James Gunn’s first DC Universe movie has finally landed its Rotten Tomatoes score. One of 2025’s most highly anticipated movies is Gunn’s Superman film, featuring David Corenswet as the DCU’s Clark Kent, a.k.a. the Man of Tomorrow, which will pave the way for a new era of DC in live-action.
While the DCU franchise will serve as a reboot, the Superman movie will not explore Clark’s origin story, as this version of the DC icon is already active as a superhero. With Superman movie reviews finally rolling out, critics are sharing their thoughts about the latest take on the Man of Steel for the big screen.
Only days before Superman opens in theaters, Gunn’s DCU film has earned an 86% critics’ score on Rotten Tomatoes, based on the 105 reviews that have been counted thus far. While Superman is officially certified fresh, the score may change in the coming days as more reviews are logged with the aggregator site.
What Superman’s Rotten Tomatoes Score Means
Since Superman movie reactions had been largely positive, the initial Rotten Tomatoes critics’ score for the 2025 film is not too surprising. What is becoming very evident with the Superman movie is that this is the iteration of the DC legend that critics seem to be responding well to, at least when it comes to cinematic portrayals of the hero.
What stands out with Superman’s Rotten Tomatoes score, at least on the critics’ side, is how it compares to Zack Snyder’s DC movies, as his trilogy that began with Man of Steel had a mixed trajectory. It wasn’t until Zack Snyder’s Justice League that the director had his biggest DC movie success with the critics’ and audience scores.
Superman Movie |
Critics’ Score |
Audience Score |
Superman II |
88% |
76% |
Superman (2025) |
86% (As Of 7/8/2025) |
TBD |
Superman: The Movie |
86% |
86% |
Superman Returns |
73% |
60% |
Zack Snyder’s Justice League |
71% |
92% |
Man of Steel |
57% |
75% |
Superman III |
30% |
23% |
Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice |
28% |
63% |
Superman IV: The Quest for Peace |
14% |
16% |
Since the Snyder Cut served, in a way, as a culmination for Henry Cavill’s Superman story, it might have been why more DC fans responded well to the HBO Max movie as opposed to Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. But with Gunn’s Superman being off to a solid start with many critics, this is definitely the positive buzz the film needs.
What will definitely be interesting to follow over the coming weeks is how the audience responds to Superman. But given a lot of the public reception to the marketing, many are seemingly already getting behind Gunn’s take on the DC icon.
Our Take On Superman’s Rotten Tomatoes Score
While keeping in mind that the score is subject to change, it’s incredible to see Superman getting off to such a solid start with the critics’ score on Rotten Tomatoes, especially after how DC movies have struggled in the last few years. It’s clear that there is far more positivity for the DCU in comparison to the DCEU movie timeline.
Once more Superman movie reviews roll in, and the audience score also begins to emerge, things will hopefully continue to go in the right direction for DC Studios. But for now, Gunn’s Superman is looking to be a solid win for DC Studios, and hopefully bodes well for the movie’s box office.
Source: Rotten Tomatoes