2026 is a big year for DC Studios. Next week marks the official premiere of Supergirl, with Lanterns set to debut in August on HBO Max and Clayface rounding things out in October. Not only does this trio of projects see a wide range of different genres that just so happens to feature superheroes in the lead roles, but it also marks the first collection of projects that isn’t written or directed by DC Studios co-head James Gunn. Judging from the early reactions to Supergirl, it’s safe to say that DC Studios is here to stay…and it also explains why the very first DC Studios project is skyrocketing on streaming charts.
At the time of writing, Superman — which Gunn wrote and directed — is currently the #1 movie on Prime Video’s Top 10 movie charts, according to FlixPatrol. This isn’t a major surprise, as Milly Alcock made her debut as Supergirl during Superman‘s final scene and trailers for Supergirl have showcased David Corenswet‘s Man of Steel trying to offer his cousin some advice. Yet it also shows that even a year after its release, Superman is still a major draw for general audiences and longtime comic book fans alike. That’s the kind of energy that Gunn and Peter Safran should definitely lean more into for future projects.
‘Superman’ Embraces Everything that Makes The Man of Steel Great
At first glance, Superman features all the trademark elements of Clark Kent’s life, including his career at the Daily Planet, his status as the world’s most powerful superhero, and his budding rivalry with billionaire genius Lex Luthor (Nicholas Hoult). But over the course of the movie, Gunn starts to take some wild swings that nobody expected. Rather than building up the romance between Clark Kent and Lois Lane (Rachel Brosnahan), Gunn has them three months into a relationship and reveals that Lois knows about Clark’s double life. While Clark was still sent to Earth from the doomed planet Krypton, it’s revealed that his parents had less than noble motives for sending him to a world that would grant him godlike abilities. And in perhaps the most surprising twist, the movie opens with Superman, bleeding and bruised, crashing to Earth. Gunn previously discussed his approach to Clark Kent prior to Superman‘s release, saying he wanted to explore a side of the Man of Steel that other Superman projects hadn’t.
“This movie, at the end of the day, is not about power…This movie is about, in the loose sense of the word, a human being struggling with his day-to-day life. And we see a different aspect of him at the beginning.”
True to Gunn’s words, anyone who watches Superman will get to see that Clark Kent has his own hangups despite being an immensely powerful superhero. It shines the most in two scenes: where Lois and Clark are having an interview about Superman’s actions in a geopolitical conflict, and when Superman finally corners Luthor after his attempts to sink Metropolis into a black hole. In the former scene, Clark shouts that he was trying to save lives and wasn’t concerned about political borders; in the second, he delivers a powerful speech about how his humanity is his greatest strength. These moments show that Superman’s best power isn’t flight, being bulletproof, or his laser vision, but rather in the way he uses those gifts.
Collider Exclusive · Sci-Fi Personality Quiz Which Sci-Fi Hero Are You Most Like? Paul Atreides · Captain Kirk · Princess Leia · Ellen Ripley · Max Rockatansky
Five iconic heroes. Five completely different ways of facing an impossible universe. One of them shares your instincts, your values, and your particular way of refusing to back down. Eight questions will tell you which one.
🏜️Paul Atreides
🖖Capt. Kirk
✊Princess Leia
🔦Ellen Ripley
🔥Max Rockatansky
01
How do you lead when the stakes couldn’t be higher? The way you lead under pressure is the most honest thing about you.
02
What is your greatest strength in a crisis? The quality that keeps you alive when everything else fails.
03
What is the thing you’d sacrifice everything else for? Your deepest motivation is your truest compass.
04
How do you relate to the people around you? Who you are to others under pressure is who you really are.
05
You’re facing a threat that no one else believes is real. What do you do? How you respond when you’re the only one who sees it defines everything.
06
What has your heroism cost you personally? Every hero pays. The question is what — and whether they’d pay it again.
07
How do you feel about the rules of the world you’re in? Every hero has a relationship with the system. What’s yours?
08
When everything is on the line, what keeps you going? The answer is the most honest thing about you.
Your Hero Has Been Identified Your Sci-Fi Hero Is…
Your answers point to the iconic sci-fi hero who shares your instincts, your values, and your particular way of facing the impossible.
Arrakis · Dune
Paul Atreides
You carry a weight most people would crumble under — the knowledge of what you’re capable of, and the burden of what you might have to become.
You see further ahead than others and you plan accordingly, even when the vision frightens you.
You are driven by loyalty to your people and a sense of destiny you didn’t ask for but can’t escape.
Paul Atreides is not simply a hero — he is someone who understands the cost of power and chooses to bear it anyway.
That gravity, that willingness to carry what others won’t, is exactly you.
USS Enterprise · Star Trek
Captain Kirk
You lead with instinct, warmth, and an absolute refusal to accept a no-win scenario — because you’ve always believed there’s a third option nobody else has thought of yet.
You take the mission seriously without ever taking yourself too seriously.
Your crew would follow you anywhere, not because you demand it, but because you’ve earned it.
Kirk’s genius isn’t tactical — it’s human. He reads people, bends rules with purpose, and wills outcomes into existence through sheer conviction.
That combination of warmth, audacity, and relentless optimism is unmistakably yours.
The Rebellion · Star Wars
Princess Leia
You are the kind of person who holds the line when everyone else is losing faith — not because you’re fearless, but because giving up simply isn’t something you’re capable of.
You lead through conviction. Your voice carries because your belief is unshakeable.
You gave up everything ordinary the moment you chose the cause, and you’ve never looked back.
Leia is not a supporting character in her own story — she is the moral centre of the entire rebellion.
That same fierce, principled, unbreakable core is what defines you.
The Nostromo · Alien
Ellen Ripley
You are not reckless, not grandiose, and not particularly interested in being anyone’s hero — you just refuse to stop when it matters.
You see threats clearly, you document the truth even when no one listens, and when the time comes you handle it yourself.
Ripley’s heroism is earned, not performed. She doesn’t have a speech — she has a flamethrower and a plan.
You share her composure under the worst possible pressure, and her refusal to pretend the monster isn’t there.
When it counts, you don’t flinch. That’s everything.
The Wasteland · Mad Max
Max Rockatansky
You have been through fire that would break most people — and what came out the other side is something the world underestimates at its peril.
You don’t ask for help, don’t need validation, and don’t wait for anyone to tell you the rules no longer apply.
Your loyalty, when it finally arrives, is absolute — but it’s earned in silence and tested in action, not in words.
Max is not a nihilist. He is someone who lost everything and found, against his will, that he still has something worth protecting.
That bruised, stubborn, ultimately human core is exactly yours.
James Gunn Is Bringing Superman Back To the Big Screen Next Year
Superman was a surprising success, not only gathering critical acclaim but also becoming one of 2025’s highest-grossing movies. As a result, James Gunn announced a sequel in September titled Man of Tomorrow, which features yet another unexpected development: Superman and Lex Luthor will join forces to battle the malevolent artificial intelligence Brainiac (Lars Eidinger). Man of Tomorrow will also feature Luthor donning his iconic Warsuit from the comics, and is gathering an ensemble cast that includes Lanterns’Aaron Pierre reprising his role as John Stewart and Adria Arjona in a mystery role.
Superman‘s theatrical success, and its current success on Prime Video, proves that “superhero fatigue” is less of a thing and that people want good superhero movies first and foremost. Hopefully, Supergirl and future DC Studios projects will keep this in mind.
