‘Superman’ Reviews Are Live, Here’s Its Rotten Tomatoes Score

It’s hard to overstate just how important Superman is in the wider film landscape. It’s the first live-action entry in the new DCU after leaving the underperforming DCEU behind. He’s the DC hero, one that has often been notoriously hard to adapt. It’s a brand new star no one has heard of. And it’s all helmed by James Gunn, the head of the DCU and someone who has never directed a bad Marvel or DC movie. No pressure.

Well, good news. Great news, even.

After initial positive reactions from early viewers, critic reviews are rolling in for Superman and being tallied up on Rotten Tomatoes. As more and more come in, the score will fluctuate, but all signs are pointing to a very positive performance. (It also stands to reason that this is the type of film that will probably have high audience scores regardless).

At this time of this writing (this will be updated live), Superman has a stellar 86% Rotten Tomatoes score. To put that in context, that would put it as the third highest-rated movie in the old DCEU:

• Wonder Woman – 93%
• Shazam! – 90%
• Superman – 86%
• The Batman (not DCEU but will throw this in for good measure) – 85%
• Birds of Prey – 78%
• Zack Snyder’s Justice League – 75%
• Aquaman – 65%
• Wonder Woman 1984 – 59%
• Man of Steel – 56%
• Shazam! Fury of the Gods – 49%
• Justice League (Original) – 40%
• Black Adam – 39%
• Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom – 33%
• Batman V Superman – 29%
• Suicide Squad – 26%

And among James Gunn’s own superhero pantheon, that score is in second place. His record of “has never made a bad superhero movie” remains intact.

• Guardians of the Galaxy – 92% critic, 92% audience
• Superman – 86% critic, N/A audience
• Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 – 85% critic, 87% audience
• Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 – 82% critic, 94% audience
• The Suicide Squad – 90% critic, 82% audience
• Peacemaker (show) – 93% critic, 89% audience

No matter the critic scores, Superman is expected to have a mammoth opening weekend, possibly one of the biggest of the year, a wide range from $110 million to $170 million, depending on which analysts you ask. One hiccup is that it has to contend with the high-earning Jurassic World: Rebirth, which is still drawing in big audiences. James Gunn recently commented that the idea that the movie needed to hit $700 million worldwide to be a success wasn’t true. The reported budget of Superman is around $200 million. A lot, but in the grand context of blockbusters, we’ve seen much worse.

The next test is that box office which will begin late July 10 in PM previews and span into the weekend from there. My gut tells me that with these scores, and if audiences line up, this may end up being bigger than predicted, and either way, it seems like a solid start for the DCU under Gunn’s tenure.

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