James Gunn’s ‘Superman’ Just Passed a Major ‘Man of Steel’ Milestone

Superman vs. Man of Steel. It’s the greatest Superman vs. Superman showdown since 1983’s Superman III. In that film, Superman had to fight himself. In 2025, that battle is between James Gunn’s new film and records set by Zack Snyder’s 2013 film. Snyder’s Man of Steel grossed about $291 million at the domestic box office, but as of earlier this week, Gunn’s Superman soared by it, now sitting at almost $297 million domestic as of Wednesday, July 30. That makes the new film the highest-grossing domestic Superman film of all time.

Of course, it’s a victory with major asterisks. First, there’s inflation. Adjusted for inflation, Man of Steel grossed about $405 million, according to the Numbers, while Richard Donner’s 1978 film would’ve hit almost $620 million. So Gunn’s film is still well behind that. Also, Man of Steel did much better internationally, grossing $379 million over the course of its run versus the $219 million Gunn’s film sits at. So, while Superman has technically outgrossed Man of Steel domestically, it’s still pretty far behind globally. Gunn came out to discuss the reasons for that in recent weeks.

Why is any of this relevant at all? Well, mostly because ever since the announcement of James Gunn and Peter Safran’s revamped DC Universe, which was ignoring the return of Henry Cavill as Superman, some fans have been rooting against the new film. Gunn’s film is basically the final nail in the coffin of the Snyderverse, the multifilm DC Universe created by Zack Snyder that was prevalent from 2013 all the way up to 2022, when Cavill returned in Black Adam. Snyder fans had many significant victories in that time, most notably the release of Zack Snyder’s Justice League, but many clearly were hoping for Gunn’s film to perform worse than Snyder’s. It has not.

Plus, those Man of Steel numbers are from its entire three-month box office run. Superman is only in its third week of release. There is a lot more time for Superman to add to its already super numbers. So, this is a battle that, if you care, is far from over. But Gunn’s film has taken a significant pole position over Snyder’s with plenty of road left to cover.

Do you care about any of this? Do you feel one film is better than the other? Sound off below.

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