Superman coming to HBO Max has led to the movie maintaining a positive 2025 superhero film streak. James Gunn has many projects planned for the DCU’s Chapter One, both in terms of movies and TV shows. That said, DC Studios has only released one DCU film so far, Superman, finishing its box office run with $615.6 million, which was promising.
As for Marvel Studios, the MCU released three movies in 2025: Captain America: Brave New World, Thunderbolts*, and The Fantastic Four: First Steps. The latter was the one to come the closest to Superman‘s box office, standing at $520.5 million, which was still far from the first DCU movie. Despite 2025’s lower overall box office for superhero movies, they have succeeded elsewhere.
Superman Is A Hit On HBO Max
Superman‘s box office might not have been enough to pᴀss Man of Steel‘s $670.1 million. That said, DC is clearly confident enough in the franchise to move forward with a Superman movie sequel, Man of Tomorrow, which will be released on July 9, 2027. Besides a solid box office performance, which broke domestic records, the DC film has also had a successful streaming release.
Superman was released on HBO Max on Friday, September 19. After hitting the streaming service, Superman instantly claimed the number 1 spot on the streamer across the globe, leading HBO Max’s Top Movies list worldwide. This comes after Superman‘s August 15 VOD release date. The DC movie has been going about things in an unorthodox way, as Superman could have been theater-exclusive for longer.
However, James Gunn revealed that he wanted as many fans as possible to watch Superman before the release of Peacemaker season 2. Superman‘s HBO Max release follows a similar pattern, coming just before Peacemaker season 2, episode 6 changed the game for the show and included the DCU return of Nicholas Hoult’s Lex Luthor. Superman‘s HBO Max hit status cements a superhero trend.
Superman’s HBO Max Performance Follows The Example Of The MCU’s 2025 Movies
While DC only had one movie released in 2025, Marvel Studios had three. Of those, two have been released on Disney+. Both Captain America: Brave New World and Thunderbolts* rose to the top of the streamer’s movie rankings worldwide after they were released on the platform. Even though the MCU’s Fantastic Four reboot has yet to be released on Disney+, it managed to do the same.
That is because a preview for The Fantastic Four: First Steps emerged to become the 2nd most-watched movie on Disney+ globally for a time, showing the MCU’s power. Superman‘s HBO Max success continues that exciting 2025 superhero movie streak, making it another Marvel or DC movie to lead streaming charts. This bodes well for the genre and interest in the Superman sequel.
