James Gunn’s Superman Hits a Record No DC Movie Has Since The Dark Knight

The DC Universe is off to a strong box office start with Superman, which means it’s poised to break a nearly 20-year streak. At the time of writing, James Gunn’s movie has grossed $578 million, including $331m domestic. Yes, that’s lower than 2013’s Man of Steel, which made $670m, but context matters. Zack Snyder’s film was released in the comic book movie boom period, just one year after The Avengers and The Dark Knight Rises both hit $1 billion, so its success was no surprise. Superman comes after years of DC misfires, and during a period where superhero fatigue is a concern, so its expectations were different.

Suffice to say, Superman has met them, especially when compared to the year’s other superhero movies. It stands comfortably clear of its MCU rivals: Captain America: Brave New World made $415m; Thunderbolts* earned $382m; The Fantastic Four: The First Steps currently sits on $434m. Assuming the Man of Steel isn’t caught at the box office by Marvel’s First Family – and given the gap between the two movies, it’s near-impossible – Superman will be the first DC superhero movie to be the highest-grossing of the year since The Dark Knight in 2008.

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Christopher Nolan’s epic easily beat out Iron Man back then, when the MCU was still more of an idea than a reality. Almost every single year since has had the highest-grossing superhero movie be a Marvel release. This does include one non-MCU project, X-Men Origins: Wolverine in 2009, but otherwise it’s been near non-stop Marvel Studios dominance. DC has had its own hits in that time, such as The Dark Knight Rises, Wonder Woman, and The Batman, but has never been able to topple Marvel.

The one caveat here is 2020. With theaters shut down for most of the year due to Covid-19, any box office earnings have a huge asterisk over them anyway. If you were to go on movies based on comic books, then DC would have the biggest, thanks to Birds of Prey and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn, which made $205m, while no Marvel movie was released that year. Officially, however, the highest-grossing superhero movie of 2020 was neither Marvel nor DC, but Sonic the Hedgehog ($319m).

Superman‘s potential box office record in 2025 is not just a sign of the MCU’s struggles, but should point to DC’s resurgence. James Gunn’s reboot not only had to deliver a good movie about the Big Blue Boy Scout, but also serve as proof of concept of his new fledgling shared universe, following the failings of the old DCEU. He certainly delivered on the first, with Superman earning the approval of critics and audiences (83% with the former and 91% with the latter on Rotten Tomatoes) alongside its box office success. The second will need more time and more movies, but if this is anything to go by, the DCU will be doing just fine.

Still, it may be a while before DC can boast of this record again. It has Supergirl and Clayface in 2026, and the non-DCU The Batman – Part II in 2027; the latter is guaranteed to be a success, the former two will hopefully be as well. But both years bring new Avengers movies – Doomsday and Secret Wars, respectively – which is something even Nolan’s Dark Knight Trilogy couldn’t beat. Things are definitely looking up for DC, but there are yet greater heights for it to soar to.

Superman is currently playing in theaters. Supergirl will release on June 26th, 2026, followed by Clayface on September 11th. The Batman – Part II is currently slated for October 1st, 2027.