After roughly a decade of ups and downs, DC fans have a lot to celebrate right now. James Gunn's "Superman" continues to be well-received by critics and audiences alike (you can read /Film's review here), and the box office shows that viewers are eager to look towards a vibrant, optimistic future for the newly rebooted DCU. While Metropolis' future looks brighter than ever, Gotham City is also on a winning streak thanks to "The Penguin" receiving a whopping 24 Emmy nominations, as well as Matt Reeves
finally submitting his script for "The Batman Part II."
Naturally, speculation about the future of the DCU is running rampant. In particular, fans are now more eager than ever to see what a successful and cohesive shared universe featuring DC Comics characters can bring to both film and television. As exciting as it is to see "Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow" and "Clayface" hit theaters in 2026, as well as "Lanterns" further introducing viewers to the DCU's Green Lantern Corps, there is still a desire for a proper "Superman" sequel. James Gunn has teased that he is developing a follow-up that is "sort of" a sequel to the film, which some have speculated to be a "World's Finest" movie in which David Corenswet's Man of Steel will share the spotlight with the DCU's Batman. Although it is necessary to expand the DCU and eventually introduce the Caped Crusader, I humbly suggest that bringing him into a "Superman" sequel is not the right move.
Read more: 10 Completed Movies That Were Never Released
Box Office Glory Is Tempting, But DC Studios Should Avoid Repeating History
Although Superman may be the godfather of all superheroes in comic book history, Batman is by every metric more popular with mainstream audiences. Sure, Richard Donner's "Superman: The Movie" is a blueprint for superhero cinema, so much so that Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige watches it before starting work on every MCU movie, but audiences clearly resonate with Batman's cinematic adventures more than Superman's. From the box office alone, as of mid-July 2025, standalone Superman movies have grossed roughly $2 billion, with Zack Snyder's "Man of Steel" being the highest-grossing solo film, having earned $670 million globally. As for Batman, his standalone movies have more than doubled his fellow Justice League colleague with nearly $4.5 billion in worldwide totals, and Christopher Nolan's "The Dark Knight Rises" reigns with nearly $1.1 billion.
Batman dwarfing Superman at the box office played a clear factor in why, instead of greenlighting a standalone "Man of Steel" sequel, Warner Bros. opted to chase the unprecedented success of Marvel Studios by bringing him into the follow-up, "Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice." Looking at that film's box office tallies, it became the highest-grossing film featuring Superman, and yet, only the third highest-grossing film featuring Batman. A film featuring the two most famous superheroes in comic book history should have grossed $1 billion with its eyes closed and hands tied behind its back, but its messy quality and divisive nature cast a shadow upon the DCEU that tarnished the comic book brand's reputation with audiences for the remainder of its run, with "Justice League" grossing less than "Man of Steel" and much of the rest of the cinematic universe subject to diminishing returns. The fact that an R-rated Elseworlds "Joker" movie grossed $1 billion while no Superman film has hit that milestone should tell you enough.
Superman Deserves More Opportunities To Shine On His Own Without Batman
Ultimately, putting Batman in the "Superman" sequel would be an absolute mistake. One of the many issues of following "Man of Steel" up with "Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice" is that while the first film set a foundation for further exploration into the newly established life of Clark Kent (Henry Cavill), with his career at the Daily Planet and broader life within Metropolis, the follow-up puts much of Superman's lore in the backseat in favor of introducing Bruce Wayne (Ben Affleck) and Gotham City. While it was understandable to introduce elements of this new Dark Knight, the audience already has much more familiarity with Gotham City's characters and lore than they do with the city of Metropolis.
One of the elements of James Gunn's "Superman" that succeeded (although the film could have used more of it) was introducing the Daily Planet staff and how it functions as an essential element to not just the story, but also to the broader events that transpire within Metropolis itself and beyond. Of course, you have Clark Kent (David Corenswet) and Lois Lane (Rachel Brosnahan) at the heart of it all, but supporting players like Jimmy Olsen (Skyler Gisondo), Perry White (Wendell Pierce), Steve Lombard (Beck Bennett), and Cat Grant (Mikaela Hoover) helped build out an essential element of Superman lore that were often sidelined or ignored in the previous DCEU. (In "Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice," Jimmy Olsen, played by Michael Cassidy, is murdered after less than a minute of screen time.) Plus, Superman has a rogues gallery of villains who are long overdue for the big screen treatment.
It's also worth noting that whether or not the DCU Batman is, as James Gunn previously mentioned, a new actor or, as rumors continue to persist, Robert Pattinson merging into the continuity, Superman should be allowed to shine on his own terms, given that Batman has been the golden goose for DC and Warner Bros. for so long. DC Studios should strike while the super-iron is hot, given the goodwill Gunn's new film has restored for Superman's public perception. If anything, a Superman and Supergirl team-up film would be preferable. A "World's Finest" movie is not a bad idea, but it should wait after a proper "Superman 2" as well as Batman's debut in a standalone DCU film. Introduce more villains like Brainiac, expand upon Lex Luthor (Nicholas Hoult), and of course, give us more from the Daily Planet staff. Bringing in Batman will only overshadow the lore of Metropolis once again, and given that Superman is the "MGM Lion" of the DC Studios intro (or at least he was in the most recent movie), Gunn and Peter Safran should honor that by keeping him at the center of the entire world's conversation.
"Superman" is now playing in theaters.
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Read the original article on SlashFilm.
