Hey, Geekly Gang! Season here. Since Superman (2025) dropped in theaters a little over a week ago, I thought I’d cover an important character this week: Krypto Plushie. He couldn’t make it on the big screen, so he made his way onto Marcus Theaters’ shelves.
Before we begin, I’ll break down the categories for review. Yes. I have plushie categories. I’ll be looking at size, softness, kid-friendliness, and cuddliness. There won’t be an aggregated score.
Size
Krypto Plushie can easily fit in the crook of your elbow and most moderate-sized bags, making him easy to carry. He’s about the length of the pencil featured in the above picture. Unfortunately, the pencil did not survive the photo shoot. Krypto thought the pencil was a toy.
Softness Versus Firmness
Not too soft. Not too firm. Just right. 😀 Krypto Plushie is firmly in the middle as far as his stuffing goes. His fur, however, is incredibly soft. He’s made from polyester, but I’ve got to hand it to them. Krypto Plushie’s fur is less wiry than his movie counterpart. This grading is based on the firmness of the stuffing.
Kid Friendly Versus Adults Only
When I say kid friendly, I’m referring to the pieces on the plushie. The fewer pieces a plushie has that a kid can swallow, the more kid friendly it is. Krypto Plushie leans more toward the kid friendly side of this grade. However, he does have marble eyes and a plastic nose that a rough kid could potentially pull out. These features make him less than 100% kid friendly.
Cuddle Buddy Versus Desk Buddy
This is a question I ask myself every time I buy a new plushie: Do I want to cuddle this plushie, or is it going to live on a shelf? To me, Krypto Plushie is in the middle but leans more on the cuddle buddy side. He can stand up on his own (a huge plus for a desk buddy), but his soft fur and ease of carry make him a good cuddle buddy.
Final Thoughts
I love soft things and enjoy petting them to soothe myself. Krypto Plushie is amazing for that. He’s a good buy for fans of Superman (2025) and kids who want a stuffed dog wearing a cape. He costs $14 plus tax at Marcus Theaters’ concessions stands.
What’s your favorite cinema swag? Do you agree with my assessment of Krypto Plushie? Let us know in the comments. Thank you for reading and have a super day.
Happy Friday, Geekly Gang! Kyra Kyle here. I watched Superman (2025) this past week, and I’ve had time to gather some thoughts. Truth time. I’ve had conflicting thoughts on Superman. It’s a fun watch, but is it trying to do too much too soon?
I like the idea of skipping Superman’s origin. We don’t need it. If you want to watch a good version of Superman’s origin, you can rewatch 1978’s Superman. Geekly even has an All Superman Movies Ranked post from last week.Superman (2025) does a good job of sprinkling in just enough of Superman’s origin, so rewatching Supes’ origin may not be necessary. David Corenswet’s portrayal of the Man of Steel is comic-book accurate, which is a step up from Henry Cavill’s Superman. I said this before, and I’ll say it again: I don’t blame Cavill for this misstep. The onus belongs to David S. Goyer and Zach Snyder. Those two missed the mark with Superman as a character.
After the Snyder-verse malaise, Superman (2025) is a breath of fresh air. Outside of Corenswet, most of the actors in Superman nail their character portrayals. Rachel Brosnahan behaves like a fusion between a young Margot Kidder Lois Lane and Lois from the comics. Nathan Fillion makes a great Guy Gardner. I can’t wait to see him in Lanterns. Skyler Gisondo is a fantastic Jimmy Olsen. And Edi Gahegi steals numerous scenes as Mister “God-Damned” Terrific. I always thought Mister Terrific was one of DC Comics’ underappreciated and underused heroes before this movie. I’m glad he had some time to shine.
Nicholas Hoult’s Lex Luthor is more of a mixed bag. I love Hoult’s portrayal of Lex during the first half of Superman. Lex’s cold demeanor when Superman bursts into his lair is peak Luthor. But then Hoult’s Lex leans over the top toward the end of the film. While Lex earned this crescendo during the events of Superman, part of me hoped he remained reserved, if only on the surface. I think that’s what made that scene with Lex sipping coffee as Superman bursts into his lair so great. Outwardly, Lex was in control, but you could see him seething underneath the skin. Such a good scene.
Superman even does a great job of setting up the DCU, and this is where the film may be trying to do too much too soon. Early MCU films established the universe’s characters in solo films. Superman uses Miracle-Gro for its universe. While I didn’t expect–or want–an origin story (most of the early MCU films included origin stories), I don’t know if a Captain America: Civil War-type story was the best place to begin the DCU. Civil War was a Phase Three MCU movie. Phase Three! You kinda leapfrogged two phases.
As a result, Lois and Clark’s relationship didn’t get enough time to develop. The most romantic scene between Lois and Clark is undercut by the Justice Gang fighting an interdimensional imp. (Quick note: The interdimensional imp could be none other than Mister Mxyzptlk.) Don’t get me wrong. I chuckled at Guy Gardner beating the imp over the head with a green bat, but I couldn’t tell you what Lois and Clark said during the scene when Clark first tells Lois he loves her. This is like a Rom-Com have one of the characters accidentally profess their love at dinner, but we have someone making silly faces outside the restaurant window and screaming booga-booga. What did he say? Did Superman say something important?
That said, I love how Superman’s world feels lived in. One of the few things I remember Clark telling Lois during the romantic scene is the Justice Gang said they don’t want or need his help against the interdimensional imp. This is why I’m conflicted. How much do you pare from this world to tell a more focused story? Where is the line between telling a great Superman story and setting up too much of the DCU? Honestly, I don’t know the answer to either of these questions.
What I do know is that Superman’s side characters, like Jimmy Olsen and Perry White, didn’t get enough screen time or character development. Olsen fared better than White, and both actors nailed the vibe of their comic book counterparts, but I would’ve liked more Olsen and White. Plotlines were condensed, not because there were more Superman stories to tell, but the DCU needed time to expand in a single film.
To Guy Gardner, Never change your hairstyle. You’re rocking that bowl cut.
Even though Superman suffers a little under the weight of launching a cinematic universe, this is an issue with most modern superhero films outside the MCU’s first phase, which was almost two decades ago. Yikes! Case in point, Batman (1989) is the last time a Batman film only featured one villain. Batman (1989) was over three and a half decades ago, and we’ve had almost a dozen Batman films since. Superhero movies have the impulse to add more when more isn’t always needed. The result can be an inch-deep ocean of a story, instead of a 700-foot deep river.
Despite any shortcomings, I enjoyed Superman. This film is comic-book accurate. My reservations about setting up too much of the DCU at once aside, Superman got me excited for Lanterns and Supergirl. The Supergirl cameo suggests that this version of Supergirl will borrow heavily from the excellent Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow comic storyline. I can’t wait to see Kara claw her way back from rock bottom.
Those are my thoughts, for now, about Superman (2025). Let us know what you thought of the film. Thank you for reading, and wherever you are, I hope you’re having a great day.
Happy Sunday, Geekly Gang! Kyra Kyle here with another week of Geek News. Superman was released this week. As you’re reading this, we haven’t yet watched Superman, but we may be in the process of watching the film and will have a review by this Friday. We’ll kickoff this Geek News round-up with some preliminary Superman box office numbers.
Superman Expected to Exceed $120 Million Opening Weekend
Warner Bros. and DC Studios’ Superman soars with $56.5 million across Friday and preview screenings in 4,135 theaters. This is the second-biggest figure for the calendar year, just behind A Minecraft Movie ($57.11 million), which is another Warner Bros. film. Warner Bros. is on a hot streak this year.
Note: Superman earned additional revenue with early-access screenings on Tuesday (July 8, 2025) for Amazon Prime members.
Written and directed by the Guardians of the Galaxy trilogy’s James Gunn, Superman had projections of $100 million for its debut, while optimistic outlets forecast upwards of $140 million. The truth may lie in the middle, with Superman earning closer to $120 million. This is a fantastic opening weekend for the film and DCU franchise. Superman also gets a boost from luxury ticket prices for IMAX and other premium large format auditoriums.
On a personal note, Superman (2025) is the first Superman movie we’ve been excited about since the Christopher Reeve era.
Even with a stellar opening weekend, Superman will need to maintain its momentum as other major film releases approach. Not only does Superman relaunch the Man of Steel, but it also relaunches DC Comics’ cinematic universe. If Superman does well, the DCU could have years of superhero movies in its future.
Midnight Sons Crossover Event “Damnation” in the Works?
Okay. The Blade MCU movie may not be cancelled. Yes. We may have jumped the gun on that news a few months ago. Marvel continues to build up toward a major Midnight Sons crossover event. We know for sure the MCU intends to release a Midnight Sons movie. Mahershala Ali is attached to play Blade in Midnight Sons, and Ali has stated that he’ll only do a Midnight Sons movie as Blade if the MCU releases a Blade film. So long as Mahershala Ali is attached to play Blade in Midnight Sons, a Blade movie isn’t yet canceled. Perhaps just postponed indefinitely.
Geekly also has an idea which story (from the comic books) the Midnight Sons crossover event will use: Damnation. In Damnation, Doctor Strange assembles a team (of Midnight Sons) to help him defeat Mephisto. The characters rumored to be involved in Midnight Sons include Werewolf by Night, Elsa Bloodstone, Moon Knight, Blade, and Ghost Rider. Yep! Ghost Rider may be headed to the MCU, joining Blade. And Blade could set up the events of Midnight Sons. Mephisto’s position in the underworld (hinted at in Ironheart) is threatened by other demons/devils. Lilith, who was believed to be Blade’s antagonist, may be one of the rival demons fighting Mephisto. We’ll have to see how this shakes out. The dark corner’s of the MCU has the most room for growth.
Dice Commandos Announced on GameFound
We’ve covered most of the games Solo Game of the Month has released on GameFound. The company offers great single-player board game options, and Dice Commandos appears to be no different. We know little about Dice Commandos, but what we do know about the game has us intrigued.
Dice Commandos is a tactical dice puzzle game where you control a team of elite operatives completing objectives through stealth, combat, and special abilities. Again, we know little about this game, but it looks as though the game has various difficulty settings for multiple missions. Each mission functions as a new tactical puzzle. Players can customize their squad (with each squad member having unique abilities). I love how Dice Commandos has stealth options in addition to combat. I will try to finish a mission with stealth. Tee hee!
Run a fledgling board game publishing company packed with quirky employees, fun prototypes, and ruthless competition in Tabletop Inc.. I have yet to play Tabletop Inc., but it looks outstanding. It pokes fun at the board game industry with goofy spoofs of classic modern board games like Wingspan and Cthulhu: Death May Die. Tabletop Inc. uses a fast-paced worker placement. My interest is piqued. Typically, worker placement tends to be slow. I’m all for a fast-paced worker placement game.
And look at those game pieces (pictured above). They look outstanding. I have yet to play Tabletop Inc., but it looks fun, engaging, and packed with interesting choices. Tabletop Inc. is a love letter to the board game community, and I’m all for it. Tabletop Inc. launches early next week; you can follow the project here. Pledge information has yet to be released, so we don’t have pricing for Tabletop Inc.. Even though this project will be for the Tabletop Inc. expansion, gamers will be able to purchase the base game.
Kittens in Space Blasts Off on KickStarter
Cute kittens and space? I’m in. Kittens in Space is a card-shedding game like Uno. Players battle each other to save the adorable kittens in their hand (and load them onto a spaceship) before their opponents.
The DCU launches later this week with James Gunn’s Superman. We’re getting prepared by ranking all the Superman movies up to this point. Hey, hey! Kyra Kyle here, Geekly Gang. As you’ll find out, I haven’t watched some of these movies in years, if not decades.
Many of these Superman movies are “products of their time.” That happens when a film was released in the ’70s and you’re watching it almost half a century later. We’ll have some exclusions on this list. We won’t include 1997’s Steel or 1984’s Supergirl because those were offshoots, not mainline Superman movies. We also won’t include team-up movies like 2016’s Batman v Superman or 2021’s Justice League; we’ll just cover the solo Superman films. Besides, Jim and I discussed our thoughts on Batman v Superman when it first released. Wow! That was a long time ago.
Let’s rank all the Superman movies, starting with sixth place and counting down to number one.
6) Man of Steel (2013)
From a technical standpoint, Man of Steel may be the most polished Superman movie (Superman Returns may have something to say about that), but that’s expected from the most recent Superman solo movie. And a sound Superman movie from a technical standpoint doesn’t necessarily make a great or even good Superman movie. But I’m getting ahead of myself. Let’s talk about the good elements within Man of Steel.
Man of Steel puts much time and effort into building up Krypton. Perhaps this is why we received a Krypton television series that no one wanted and few watched. Zod is fleshed out in this version of Superman more than he will be in our next entry, Superman II. Man of Steel gives more of a reason why Krypton has fallen into disrepair. That’s good.
In principle, I also like the idea of Superman needing to hone his skills and Ma Kent giving him the guidance he needs. I even like how the fight scenes incorporate the ground more than most recent superhero films. More on this point in Superman II. Can you tell I’m running out of steam for nice things to say? I could be missing a point or two, but let’s rip off the band-aid.
Man of Steel is the most disappointing Superman movie. It easily takes our sixth spot because it’s not a Superman movie. To be clear, I don’t blame Henry Cavill or any other cast member for this assessment. They did what they could with the material. Man of Steel has problems at the story and direction level.
Man of Steel hammered home Superman’s trauma. They do so at the narrative structure. Non-linear stories are the hallmark of a trauma story (like the Sweet Here After), so much so that writers will refer to non-linear storytelling as the trauma storytelling method. Superman seldom lends himself to trauma. Sure, he has issues he must overcome, but the level Man of Steel stoops to is worthy of Batman. Not every superhero is Batman. Superman is nothing like Batman. Supes has issues, yes. He doesn’t necessarily have trauma. Certainly not the deep-seated trauma Man of Steel presents. I half expected Superman to turn into Martian Manhunter. That person has trauma.
Man of Steel also ushered in the reluctant and darker version of heroes in the DCEU. The DCEU did this so much that the reluctant hero went from being a trope to a cliche. There isn’t much difference between a trope and a cliche, except that tropes can often be done well and cliches usually can’t. Man of Steel set the DCEU on a collision course with failure. Superman isn’t a reluctant hero. Wonder Woman usually isn’t a reluctant hero. Batman going over the edge–actually makes sense–but from a character standpoint, little else in the DCEU made sense.
I know I said that Zod and Krypton were fleshed out well in Man of Steel. That’s both a good and bad thing. Man of Steel relies too much on Krypton and builds it up so much that it neglects Kal-El’s relationship with Earth. Outside of Martha Kent, Superman has no connection with Earthlings. This was the worst possible move. I blame writer David S. Goyer. He turns everyone, including Leonardo da Vinci (Da Vinci’s Demons, which I don’t suggest watching), into Batman. Again, Superman is nothing like Batman.
I’ll end with Man of Steel’s wanton destruction. Many people have mentioned this before, but I’ll add my two cents. Superman doesn’t even attempt to draw Zod and the others to an unpopulated location. Superman does exactly that during his fight with Zod in Superman II. Why didn’t you do your homework, Davey? While it’s true Zod may have taken the battle back to a city or town, Superman should’ve attempted to draw fire away from humans. But this is a Superman who has no connection with Earth or humans. Man of Steel’s Superman isn’t really Superman.
Man of Steel would’ve claimed our fourth spot because it’s the fourth best movie of this bunch, but it’s not a Superman movie. They never call him Superman. Perhaps this is a movie about Skibidiman.
5) Superman IV: The Quest for Peace (1987)
I’ll try to stay positive at first while discussing every Superman movie, but Superman IV: The Quest for Peace makes that difficult. But not impossible. With an hour and a half runtime, Superman IV: The Quest for Peace is the shortest Superman film by at least thirty minutes. If another movie is eighty percent as bad as Superman IV: The Quest for Peace and runs thirty minutes to an hour longer, does that make the other movie worse? That’s a real debate for the next film on this list. Superman IV: The Quest for Peace is self-aware enough to know it should waste as little of a viewer’s time as it can, and I’ll say the movie’s pacing is good. Not great, but good.
There’s even a hint at a good story in Superman IV: The Quest for Peace. The Kryptonian judges, whom Superman asks for advice about ridding the world of all its nuclear weapons, warn him against Earth putting all their faith in one man, even if that man is Kal-El. Lex Luthor espouses this logic numerous times in the comics. I wonder if a version of Superman IV: The Quest for Peace’s script includes Lex worrying that Superman is too powerful. Instead, Superman IV leans heavily into “the threat of nuclear war is good for business.” While that’s a good motivation for Lex, he’d most likely spin that underlying desire as Superman is overreaching by ridding the world of its most dangerous weapons. But that’s Lex saying the quiet part out loud, and Superman IV: The Quest for Peace’s creatives had some naked political agendas.
The script and direction aren’t subtle with their politics. Even the tertiary story gets in on the action. A greedy businessman, Warfield (again, subtle), takes over the Daily Planet. He commodifies the news, and in the end, he gets his comeuppance. While I agree with Lacy Warfield’s (the man’s daughter) sentiment that a newspaper’s business should be journalism, not money, the message is ham-fisted at best. This exact scenario has played out in modern reporting, but that doesn’t mean the message wasn’t cranked to the highest volume and the nob yanked.
Any scene with the kid asking Superman to rid the world of nuclear weapons gives a bad name to saccharine. It’s beyond the term. The entire nuclear weapon storyline is a product of the Eighties. Superman IV: The Quest for Peace would look a lot different in today’s climate. And that brings us back to capitalism needing the threat of war to survive. Lex Luthor becomes a stand-in for capitalism, not caring where the money comes from so long as the money flows. In short, Superman IV: The Quest for Peace is over the top with its messaging.
Before I get into the horrid action sequences, let’s discuss that awkward double-date scene with Superman, Lois, Clark Kent, and Lacy Warfield. It’s the definition of cringe. Fortunately, the scene doesn’t last long, but leads to some eye-rolling situational comedy.
Yep. Superman IV: The Quest for Peace has some of the worst special effects in superhero cinema. What’s worse is that some of the head-scratching superpowers introduced in Superman II (more on that film later) return in Superman IV. Amnesiac kisses? Check. Telekinetic vision? Double check; Superman and Nuclearman use this ability. And Superman IV adds poisonous fingernails, which age Superman for some reason, for Nuclearman. What’s worse is that Superman IV reuses old footage. Many of the fight scenes repeat, and Lex even uses his dog whistle trick from the original Superman. Yikes!
Superman IV: The Quest for Peace takes the fifth spot for all these reasons, but it’s still a Superman movie. And because of Superman IV’s brevity and pacing, I watched this movie in fewer sittings than the next film on this list.
4) Superman III (1983)
Superman IV: The Quest for Peace may be the worst movie in the Superman franchise (I don’t include Man of Steel as a Superman movie), but Superman III is disappointing. If it wasn’t for the existence of Man of Steel, Superman III would be the most disappointing Superman movie. I’ll try to say some nice things about Superman III before I list the numerous ways the movie failed.
An internal Superman struggle is a good direction for a story. Superman III introduces a synthetic Kryptonite, and the synthetic Kryptonite turns Superman evil. Not bad. It’s a little hokey that Clark Kent physically walks away from the Nega-Superman to fight himself, but this scene may have inspired Black Kryptonite (Smallville “Crusade” in 2004 and eventually the comics), which does just that. An exposed Kryptonian splits into two identities, one good and one evil. An internal Superman struggle is a solid foundation. Unfortunately, Superman II also had a hint of internal struggle, so the series was already getting repetitive.
I also liked Clark’s return to Smallville. Superman is a small-town kid at heart, and he often returns to Smallville in the comics. Heck. One of the most recent Superman stories features Lois and Clark moving to Smallville and starting a family. The Lana Lang love story felt forced, but I can see why the Superman film series wanted to shake things up from the status quo of Lois and Clark. And Lana is canonically one of Superman’s love interests, one of the few outside of Lois Lane.
Oh, what could’ve been. Here comes the disappointment. Early drafts of Superman III’s script included Bizarro and Brainiac. While watching the final fight sequences, you can see Bizarro and Brainiac’s influence. Superman III’s second conflict centers around Richard Pryor’s character, who can somehow speak to computers (a stand-in for Brainiac), asking a billionaire to construct a killer computer (a second stand-in for Brainiac), and this supercomputer transforms a woman (Vera) into a Bizarro-like monstrosity. And the fight I mentioned prior between Superman and himself is yet another Bizarro stand-in. Just use Brainiac and Bizarro.
Not gonna lie, Robot Vera gave me nightmares as a kid. But here’s where we get into the not-so-nice points. Richard Pryor was shoehorned into this movie. Superman II leaned into slapstick and camp (more on that movie in a little while), so Superman III felt it had to market itself as a comedy. Pryor is a big name. Let’s squeeze him into Brainiac’s shoes. That’s not speculation. The studio has admitted they felt as if they “had to market Superman III” as a comedy. To his credit, Pryor wasn’t as annoying as I remembered. He can be annoying, but the script gave him little to work with, and the skiing sequence was stupid.
In general, the script stank. One could almost see what Superman III tried to do with its story (Brainiac and Bizarro) and changed course to match what they believed audiences wanted. And everything was about computers. Superman has powers, but we have computers. What powers the world? Computers. What can defeat Superman? Brainiac…I mean, computers. I cringed every time Robert Vaughn spoke about technology. He came off like Grandpa trying to explain the interwebs to the youngins, who, you know, grew up with computers. And don’t get me started on some of the graphics. I may have played the missile scene (a pixelated Superman dodges heat-seeking missiles) in an ’80s video game or two. Superman III wasn’t entirely bad, but it disappointed.
3) Superman II (1980)
I went into this rewatch of Superman movies thinking I’d put Superman II at number one, but the remaining movies on this list narrowly edge out Superman II. I’ll discuss those two movies in a moment. Before I go into Superman II’s shortcomings, let’s discuss what it gets right. Superman II does one thing modern superhero movies should adopt: gravity.
Literal gravity. Because Superman II had technical limitations, the movie’s four flying characters (Superman, General Zod, Ursa, and Nan) must occasionally land. This roots the viewer in what’s up and what’s down. It grants each blow more impact. The one I think of specifically is when Ursa mockingly calls for Superman, he turns to face her, and she throws a manhole cover into Supe’s midsection. Superman flies backwards, and while this is a dated (and comical) action sequence, it looks like it hurts. Black Panther is overall a better movie than Superman II, but the battle where Black Panther and Killmonger tumble in what looks like weightlessness doesn’t have the same impact.
I’ll add another bright spot for Superman II before listing some nits. I liked the character’s origin (and a few highlights from the previous movie) being recapped during the opening credits. I forgot Superman II did this. The MCU would be easier to keep up with if it did something similar. This wouldn’t work all the time, but I wouldn’t mind a refresher to cut down on MCU homework, and studios can stop force-feeding us character origins. Consider sliding an origin story into the movie’s opening credits.
Okay. We’ve reached the nitpicks. While Superman: The Movie has hints of comedy, Superman II includes actual slapstick comedy moments (Otis during the prison break). It isn’t too distracting, but these moments show what the movie franchise would become. Superman II leans more into camp. Again, the movie is still good, but this also shows the franchise’s direction. And then there are the powers. What is going on with these odd one-off superpowers? Superman: The Movie had Kal-El reverse the Earth’s rotation to turn back time. This is odd, but it makes Bizarro-World sense. Superman II says, Hold my beer.
Odd powers include: Saran wrap Superman logo, General Zod (and company) using telekinesis vision, a pod (ray) that turns Kryptonians into humans (which got switched off-camera into shielding a Kryptonian), and Superman having amnesic kisses. Most of these powers are very convenient for the plot, which is rather thin.
At its core, Superman II is a love story between Lois and Clark. I like this idea. Unfortunately, Superman II’s execution of this story was as clumsy as a Clark aw, shucks moment. Pair this with some other baffling choices (like why did Clark have to walk back to the Fortress of Solitude instead of bumming a ride from Lois? I didn’t understand this when I was a child and still don’t), and Superman II doesn’t shine quite as bright as our next two entries.
2) Superman Returns (2006)
I wasn’t expecting Superman Returns to be this watchable. I had to get over the cringe of seeing Kevin Spacey’s name (and watching him on-screen), but the man does a brilliant job as Lex Luthor. His performance is close enough to Gene Hackman’s while deviating until he made the character his own. The remaining cast followed suit, except for Frank Langella’s Perry White. Langella blends a hard-nosed, hard-working journalist with an editor who wants to sell numerous copies of the Daily Planet. Langella’s performance is a perfect marriage of Warfield (who took over the Planet in Superman IV) and the original Perry White. I’m impressed with Superman Returns’ acting and direction.
Even though Superman Returns’ runtime is the longest of all six movies ranked, it has good pacing. Were there a few moments that dragged a hair too long? Sure. But every Superman movie has those moments; Superman Returns may have the fewest of these moments. But many of the movie’s cool moments or story beats look and feel familiar. That’s because we’ve seen them in Superman: The Movie. This is why Superman Returns doesn’t take the top spot. Unlike Star Wars: The Force Awakens did with Star Wars: A New Hope, Superman Returns doesn’t lift all of Superman: The Movie’s story threads. The movie makes enough alterations.
But here are the similarities I found. Lex wants beachfront property and will murder millions of Americans to get it; he just switches coasts and the means. Lex’s woman accomplice grows a conscience and foils his plans at the last moment. Lex uses Kryptonite again, which didn’t happen as much as one might think in previous Superman movies, but it did in Superman: The Movie. These are major story beats and almost all of them came from the original, but Superman Returns, like the movie’s actors and their portrayals, it does take enough liberties to make the movie feel fresh.
I’ve waited long enough to mention the one plot point most people hated in Superman Returns: Lois and Clark’s son. The passage of time has softened my response to this storyline, but this doesn’t bother me. I can’t remember if Lois and Clark’s child bothered me in 2006. Recently, the two had a child in the comics. I mentioned this series in the Superman III write-up above, but I’ll reiterate it here. The story where Lois and Clark have a child and set roots in Smallville is one of the better Superman runs of the past decade to decade and a half. Had Superman Returns been released after this comic book run, more fans could’ve bought into Superman having a biological son with Lois. Regardless, I didn’t mind this story. It wasn’t handled the best–I would’ve tweaked a few things like Clark knowing he had a son–but it wasn’t a deal breaker.
But I do have a gripe that almost was a deal breaker. When is Superman Returns supposed to be set? Superman Returns takes place between ten and fifteen years after Superman II, so that would make the movie’s timeframe 1990 to 1995. Why does everyone have cellphones? Didn’t that happen in the early 2000s? Cellphones and other advanced technology may be the biggest head-scratchers, but Superman Returns holds a lot of anachronisms. The movie doesn’t know when it wants to be set. Still, Superman Returns is a good watch. Just turn off the switch in your brain that asks what time this is and allow the shock of Lois and Clark having a kid together to wane. Years later, Superman Returns is a surprisingly watchable movie.
1) Superman: The Movie (1978)
Yes! We have the original Superman (1978). I haven’t watched Superman: The Movie in years, decades perhaps. I forgot how the movie opens. A kid leafing through an issue of the Daily Planet is quaint. It made me smile. I got the vibe of a storybook mixed with the iconic newspaper where Clark and Lois work. The same can be said of the opening theme.
John Williams’ soundtracks always put me in a great mood. And then we’re treated to Jor-El (Superman’s birth father, portrayed by Marlon Brando) sentencing General Zod and his cronies to the Phantom Zone. Surprisingly, Superman: The Movie had the foresight to introduce the potential villain of its sequel. That didn’t happen often before the 2000s. In that sense, Superman: The Movie was ahead of its time.
Unlike Pa Kent’s death scene in Man of Steel, John Kent’s death of a heart attack in Superman: The Movie makes sense. Despite all Superman’s powers, he can’t save everyone, not even the ones closest to him. Pa Kent’s death scene in Superman: The Movie humanizes Clark Kent; it reminds him of the fragility of human life. I also like that Pa Kent’s death doesn’t serve to set up Kal-El as a reluctant hero like it did in Man of Steel. I hope 2025’s Superman abandons the reluctant superhero cliche.
I won’t go into a blow-by-blow for the remainder of Superman: The Movie. I was just shocked by how little I remembered from the movie’s opening and how groundbreaking some of these scenes were. Superman: The Movie may have flaws and be a product of its time, but it legitimized superhero movies. Oddly, it took over a decade for another major superhero film (Batman 1989) other than a Superman movie to grace the silver screen. No. I don’t count 1984’s Supergirl; unfortunately, it was a cash grab on the Superman movie franchise. I’m looking forward to a better Supergirl film.
Superman: The Movie takes a while to get going. Most of its early runtime revolves around Superman’s origin, but the movie does a great job telling this story. Movies like Superman 1978 do such a great job of showing a superhero’s origin that including an origin for well-known characters in modern superhero movies is a turnoff. I may like Superman II’s action more, but it does venture more into camp, and Superman Returns borrows more than a little of Superman: The Movie’s sugar to claim this top spot. Sometimes the original is the best.
That’s our list. How would you rate the previous Superman movies before this year’s film releases? Let us know in the comments. I can’t wait for Superman to release later this week. Except for Man of Steel, I had fun rewatching these movies. Yes. I even enjoyed rewatching Superman IV: The Quest for Peace. RIP, Christopher Reeve, Gene Hackman, and Margot Kidder. Thank you for reading, and wherever you are, I hope you’re having a great day.
Happy Sunday, Geekly Gang! Kyra Kyle here, serving up another week of geek news. We’ve got a couple of television and movie updates, but the biggest one may be that Spaceballs 2 will hit theaters in 2027. Let’s talk about it.
First Spaceballs 2 Teaser Released
Spaceballs 2 rumors are flying everywhere at the moment. We don’t know what the movie’s full title is going to be for sure. The original Spaceballs dubbed its future sequel Spaceballs 2: The Search for More Money, but judging from this week’s teaser, the movie’s full title may be Spaceballs 2: The Schwartz Awakens.
Sure, Spaceballs 2 is tapping into Gen X’s nostalgia, but I don’t mind this sequel. If nothing else, it was great to see a nearly 99-year-old Mel Brooks in great health. I can’t believe he’s turning 99 on June 28th. Yikes! We know for sure that Mel Brooks will return as director, and he’ll probably reprise one or both of his roles, President Skroob and Yogurt. Several other casting rumors have swirled since the teaser. In the past, Rick Moranis has mentioned that he’d act in another Mel Brooks movie. It’s unclear if Moranis believed Brooks had another movie left to direct. Bill Pullman and his son, Lewis Pullman (who portrayed Sentry in Thunderbolts*), have also expressed interest in joining Spaceballs 2’s cast.
The original Spaceballs was a fan favorite. I could see numerous actors attached to play different roles. Only time will tell who makes the finals cast list, but despite the obvious nostalgia button being pressed, I’m excited.
Final Superman Trailer Released
Not going to lie, the teeth flying out of the enemy’s mouth and clanging off the camera are a little much. Yowza! Moving on. Despite the final Superman trailer’s brevity, it packs a punch. Pun intended. We get an idea that Lex Luthor intends to destroy Superman, but his monologue suggests that he doesn’t mean to kill Superman, at least not yet. Lex plans to kill everyone important to Superman: Lois (the reporter who does all his interviews) and the people who raised him. Dang! Lex is a certified hater. He goes as far as to say, they (the world) chose Superman, let them die. Nicholas Hoult’s Luthor doesn’t play.
Lex has discovered the Fortress of Solitude (which we saw in the previous trailers), but this trailer may sow the seeds of Lex’s machinations. Superman could pull from the Superman: Birthright comic storyline and have Lex frame Superman as an advanced scout for the Kryptonian race attempting to overtake Earth. One of Lex’s henchmen, Ultraman, could be a Kryptonian clone. He certainly has strength comparable to Superman as he pushes Supes’ face into concrete. The kaiju-style monster Superman fights could even be an animal from Superman’s zoo.
In the comics, Superman kept Kryptonian animals in a zoo enclosed in his Fortress of Solitude. If Lex wants to frame Superman and the Kryptonians for acts of violence, it makes sense if he releases one of the Kryptonian animals from the Fortress of Solitude’s zoo. It could be just as likely that this kaiju-style monster is an illusion. The Superman: Birthright storyline includes something similar with Lex’s smear campaign against Superman. But Lex may not be the only villain working behind the scenes.
Maxwell Lord appears to be the one behind the Justice Gang, this universe’s current iteration of the Justice League, that includes Guy Gardner, Hawkgirl, and Mr. Terrific. It looks as though Lord will only be mentioned, but it’ll be interesting to see how he’s pulling strings. The Justice Gang looks to be wearing Lord apparel. Guy Gardner may also be the perfect Green Lantern to fight Superman. He’s a grade A douchebag, and the perfect foil for Supes. Overall, I liked this final trailer. It doesn’t spoil too much. I could be wrong about a lot of these details. And I can’t wait for Superman to hit theaters next month.
Clash of Clans Show Will Be a Workplace Comedy
We covered the Clash of Clans show announcement a couple of weeks ago. I’ll be honest; I never did get into Clash of Clans. But the news that Clash of Clans will be a workplace comedy has me intrigued. We don’t know if the characters will know they’re part of a video game or if they’re committed to the Clash of Clans’ universe. The zanier the better. Bring it on.
Plakks Basketball Launches on KickStarter
Plakks has a great track record of taking popular sports and translating them to a dexterity-based tabletop game. They’re doing the same with basketball. The pitch is simple. Players bounce the basketball on their half of the court and try to make a basket in their opponent’s goal. If they make a shot, they get to place a player on their opponent’s side of the court. Player figurines affect the ball’s bounce and shrink the playing field. Whoever places five players on their opponent’s side first wins.
Players control ants in this interstellar version of capture the flag. But watch out! A meteor approaches, changing the rules of the game and making players’ weapons more powerful. ANTgravity takes video game concepts and applies them to a quick board game of outer space dominance.
Asteroids (the purple tiles seen above) can block your path. You can shoot them, gaining any bonuses underneath, to clear a path to your opponent’s headquarters (and their flag), but if an ant travels off the board, it floats into outer space and respawns at the hospital. Capture your opponents’ flags and bring them back to your headquarters before time runs out. ANTgravity launches early next week on GameFound. The Core Set costs approximately $34, while the Gameplay All-In runs about $57.
That’s all we have for Geek News this week. We may be a little light on news, now that we’re less than a month away from Superman and Fantastic Four: First Steps. Board game news should pick up again closer to GenCon in early August. Thank you for reading, and wherever you are, I hope you’re having a great day.
Hey, hey, Geekly Gang! Kyra Kyle here. We’ve had quite a few trailers over the past week. We’ll start with Superman, because the DCU hasn’t received nearly enough shine from JK Geekly, and that’s on me. Let’s fix that with this week’s Geekly News post.
New Superman Trailer
JK Geekly didn’t cover the first Superman trailer, mostly because that trailer received unnecessary–and frankly, baffling–criticism. The most vocal critics didn’t care for the first trailer’s comedic elements. One tweet that ripped apart a small scene with robot medics, where one (voiced by Alan Tudyk) said there was no reason for Superman to thank the robots because they don’t possess feelings, and the next robot medic shows emotion, received 37 million likes. That was a joke. Most of the responses didn’t seem to understand comedy. I would get the criticism if the joke wasn’t well told. That wasn’t what most people suggested. Regarding the comedy, I thought it worked well enough for a quick joke. But this doesn’t even get into fans’ costume vitriol.
I probably should’ve covered the first trailer anyway, but I waited for the second trailer, so let’s get to it. John Murphy’s interpretation of John Williams’s classic Superman theme was fantastic. I like the premise this second Superman trailer presents. Lois knows Clark is Superman. Thank goodness. Superman presumably stopped a war, which is something he might do, and that causes an international incident (which would definitely happen if other nations believed Superman represented the United States), and that leads Lex Luthor to sow doubt in the Earth needing a Superman. So far, this is all on brand.
I love this premise. Pa Kent and Lois nail their portrayals. Ma Kent cleaning Superman’s boots so he could help people was adorable. Lex might be a little campy. Nicholas Hoult is an accomplished actor; I’ve liked him since his major acting debut in the BBC series Skins. I have hope this is Hoult channeling a bit of Gene Hackman’s Lex (not Jesse Eisenberg’s Lex), and the moment where he ventures into camp is fleeting. I can’t stress this enough. These trailers offer glimpses of an over two-hour movie.
Similarly, I’m a little concerned about David Corenswet’s Superman losing his cool with Lois. From what we see (in a trailer for a two-hour movie), Lois doesn’t press him too much. Perhaps, there’s more to this scene that we’re not seeing. But Corenswet’s Superman slightly loses his cool. This isn’t a Michael Gambon as Dumbledore screaming at Harry Potter when the text in The Goblet of Fire clearly states that he calmly asks Harry a question. Outside of losing his cool while saying, “People were going to die,” Corenswet looked and sounded like he could be a younger, slightly arrogant, and naive Superman.
The two Superman trailers have me excited for the movie. I can’t wait to see the movie in a couple of months.
Ironheart Trailer Drops
The MCU’s Ironheart trailer dropped this week, too. This marks the closest a Marvel project was to releasing before it received its first trailer. Even Werewolf By Night, a surprise Marvel project in 2022, had a trailer months before it released. I don’t know what this means for Ironheart. This could mean that the studio has little faith in the project or that they have the utmost confidence. It could also be a nothingburger. I find it odd that Ironheart didn’t receive a trailer sooner when Sinners (a film by Ironheart’s producer Ryan Coogler) was atop the box office.
My favorite comment for the Ironheart trailer was “I’m genuinely impressed they haven’t disabled the comments.” lol. Same. Most viewers didn’t care for the premise, and to be fair, Ironheart didn’t do a good enough job of setting up its premise. I’ve read the show’s description, and Ironheart sounds like it could be great. Riri Williams (Ironheart) picks up where Iron Man left off. The Hood (the main antagonist) is a magic user who runs a criminal underground. SciFi versus Magic. What’s not to love? Ironheart and The Hood’s relationship gives me strong vibes of what Iron Man and The Mandarin should’ve been. And Ironheart could be setting up the ultimate magic meets technology with Doctor Doom. I’ll amend what I said. Ironheart could be epic.
But this trailer falls flat. It’s paint-by-numbers. Reintroduce Riri (in case people forgot who she was from Black Panther: Wakanda Forever), clumsily introduce the antagonist, and give the viewer a vague idea of the show. Still, I like Ironheart’s inclusion of practical effects; Riri’s armor-up scene was tight. And Ryan Coogler wouldn’t attach his name to a stinker. Ironheart still interests me. The trailer could’ve done more.
Coexist Will Launch on Gamefound on May 19, 2025
Take control of a wildlife conservation team with Coexist. Publisher Matagot Games has an amazing track record. They’ve teamed up with Stonemeier Games for Wingspan, Scythe, and several others. One of Matagot Games’ originals, Takenoko, still hits my table. We don’t know much about Coexist’s gameplay. Matagot has shared that the core game flow is recruiting caretakers, welcoming animals to your conservation headquarters, and releasing animals back into the wild after their needs are met, or you may lower your reputation by placing the animals in a reserve.
Matagot Games has teamed up with Human Initiative to Save Animals (HISA). I love it when board game companies do this; whenever this happens, a portion of the game’s profits will go to HISA, a real-world conservation organization that’s based in Bordeaux. Coexist’s art looks fantastic.
Bordeaux street artist A-Mo provides Coexist’s art. Matagot Games stays true to its Bordeaux roots. HISA is headquartered there, and A-Mo is from there. I love the theme, Matagot Games seldom releases a poorly received game, and the varied animal types needing specific things (so one conservation team cannot save every animal) could supply a lot of strategic value.
Since Coexist hasn’t yet been released, Geekly doesn’t have specifics for the campaign’s pricing. If you’d like to follow the campaign, feel free to visit Coexist’s Gamefound page.
Battle Monsters Launches on Kickstarter
Strategic kaiju battles await with Restoration Games’ Battle Monsters. This title reimplements 1992’s Battle Masters, which used the Warhammer intellectual property. That makes sense. Restoration Games is known for taking old games (like Thunder Road: Vendetta and Fireball Island), occasionally retheming the game if they cannot use the license, and re-engineering old games for modern gamers. Battle Monsters looks to be another great title.
Wow! Those detailed miniatures look amazing. A lot comes in the box, no matter which box you choose. The game features quick dice-based combat. Players control a kaiju and a team of soldiers. Coordinating your forces is the key to victory. You can mix and match any titan (kaiju) and faction on any map. I also like that there’s a solo play option; that’s a great trend for the board game hobby.
The smallest pledge amount is $125, and you must choose between the Godzilla and Kong boxes. The Big Bundle runs $299, and gamers receive Godzilla, Kong, and the Mothra expansion. The Mega Bundle costs $379, but backers at this level receive all Battle Monsters’ content, including upgrades like specialty stands for each kaiju miniature. If you’re interested in getting your kaiju on, check out Battle Monsters’ Kickstarter page.
SquareEnix Leaks Kingdom Hearts IV Screenshots
While we knew SquareEnix was working on Kingdom Hearts IV, the game released its first images. Most of the images are of low quality. We chose one of the better shots to show gamers what they could expect from SquareEnix’s upcoming title. Kingdom Hearts IV’s environment looks like a virtual Shibuya. These photos reveal little of the game’s story or other locations. We’re certain Shibuya will be one of several locations players will visit.
The above image is grainy as heck, but one thing is for certain. The player is controlling Mickey. This may be a first for the Kingdom Hearts series. Mickey is seldom a playable character. I can’t wait to see if players will get to play as the famous mouse.
That’s all the geek news we have for this week. Next week, I’ll be out of town, so Geekly News may be rather short. We’ll see when the day comes. Thank you for reading. And wherever you are, I hope you’re having a great day.
Hey, hey! Kyra Kyle here. Geekly hasn’t covered any movies or television series recently and it’s the new year, so let’s talk about the properties being released by DC Comics Studios in 2025. Full disclosure: I haven’t purchased a Max account yet; I’m woefully behind on most DC Comics-related television series. But I plan on signing up for Max soon, and there’s plenty of a back catalog to watch. Yay!
Unfortunately, there doesn’t appear to be as much for the DCU on Max in 2025 as in 2024. Our first property on this list was supposed to be released in late 2024 but was pushed back to January 2025. Let’s see what I’ll be binging as soon as I sign up for Max.
Harley Quinn (Season 5) (On Max Starting January, 16 2025)
Harley Quinn has lasted five seasons? My goodness!
Harley Quinn looks like a show I’d enjoy. It follows Harley’s exploits after she breaks up with The Joker. She discovers who she is without Mr. J and meets a lot of Arkham’s colorful characters along the way. The cast elevates this premise even more. Kaley Cuoco (of The Big Bang Theory) portrays Harley, while long-time voice actor Lake Bell takes on the role of Poison Ivy. Throw in Alan Tudyk as the Joker, Ron (Bunches of) Funches as King Shark, Tony Hale as Doctor Psycho, and Jason Alexander as Sy Borgman, and you’ve got yourself a party.
As I said, Harley Quinn’s Season 5 was supposed to be released in December 2024. The DCU must’ve thought that would make Max’s end-of-year schedule too tight. Creature Commandos began airing on December 5, 2024. I’ll have to add Creature Commandos to my laundry list of shows to binge.
Unlike the MCU, which shows its roadmap of titles for the following five or six years (mild exaggeration), the DCU keeps its schedule a mystery. Max didn’t even announce that Harley Quinn Season 5 was pushed back. It just vanished from Max’s December lineup with no warning. Mid-way through December 2024, it popped back up with a January, 16 2025 release. This will be a recurring issue with the DCU.
Superman: Legacy (In Theaters July 11, 2025)
As of December 14, 2024, Superman: Legacy was the only 2025 DCU release with an official release date of July 11, 2025. I’ve got a second one that I know the exact release date for. XD
The new DC Universe rides on the success of its first entry, Superman: Legacy. No pressure.
Fortunately, Superman: Legacy has a lot going for it. I trust James Gunn as a writer and director of comic book movies. Gunn used All-Star Superman as inspiration for the film. That’s another vote of confidence. (Note: Jim Plath made a Superman Starter Stories post several years ago, and All-Star Superman made his list; see what other stories made his list.) DC Studios cast a relative no-name to portray Superman/Clark Kent; I’m glad they resisted the urge to cast a big name. And the rest of the cast holds plenty of accomplished actors. My favorite may have to be Nathan Fillion as Guy Gardner. This ought to be fun.
Superman: Legacy also precedes any other major DCU release. Man of Steel followed in the footsteps of The Dark Knight (not even the first movie of the Dark Knight Trilogy) and felt as if it had to mimic the Nolanverse’s vibe. The rest of the DCEU kept that same energy for too long. I know that The Dark Knight didn’t officially take part in the DCEU, but the DCEU maintained the Nolanverse grit, whether the characters warranted it or not. Superman: Legacy is a much better choice to anchor the DCU.
I’m excited for Superman: Legacy. I hope it goes well and that the DCU can become more than an afterthought to the MCU. DC Comics has way too many great characters to be overshadowed for long. But I’m also nervous about Superman: Legacy. It needs to be a hit.
Peacemaker (Season 2) (On Max Starting August 2025)
Peacemaker Season was a huge success. Like many other titles on this list, I have yet to watch it. More binging! John Cena returns as the titular Peacemaker. Season one’s premise sounds interesting. Peacemaker joins a black ops squad, “Project Butterfly,” as it identifies and eliminates parasitic butterfly-like creatures who have taken over human bodies around the world.
Peacemaker served as a “soft reboot” for the 2021 DCEU movie Suicide Squad. Showrunner James Gunn postponed the second season because of his involvement in the Superman movie. This time, we have a month for Peacemaker Season 2’s release, and we know that Peacemaker’s second season can’t be released until after Superman in July 2025 because the events in Peacemaker Season 2 directly follow Superman. Think of this season as the bridge between the old DCEU and the new DCU. Fingers are crossed for a great DCU one-two punch.
Sandman (Season 2) (On Netflix Sometime in 2025)
We have no idea when Sandman Season 2 will be released, but it will most likely be released sometime in 2025. And there may be a good reason for this delay: Sandman writer Neil Gaiman’s allegations of sexual assault. Gaiman denies any wrongdoing. He’s innocent until he is proven guilty. I don’t want to get into detail about his legal issues here.
I don’t know exactly why Netflix has delayed Sandman Season 2’s release or given it a month for its release, but I wager it’s because Netflix wants to wait and see how Gaiman’s legal battle goes. Netflix canceled Dead Boy Detectives, another show based on a Gaiman-penned DC comic book, shortly after the allegations in July 2024, but that was because Dead Boy Detectives didn’t get enough viewers. Sandman Season 1 received plenty of viewers.
I was looking forward to Sandman Season 2, but that was before these allegations came to light. It’s difficult to separate art from the artist. It’s even more difficult to ignore allegations when (as of this writing) five women have accused Neil Gaiman of sexual assault.
Deep breath.
Let’s get back to Sandman. Despite what some viewers claimed, Sandman’s first season stayed true to the source material. Kirby made an excellent Death, likewise for Mason Alexander Park as Desire. The rest of the cast was fantastic. I didn’t think anyone could effectively pull off Morpheus. Tom Sturridge gives a solid performance. Did the first season take some liberties? Yes. But the heart of the story remained the same. Sandman Season 2 was my most anticipated DC Comics project for this year, and that includes a year with a Superman movie.
Okay. I was stoked about Superman: Legacy, too.
That’s all I have for now. Let me know your thoughts on the upcoming DCU movies and television shows. See you soon. And wherever you are, I hope you’re having a great day.
Hey, hey! Kyra Kyle here. We’re back with another Top 5 Villains List. This time we’re covering Superman’s rogues gallery. We mentioned Supe’s rogues in a previous Top 5, the Top 5 Most Powerful Rogues Gallery. But Superman’s villains are getting their list today. Let’s see who made the list.
5: Darkseid
You may think that Darkseid is way too low on this list, but I view him more as a Justice League villain if not a DC universe-wide villain. But Darkseid needs to make the list. I struggled with that. I wanted to include Parasite or Cyborg Superman or even Toy Man or Mister Mxyzptlk. Consider them the honorable mentions. Oh. Spoiler alert: those villains didn’t quite make the list. Getting back to Darkseid, he inspired Marvel’s Thanos. So, Darkseid is a heavy hitter. Unless the writer powers down the villain, Superman often needs help when dealing with Darkseid.
4: Doomsday
What more can be said of the villain who killed Superman? He belongs on the list; he may even be too low like Darkseid. Next.
Just kidding. We’ll discuss Doomsday a bit more. Doomsday is an engineered being from the depths of prehistoric Krypton. Is everyone still on board with genetic experiments? Doomsday’s creator imbued him with few feelings, mostly hate and a desire for destruction, which led to him destroying worlds and eventually finding Earth. Doomsday can’t die. He adapts every time he gets defeated. He can’t be reasoned with. Of Superman’s mindless foes (or his foes who are forces of nature), Doomsday tops them all and makes this list.
3: General Zod
Since he’s a Kryptonian, General Zod has powers comparable to Superman. And as his name suggests, he’s a general. So, he has military training. That makes General Zod a Superman-powered general who desires to subjugate humanity and turn Earth into a New Krypton. Yep. He’s terrifying.
General Zod may even be my choice for Superman’s first major villain if I were to reboot the character. He ties in perfectly with Supe’s past. General Zod knew Kal-El’s birth parents after all. And he hated them. It made sense that Man of Steel featured General Zod as its main antagonist. Too bad the movie wasn’t better.
2: Brainiac
There have been many Brainiacs and with that several origins for the character. No matter the origins or version, Brainiac is often considered Superman’s second-greatest villain. You can probably guess who takes the top spot. Usually, writers depict Brainiac as a superintelligent android or cyborg from the planet Colu who is obsessed with collecting all knowledge in the known universe. He even goes so far as to shrink cities like Kandor, the capital of Superman’s home planet Krypton, and Brainiac has destroyed countless civilizations.
If his body ever gets destroyed, Brainiac uploads his artificial consciousness into a new body and begins anew. This makes Brainiac pseudo-immortal and a major threat to Superman. One of my favorite versions of Brainiac comes from the Superman Animated Series. Brainiac was an AI present when Krypton exploded. We learn that Brainiac destroyed Krypton so he and he alone would have the knowledge that Krypton ever existed. This put him at odds immediately with Superman. And the reveal was fantastic. Sorry. Spoilers for an almost thirty-year-old cartoon series.
1: Lex Luthor
What more can I say about the man who would be Superman? Most people know Lex Luthor. He’s one of Comicbook’s greatest villains, let alone Superman’s greatest villain. CEO of LexCorp, Lex Luthor as I mentioned in the Most Powerful Rogues Gallery Top 5 is DC Comics’s version of Tony Stark if Iron Man decided to go a different path. Lex hates how much the world loves Superman. He doesn’t trust all that power belonging to an alien. While I could mention several large-scale, DC Comics affecting schemes, my favorite Lex Luthor story, the one that shows how evil he can be, comes from a much smaller story.
Lex visits a diner outside Metropolis. He offers a waitress at the diner a large sum of money to sleep with him. The waitress knows who Lex is, everyone knows him and what he’s done, and she’d rather not sleep with the devil. But the money Lex offered was too good to pass. As soon as she decides to sleep with Lex, he leaves the diner. Lex’s chauffeur asks why he left before completing the “transaction,” and Lex said—and I’m paraphrasing—She will always know that she would’ve slept with me. Now she hasn’t a penny to show for it.
Like Outkast once said, what’s cooler than being cool? Ice cold. That sums up Lex Luthor.
Did we get the list right? Let us know who you would add or remove in the comments. And wherever you are, I hope you’re having a great day.
Hey, hey! Kyra Kyle here. It’s still Spooky Season, but I’m going in a different direction with this week’s Top 5. What’s more horrifying than a strong series of villains? In this list, we’ll discuss the 5 most powerful rogues galleries in comic books. This differs from the most popular rogues galleries. If we did the most popular rogues galleries, Batman and Spider-Man’s rogues would certainly make the list. But most of Batman and Spider-Man’s rogues are street-level villains. And not as powerful.
So, who made the list? Let’s find out.
5: The Flash
Flash has an underrated rogues gallery. I may be showing my bias here; I don’t know. Flash begins with a lot of great street-level villains or villains slightly above street-level with Captain Cold, Mirror Master, Weather Wizard, and Captain Boomerang. But then you get into Gorilla Grodd who has brains and brawn, and the Thinker who is the most intelligent being in the DC Universe.
And then Flash’s rogues reach a new height with evil speedsters. Speed is a given in a Flash story, but each of these evil speedsters can reverse time and change events. That’s Reverse-Flash’s MO. He went back in time to kill Barry Allen’s mother. Our next hero may be able to claim a more powerful set of rogues, but that level of pettiness raises the Flash’s rogues.
4: Thor
This one’s a cheat. Most of Thor’s rogues are god-tier villains, so they can get powerful. Perhaps too powerful. Mangog is the physical manifestation and sum of the hatred of a billion beings. Mangog is a threat to the entire universe. Then, there’s Surtur, the king of the fire giants. Surtur possesses a sword that can destroy universes. And there’s Gorr the God Butcher. The Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) may have done Gorr dirty in Thor: Love and Thunder. He’s far more menacing in the comics; he has killed hundreds of gods with All-Black, his sword that gets more powerful with each god Gorr kills. Oh, wait, I didn’t mention Loki. Yikes!
3: Superman
Most people think of Lex Luthor first when thinking of Superman’s rogues and with good reason. But there are quite a few people who may think Lex is a normal human. He’s not a threat. Lex happens to be DC Comics’ version of Tony Stark/Iron Man. Both Lex and Tony have money to burn, a power suit, and super genius intellects. Lex Luthor is Iron Man if Iron Man decided to break bad.
Then you add all the evil Supermen, and there are a lot. Bizzaro, Cyborg Superman, and General Zod lead the charge here. General Zod is Superman with military training. Supes may be in trouble. Brainiac is another universe-level threat. Darkseid who is a DC-wide villain can also be a solo Superman villain, and Darkseid inspired the creation of Thanos. And that’s all before we get to Doomsday who literally killed Superman. Throw in the imp from the fifth dimension, Mister Mxyzptlk, who can warp reality itself, and you can’t deny that Superman’s rogues contain a lot of heavy hitters.
2: Fantastic Four
Galactus. This being literally eats planets like Pac-Man gobbles power pellets. Galactus alone makes the Fantastic Four’s rogues gallery ridiculously powerful. But it doesn’t stop there. Doctor Doom may be one of the deadliest villains in comic book history. He has taken the Beyonder’s powers more than once. The Beyonder is an otherworldly being with universe altering abilities. Kang keeps trophies of the hundreds of heroes he’s killed while time jumping. And there’s Annihilus, ruler of the Negative Zone.
The Fantastic Four are unique in the world of comics. They tend to act than react and bump into many of their enemies on their adventures, and their adventures take them to some crazy locales like the Negative Zone. I can’t wait to see which version of the Fantastic Four the MCU will give us.
1: X-Men
But our number one spot must be the X-Men. The Fantastic Four may have Galactus, and Galactus may be more powerful than any one X-Men villain, but the X-Men have a power classification system. This makes it easy to figure out who can destroy or severely alter the world. The X-Men have at least eight Omega-level evil mutants. Madelyne Pryor (evil clone of Jean Gray), Dark Phoenix, Apocalypse, Exodus, Cassandra Nova, Stryfe, Proteus, and of course Magneto.
That short list doesn’t even include Mr. Sinister who cloned Jean Gray and has caused havoc. Sentinels and the upgrade Nimrod. Or even Bastion who is part mutant-part Sentinel. It doesn’t include Shadow King and the Adversary who can haunt people psychically. I think I forgot to mention the Brood in there. And so, so many more ridiculously powered villains who would be at home facing off against the Fantastic Four or Superman or the Justice League or the Avengers. The X-Men’s rogues gallery tops just about any comic book rogues gallery in terms of sheer power.
Did we get the list right? Let us know who you would add or remove in the comments. And wherever you are, I hope you’re having a great day.
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