Superman (1978) - The classic movie starring Christopher Reeve and Margot Kidder. Richard Donner set out to make audiences believe that they made a man fly, and succeeded in more ways than one. It’s corny, yeah, but it gets to the heart of what makes Superman great: He saves the world because he can, and because he wants to. Above all, he is a friend. John Williams’ score is legendary for a reason, and it’s hard not to associate any version of Superman with that classic theme and portrayal. And it all still holds up today because it’s ultimately really that good.
All-Star Superman - Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely tell a tale of Superman’s last year after having been poisoned by direct exposition to the sun’s radiation at close range. This is the 12 works of Hercules (if Hercules was an alien analogue to Moses), and a love letter to Superman’s history, as well as a show of the superhero as the modern myth. It’s strange, heroic, and inspiring. Basically everything Superman should be.
Superman: Birthright - Released at around the time Smallville was airing, Birthright set to tell Superman’s story for a new kind of audience. It updated his relationships, his path to becoming Superman, and his reasons for doing so. It’s listed as one of the main inspirations for Man of Stell, but whatever ideas MoS took from Birthright, it managed to completely miss the point. Note: it has a few…problematic depictions of certain background characters. Notably a taxi driver, who speaks in orientalism. It might have been intended as the taxi driver being super sarcastic and cynical, but it mainly comes off as surprisingly tone deaf.
Superman: Secret Identity - A non-canonical tale that sees expansion of Earth Prime’s Superboy, in which Clark Kent, a small kid from Picketsville, Kansas, who is teased for sharing the name and likeness of the fictional character who bears his namesake. Until one day, he wakes up levitating, and realizes he has the same powers as the comic-book Superman.
Superman: Kryptonite - Darwyn Cooke teams up with Tim Sale to re-tell Superman’s first encounter with Kryptonite, his alien origins, his value as Clark Kent, and his own mortality.
Superman & Lois - It’s by far the best live-action version of Superman of the past decade, if not more. The writing not only gives Tyler room to be Clark in public, Clark in private, Clark with his friends, and Superman – and he nails every single aspect of him – he seemingly just understands the character from a genuine place. The relationship with Lois is that of partners who are there for one another, and trust in each other, while knowing they are capable and independent. Just great all around, even though the latter episodes start falling into the CW’s writing pitfalls.
The Last Son of Tomorrow - Not directly a Superman story, but all of the classic beats are there: dying world, last hope, kind parents. This story tells spans many thousands of years, and deals with the notion of a demi-god living among people, while never losing hs own sense of being. The story serves as a great reminder of why Clark Kent is important to Superman’s ties to humanity.
Superman Smashes The Klan - The title pretty much says it all: Superman fights the KKK (albeit a fictionalized version called the “Clan of the Fiery Cross”). The story is based off of the original 1940s serial where activist Stetson Kennedey inflitrated the actual KKK and helped reveal their tactics and dogwhistles. You can listen to the entire original 16-part story on the Internet Archives.
Miracle Monday audio – Eliott S! Maggin reads his book Superman: Miracle Monday in full!
Superman: Red Son - Simple premise (what if Superman landed in the Ukraine rather than Kansas?) which does an overall good job of examining Superman’s nature and nurture, set within the context of Stalin’s Russia. Skip the animated feature, which manages to completely massacre any and all of the comic’s best ideals and ideas in the name of “Communism: Bad”.
Irredeemable - A Superman analogue gone rogue should be on the top of my eyerolling list, but lifelong Superman appreciator and historian Mark Waid ends up using what could have been another tired tale to weave both a great narrative on why the world’s first and greatest hero would become its worst villain, and ultimately penned a love letter to Superman and what makes him Superman.
Superman (Imgur fan comic) - A short read made by Imgur user Batandanimation that does a great job at establishing how Clark sees his role as Superman, the difficulties in living up to that idea, and the importance of his mother in his life. (I’ve archived it here just in case)
Superman/Shazam: First Thunder - Superman meets the newly “born” Shazam! (then still known as Captain Marvel), and becomes a mentor to young Billy Batson. It has one unfortunate moment near the end of the story, but remains overall fairly heartwarming.
Supergirl (TV series) - There are a few good reasons to watch Supergirl, but for now I just want to focus on Tyler Hoechlin’s portrayal, which is simply the best live-action Superman in years. His humility, caring, and willingness to help are all on display within the first few minutes of appearing on the show. Something other recent live-action attempts have failed at capturing. I have moved this entry lower down the list in light of adding “Superman and Lois”. It’s being maintained wihtin the scope of the list as this was Tyler’s first times inhabiting the role.
Brightburn - It may be a horror story built around the tired idea of “What if Superman was evil”, and the kid is pretty creepy and has little to no redemptive qualities by the end, but it ends up being quite a bit more interesting when you look at it from a perspective of “If Superman is a refugee, Brightburn is a colonizer”. Needless to say, it made me more appreciative of the story of Superman.
