David Corenswet and Rachel Brosnahan in ‘Superman’. Credit :
DC Studios/ Warner Bros.
- Superman, which released in theaters July 11, is James Gunn’s reboot of the titular DC Comics superhero
- The movie stars David Corenswet, Rachel Brosnahan, Nicholas Hoult and more
- Superman ends with a climactic face-off between Superman and Lex Luthor, amid several other conflicts — and character cameos
Superman is flying back onto the big screen in writer-director James Gunn’s reboot of the iconic DC Comics superhero.
The new movie, which was released in theaters on July 11, stars David Corenswet as Clark Kent a.k.a. the Man of Steel, Rachel Brosnahan as Lois Lane and Nicholas Hoult as Lex Luthor and takes audiences back to Metropolis, where metahumans, extradimensional creatures — and a canine super-companion named Krypto — run amok.
Rather than telling Superman’s origin story anew, the action begins after our hero has landed on Earth from his native Krypton and grown up on the Kansas farm of his adopted parents, Jonathan and Martha Kent (played by Pruitt Taylor Vince and Neva Howell, respectively).
He has also already begun working as a reporter at the Daily Planet, dating his colleague Lois and made an enemy of LexCorp billionaire Lex, who schemes to discredit and destroy the alien do-gooder.
Who comes out on top? Here’s everything to know about how Gunn’s reimagining of the original superhero ends, from Superman’s climactic battle to the character cameo that sets up Warner Bros.’ future big-screen DC Universe installments.
Warning: It’s a bird! It’s a plane! It’s spoilers ahead for Superman!
David Corenswet in ‘Superman’. DC Studios/ Warner Bros.
Lex outmaneuvers the titular hero for most of Superman, turning the public against him by uncovering the entirety of the sinister message from his Kryptonian parents and orchestrating a political conflict for personal gain. Lex’s government-sanctioned imprisonment of the Man of Steel results in a black hole driving a crack through Earth that heads toward Metropolis.
As the city crumbles and its terrified citizens evacuate, Superman defeats Angela Spica a.k.a. The Engineer (María Gabriela de Faría) and Ultraman, learning that the latter is Lex’s clone of Superman himself. Facing off against a powerless Lex in his flying corporate office, Superman gives an impassioned speech owning his flawed, unflagging humanity.
Meanwhile, Lois, Jimmy Olsen (Skyler Gisondo) and the rest of the Daily Planet staff uncover and publish the various criminal plots of Lex, who is subsequently arrested. All of Superman’s fellow metahumans in the Justice Gang survive after averting an international conflict that Lex had helped engineer. Superman saves the day and sweeps Lois into a romantic, airborne kiss.
Milly Alcock in 2022. David M. Benett/Dave Benett/Getty
Gunn fleshes out the world of this Superman with a few DC Comics characters who have appeared on the big screen before.
Offering comments on local television broadcasts are Peacemaker — played by John Cena, reprising his role from 2021’s The Suicide Squad and his eponymous HBO TV series — and Maxwell Lord — played by Sean Gunn (younger brother of Gunn and a Guardians of the Galaxy alum), taking over the role after Pedro Pascal played him in 2020’s Wonder Woman 1984.
In Superman’s final scene, Milly Alcock makes her debut as Kara Zor-El a.k.a. Supergirl. The main character of an upcoming DC Universe movie, Kara is the extraterrestrial cousin to Superman, rightful owner of the wily super-dog Krypto — and, as the Man of Steel and his robot friend Four (voiced by Alan Tudyk) establish, a party animal.
David Corenswet in ‘Superman’. DC Studios/ Warner Bros.
In time-honored superhero cinema tradition, Superman includes more scenes after its conclusion. One takes place mid-credits roll, while audiences must wait until the end of the credits for the second.
The first scene is more of a glimpse than a full-fledged scene: Superman sits in outer space with his back to us, facing Earth in all its sunlit glory. Adorably, he’s cuddling Krypto in his arms; the pooch snuggles his head into the hero’s shoulder.
The end-credits scene again features Superman, joined by Edi Gathegi’s Michael Holt a.k.a. Mister Terrific. The two survey Metropolis in the wake of the blackhole-creating rift that swept through the city, cleaving it in two. Thanks to Mister Terrific inputting a code to reverse the interdimensional apocalypse, only a crack across the city’s ground and buildings remains.
It’s this slightly uneven crack that Superman can’t help but point out to his fellow superhero. When Mister Terrific stalks off in a huff about the crooked seam left in the city, Superman chastises himself, lamenting how he can be “such a jerk sometimes.”
David Corenswet in ‘Superman’. Jessica Miglio/Warner Bros/DC Studios
While a sequel to Superman has not yet been confirmed, more installments set in this world can be expected. Gunn’s new film is more than just a reboot of a familiar property; the writer-director and his fellow DC Studios co-chair and co-CEO Peter Safran have called Superman a reset for a new, cohesive DC Universe.
As Alcock’s appearance at the end of the movie indicates, Kara Zor-El’s story on the big screen will continue. Warner Bros. will release Supergirl, costarring Matthias Schoenaerts, Eve Ridley, David Krumholtz, Emily Beecham and Jason Momoa, on June 26, 2026.
