James Gunn’s Superman (2025) ended on a high note. During the film’s emotional final scene, and to underscore the theme of finding the good in others being “the real punk rock”, James Gunn threw in a needledrop from one of the most iconic punk rockers out there, Iggy Pop. His and the Teddybears’ cover of the song “Punkrocker” plays during the final scene of Superman and into the credits. The moment makes a for a pitch-perfect ending and displays one of Gunn’s strong suits as a filmmaker, curating an immaculate soundtrack that plays into the emotion of his storytelling.
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And lucky for Gunn and Superman, Iggy Pop himself approves. Speaking with The Hollywood Reporter while on tour in Europe, Pop said he”always thought the track had soul,” when asked about “Punkrocker’s” use in Superman. He went on to declare “Superman is the best friend you could have.”
We agree, Mr. Pop, and apparently so do a lot of other friends of Superman. THR cited data from the entertainment industy data platform Luminate showing that Pop and the Teddybears’ “Punkrocker” skyrocketed in popularity during the film’s opening weekend. The song leapt from 1,572 streams on July 4 to nearly 190,500 on July 12 — a massive increase, and the weekend wasn’t even over yet.
Another song from the Superman soundtrack also enjoyed a meteroic rise thanks to the Man of Steel. Gunn used the track”5 Years Time” by indie-folk group Noah and the Whale, to score Mister Terrific’s epic fight scene where he single-handedly took down all of the LuthorCorp employees stationed outside the entrance of Lex’s (Nicholas Hoult) pocket universe while a flabbergasted Lois Lane (Rachel Brosnahan) watched the action behind the safety of a force field. The song, whose sunny, upbeat vibe was a perfect foil to the unrelenting fight scene, went from a mere 7,300 streams all the way up to 85,400 streams in the same week period this month.
Soundtracks are one of Gunn’s signatures as a filmmaker. The “Awesome Mix” chock full of classic 70s soul and rock hits from Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 1 undoubtedly helped propel the film to its smashing success in 2014, while also giving a boost to a few bangers lost to music history. The sharp, cheekily subversive soundtrack of Superman is no different. Having Iggy Pop endorse his song in your film must come as quite the compliment to Gunn, who was in a punk band himself called The Icons in the late 80s before becoming a filmmaker. His sign-off also undoubtedly cements Superman as “punk rock” in every sense of the term.
Superman is now playing in theaters.
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