new landscape, mediocrity is not merely disappointing—it’s financially ruinous. Superman 2025 doesn’t just need to be good; it needs to be extraordinary enough to reverse years of audience apathy.
Superman’s Checkered Box Office History
Perhaps the most damning evidence against Superman 2025’s prospects lies in the character’s own cinematic legacy. Despite being perhaps the most recognizable superhero in the world, Superman has never truly conquered the box office in the way his masked contemporaries have. This is not a new problem—it’s a decades-old curse that has followed the character through multiple reboots and reimaginings.
When adjusting for inflation, the most successful Superman movie in box office history is the 1978 original. Think about that for a moment: nearly fifty years later, no filmmaker has managed to capture the commercial magic of Richard Donner’s original vision. Superman: The Movie is seen as one of the greatest family/adventure movies out there, and a blueprint for the character going forward on-screen and beyond.
The subsequent attempts tell a story of diminishing returns and missed opportunities. Superman Returns, despite costing over $200 million to produce, Warner Bros. was disappointed with the worldwide box office return and cancelled a sequel for release in 2009. The studio’s own executives admitted the film “should have done $500 million worldwide. We should have had perhaps a little more action to satisfy the young male crowd.”
The Man of Steel Paradox
The most revealing case study is 2013’s “Man of Steel,” a film that should have been a slam dunk. Here was a Superman movie riding the enormous wave of excitement generated by Christopher Nolan’s completion of “The Dark Knight” trilogy. It featured Zack Snyder, fresh off his success with “Watchmen” and “300,” directing a cast of A-list talent including Henry Cavill, Amy Adams, Russell Crowe, and Kevin Costner. The film had everything going for it: a proven creative team, studio backing, and audiences hungry for the next great superhero franchise.
Yet even with all these advantages, Man of Steel’s inflation-adjusted box office total stands at around $903 million—impressive, but not the billion-dollar blockbuster Warner Bros. desperately needed. Warner Bros. chose to prioritize Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016) as the second DCEU film after Man of Steel failed to meet the company’s financial expectations.
If a Superman movie couldn’t succeed under those ideal circumstances, what hope does James Gunn’s version have in today’s far more challenging marketplace? The brutal reality is that Superman, for all his mythic power, has consistently struggled to translate that strength into box office dominance.
The Weight of Expectation
There’s something almost tragically heroic about the pressure being placed on Superman 2025. Reports suggesting the future of DC Studios (or even Warner Bros. Pictures itself) is riding on how much money Superman makes create an impossible burden for any single film to bear. While James Gunn has pushed back against these narratives, dismissing the idea that Superman needs to be a record-breaking success in order for the DC Universe to continue, the commercial reality remains stark.
The film’s early tracking numbers appear promising on the surface—projections for the movie’s domestic opening weekend range anywhere from $140-185 million—but these figures are built largely on social media engagement rather than concrete indicators of commercial success. The film has generated record trailer views for DC and Warner Bros., while boasting some of the best preliminary audience interest metrics in multiple industry polls, yet these digital metrics have proven increasingly unreliable predictors of actual box office performance in recent years.
More troubling are the reports of sluggish early ticket sales. Looking strictly at Wednesday’s general sales across chain samples, initial results are foggy, to put it mildly, with some exhibitor samples showing pre-sale baselines that essentially met the low end of expectations. The reality is that strong social media buzz doesn’t always translate to moviegoers actually purchasing tickets, particularly in an era where audiences have become increasingly selective about their theatrical experiences.
Perhaps most damaging to Superman’s prospects is its scheduling between two major competitors targeting the exact same demographic. Jurassic World Rebirth opens just days before Superman, while The Fantastic Four: First Steps arrives soon after. While it will cut into the film’s IMAX and premium screen footprint, both can co-exist if word of mouth is strong enough going into the back end of a summer that lacks many more tentpoles with direct audience crossover. This creates a perfect storm where Superman must not only overcome audience apathy toward superhero films, but also fight for screen time and audience attention against two other major franchise entries.
The Corruption of Commerce
Like Dorian Gray’s increasingly desperate attempts at redemption, the film industry’s approach to Superman reflects a fundamental misunderstanding of what audiences actually want. The character has been reimagined, rebooted, and reconceptualized so many times that he’s lost much of what made him compelling in the first place. Each iteration carries the baggage of previous failures, creating a portrait that grows more hideous with each failed attempt at commercial success.
The most troubling aspect of Superman 2025’s situation is how it mirrors the late-stage desperation of Dorian’s own journey. Just as Gray finally sought genuine redemption only when facing his ultimate fate, the film industry seems to be approaching Superman with authentic creative passion only when the entire superhero genre teeters on the brink of collapse. In July, DC Studios and Marvel Studios are each taking striking creative risks in the hopes of reintroducing — and revitalizing — their respective cinematic universes.
Will this genuine artistic intention be enough to break the curse? Like the prayer of repentance that Dorian Gray finally offered in his dying moments, perhaps Superman 2025 represents a sincere attempt at redemption rather than mere vanity. But as we learned from Wilde’s tale, sometimes true redemption comes at the ultimate cost—and in Hollywood, that cost is often measured in hundreds of millions of dollars.
The stage is set for either Superman’s greatest triumph or his most spectacular failure. In a marketplace increasingly hostile to superhero films, with a character whose box office history is marked more by disappointment than dominance, James Gunn’s Superman faces the kind of impossible odds that only a true hero could overcome. Whether he can soar above the weight of history and expectation remains to be seen. But if he falls, it may be a very long time before anyone dares to believe a man can fly again.