In an unexpected turn of events reminiscent of 2025’s unpredictable climate, the box office battle during summer 2025 between the reboot of Superman by James Gunn and Man of Steel ended in a tie of sorts. Although the new Superman film significantly outperformed Man of Steel domestically, even surpassing all previous solo Superman movies, the latter’s impressive $670 million global earnings kept it ahead on a worldwide scale, with the new Superman movie projected to earn around $610 million globally. On a technicality, Man of Steel remains victorious worldwide, but this shouldn’t lead to despair at Warner Bros as both films demonstrated strong performances.
Instead, “Superman” is experiencing a tremendous success (it’s the top-grossing movie of summer 2025 in North America aside from “Lilo & Stitch”); moreover, the reboot appears to be on track to outperform “Man of Steel” in the future. The story of “Superman” is just getting started, and Gunn’s film has expertly positioned him for continued success.
Why Did Man of Steel Have A Bigger Worldwide Box Office?
As a passionate cinephile, I must say that the staggering $379 million overseas earnings of “Man of Steel” in June 2013 marked a significant juncture in the global box office landscape for American blockbusters. Movies like “Avatar” (2009) and “Transformers: Dark of the Moon” (2011) paved the way, signaling a surge in the earning potential of these films in crucial international territories.
At the same time, digital 3D was experiencing a remarkable boom in the overseas cinema-going sphere, and powerhouse markets like China were continuously expanding, adding hundreds of new theaters annually. This explosion opened up an unparalleled audience eager to catch the next “Avatar” or “Dark of the Moon” on the big screen.
In the 2010s, these circumstances arose that resulted in movies like Warcraft earning only $47.3 million domestically but $439 million worldwide. Contrastingly, Fast & Furious 6 raked in an astonishing $550 million overseas alone in summer 2013, over 2.5 times the $204 million foreign gross of Fast & Furious from four years prior. During this period, Man of Steel saw a significant rise, notably with its impressive $63.5 million Chinese earnings. A decade later, international markets have become less receptive to many American blockbusters; instead, they’ve embraced homegrown hits such as The Wandering Earth or Ne Zha 2 over movies like Terminator: Genisys.
In 2013, films like World War Z, Pacific Rim, and The Wolverine earned over $300 million effortlessly, a feat that major 2024 domestic releases such as Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, Wicked, and Gladiator II failed to achieve. This highlights the reason Superman made less money worldwide compared to Man of Steel. In just a span of 12 years, the global standards for what constitutes a profitable blockbuster have significantly evolved.
It’s equally understandable why the global box office earnings for Superman fell short of those for Man of Steel, and why Superman appears to have a more promising future. One key reason is that the overall response towards Superman has been far more favorable than the post-release discussions surrounding Man of Steel.
Superman Struck A Deep Chord With Audiences
After the debut of Superman, there was an outpouring of praise for the movie’s lively atmosphere on social media, with people creating heartwarming memes based on a scene featuring David Corenswet’s Superman smiling while lying down. Additionally, the Teddybears song and Iggy Pop’s “Punkrocker” that conclude the film went viral online, while Krypto’s popularity led to a significant increase in dog adoption rates. Contrastingly, the discussion following the release of 2013’s Man of Steel was more focused on intense, contentious debates, such as whether Superman should kill or not.
Initially, “Man of Steel” didn’t find itself in a favorable cultural climate upon release, failing to capture the hearts of audiences as a cherished cultural icon. This is evident in its substantial drop in viewership during its second weekend compared to Superman’s more modest decline. Additionally, the film’s lasting impact was negatively influenced by the sequels “Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice” and “Justice League”, particularly as these films portray Cavill’s Superman as deceased from the beginning.
Initially, the revamped Kryptonian superhero was eclipsed by the standalone versions of Batman and Wonder Woman within the DC Extended Universe. Unfortunately, his supporting characters didn’t get the opportunity to reappear in sequel films that could have provided more depth and attracted more fans. Instead, they were largely overlooked as “Man of Steel 2” struggled in pre-production. However, Corenswet’s Superman will soon play a pivotal role in an upcoming Superhero family film which is set to commence production shortly.
It seems that James Gunn’s interpretation of Superman could potentially outshine previous versions, given his plans for expanding the character’s storyline and standalone films. While Henry Cavill’s portrayal was more controversial, it didn’t take long for him to become a secondary character in the DCEU. The fact that “Man of Steel” remains the highest-grossing solo Superman film globally is a notable achievement. However, this does not definitively determine which 21st-century version of Superman will endure longest in cinema.
Superman is now playing in theaters, Man of Steel is now streaming on HBO Max.
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2025-08-21 23:54