He may be arguably the most iconic superhero, and it’s because of him and Richard Donner that we have superhero movies today, but the Man of Steel has had a mixed bag of a run on the big screen. Half of the four Christopher Reeve Superman movies are very solid, but Superman Returns and the DCEU installments Man of Steel, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, and Zack Snyder’s Justice League have just as many detractors as they do fans. There’s an argument to be made that James Gunn’s Superman is somewhat divisive as well, but not nearly to the extent of those DCEU (and one Bryan Singer reboot) movies.
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One thing most of them have universally delivered on, though, is compelling action sequences. Some of them aren’t as compelling now as they were decades ago, but the fact remains that Gunn wasn’t the first one to give Superman some enthralling combat and/or rescue scenes.
10) Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman vs. Doomsday in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice
While the climactic fight of Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice has its impact diminished by the silly, chunky CGI Doomsday, it’s still a pretty great fight. It also gets off to a great start, when Wonder Woman lands, intercepting Doomsday’s eye beam, and we hear the pulsing “Is She with You?” by Hans Zimmer and Junkie XL.
Batman v Superman may have been the first warning sign for the DCEU’s limited lifespan, but few can argue that Zack Snyder knows how to stage a money shot. And, in the Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman vs. Doomsday fight, we get a ton of them. The whole sequence also gets some point for having the film’s one truly successful emotional beat: Superman’s death. Though, of course, that didn’t last forever.
9) Superman vs. the Kaiju in Superman (2025)
If you need to show off how strong your new Superman is, why not have him fight a kaiju? This was Gunn’s method, and it works.
We get to see how the people of Metropolis tend to need direction to avoid imminent death. We get to see how Superman doesn’t even see saving a squirrel as beneath him. It just captures his status as an altruist and a savior. Not to mention, it’s a well-designed kaiju. Intimidating but silly looking, which is a balance the tone of the sequence conveys as well. There are stakes, but it doesn’t feel dour like the action sequences of Man of Steel.
8) Superman vs. Himself in Superman III
Most of the big action scenes in the four Christopher Reeve Superman movies haven’t aged all that well. They have a sort of rustic charm, sure, but they’re not particularly exciting (e.g. how everyone seems to be just floating around in Superman II). Well, the action scenes in Superman IV: The Quest for Peace never looked good.
Superman III, however, does have a pretty good one, and it helps make up for how boring the rest of the movie. Not the silly ’80s computer graphics Superman vs. supercomputer scene, but rather the junkyard fight between Superman and his rage-filled other side. It works because of Reeve’s acting and the fact it furthers the narrative, not to mention how it feels as though it has real stakes.
7) Superman vs. Faora & Nam-Ek in Man of Steel
Some people love Man of Steel while others hate it. There don’t seem to be many who fall between those two categories. But one thing everyone can agree on is that there sure is a lot of product placement in Superman’s fight with Zod’s sidekicks, Faora and Nam-Ek, in Smallville, Kansas. It may be a small town, but they seem to have every chain store under the sun.
A few things stand out about this sequence. Primarily, the way Faora just zips through the air, smacking down soldier after soldier. Furthermore, perhaps even more than in the fight that closes out the film, we feel the weight of every punch. For instance, when Faora and Superman clash inside a…sigh…IHOP.
6) Superman and the World Engine in Man of Steel
The entire World Engine sequence in Man of Steel is one of the more, pardon the expression, epic scenes in superhero movie history. You fully believe this thing could turn an entire massive city into rubble.
From the phenomenal visuals to the pulsing score and the sound design of the World Engine, this is a scene that pulls you in. You feel enveloped by the danger of Zod’s Death Star-level monstrous mechanical concoction.
5) Bullet to the Eye in Superman Returns
For the most part, Bryan Singer’s Superman Returns is a slog, even if it deserves points for trying to continue the timeline seen in the Christopher Reeve movies. Also, as far as lookalike casting goes, they couldn’t have done much better than Brandon Routh.
The film also does a great job of making Superman seem powerful. There may not be much action, but when there is the Man of Steel is a formidable presence. Take for instance the scene where he goes up against a group of criminals, one of whom is shooting down on police cars with a crane-mounted chain gun. Superman arrives, the man runs out of ammo on the chain gun and, never one to give up apparently, pulls out his pistol and shoots Superman in the eye. The bullet flattens and falls to the ground. It’s a perfect trailer moment.
4) Mr. Terrific at Lex’s Base in Superman (2025)
Hey, we just said these were action sequences in Superman movies, not necessarily action movies in Superman movies where Superman himself is in on the action. It’s because of this that Mr. Terrific (undoubtedly the standout character of Gunn’s film) taking on all of Lex Luthor’s goons on his beach-based portal camp makes the cut.
From the camera circling around Rachel Brosnahan’s Lois Lane, protected within Mr. Terrific’s protective barrier, to “5 Years Time” by Noah and the Whale playing out over the fight, it all works. An incredibly upbeat and relaxed song merged with one superhero taking out 50 people without breaking a sweat? That’s extremely Gunn, and it all serves to illustrate how Mr. Terrific can do amazing things with the simples of all objects: little metal orbs.
3) Batman vs. Superman in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice
Much of Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice is unexciting. It bit off more than it could chew in terms of storytelling. But up until the controversial Martha moment no one could argue that it fell short when delivering on the fight promised by the title.
For one, it was a great idea to use the Batsuit seen in Frank Miller’s The Dark Knight Returns. It’s as great a look on the screen as it is on the page. Two, it does a great job of making Batman seem like he isn’t completely over his head in the fight. In fact, for a while there, it sure seems as though he’s going to come out on top. Even with Superman pulling his punches (which he basically is in the movie), it wouldn’t have been fun to watch a fight where a human, heavily armored as he may be, is fighting a Kryptonian. Uneven fights aren’t exciting. This one isn’t uneven.
2) The Plane Rescue in Superman Returns
The Reeve era Superman movies were always at their best when they had Superman going around saving the day, as opposed to him going up against the films’ respective big bad. There was a ton of charm in seeing him save cats out of trees.
This is something Superman Returns seemed to understand. And, with the advances in technology, it could convincingly depict a Boeing 777 going down only to be rescued by Superman, officially announcing his return to the world in the process.
1) Superman vs. Zod in Man of Steel
Plenty of people may have thought Superman vs. Zod’s fight was too reminiscent of 9/11 and even more took umbrage with the fact that Supes snapped Zod’s neck, but this is easily the most engrossing fight sequence in any Superman movie. It’s hard to imagine it ever being topped.
The imagery of a shattered, ash-covered Metropolis is a memorable one. Zod’s monologue about having lost everyone and everything is hair-raising thanks to Michael Shannon’s charisma. The viewer can feel every punch as one Kryptonian sends another hurling through buildings like it takes nothing. It’s just one big, expensive sequence that was a blast in IMAX. You really get the sense they’re two gods fighting to the death. Even if Superman should have gotten Zod away from the city, it wouldn’t have been as exciting without buildings standing in the way of their bash.
