1945: She-Sick Sailors (cameo) – as comic book. Olive Oyl's seen reading the Superman comics. The rest of this Popeye short is then a parody of Superman.
2013: Superman 75th Anniversary – animated short by Zack Snyder and Bruce Timm created as a celebration of 75 years of the character, later reused for the character's 80th anniversary.
2023: Scooby-Doo! and Krypto, Too! – direct-to-video crossover film, where Superman is again voiced by Nolan North.[9] Additionally, the Legion of Super Heroes (2006) incarnation of the character has a non-speaking cameo appearance.[10]
2006: Superman II: The Richard Donner Cut – New edit of Superman II, featuring around 80% new footage originally shot by director Richard Donner, including material featuring Marlon Brando.
2017: Justice League – directed by Zack Snyder, this film is a follow-up to Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. Cavill reprised his role as Superman. Also starring Ben Affleck, Gal Gadot, Jason Momoa, Ezra Miller, and Ray Fisher.
2019: Shazam! – directed by David F. Sandberg, the film features Superman in a cameo at the end; he was portrayed in a brief role by stunt double Ryan Hadley.[13]
2022: Black Adam – directed by Jaume Collet-Serra, the film features Superman in a cameo at the end; Henry Cavill reprised his role as Superman for the last time.[14]
2023: The Flash – The DC Extended Universe version of Superman appears in The Flash, where he can be seen attempting to contain the spread of an active volcano in a news report segment which was played on a television inside a cafe during the film's opening sequence. He also later appeared alongside the other members of the Justice League during the time travel Chronobowl sequence.
The series premiered October 16, 2001 on The WB and ended May 13, 2011. Tom Welling stars as Clark Kent and depicts the early days of Superman as Clark, before becoming the Man of Steel.
The series premiered February 23, 2021 on The CW. Clark Kent / Superman and Lois Lane are the main characters in television series set in the Arrowverse, with Hoechlin and Tulloch reprising their roles.
1970: Lennie Weinrib voices Superman in a Sesame Street sketch for a lecture of words beginning with "S" which happens to be the character's favorite letter of the alphabet.
1972: Clark Kent / Superman and Lois Lane both appear in The Brady Kids episode "Cindy's Super Friend".
2007–2008: The Batman – Superman is featured in the two-part season five premiere, "The Batman/Superman Story" and the two-part series finale, "Lost Heroes"; George Newbern reprises the role.
Superman first appears in his eponymous series, voiced by Tim Daly as an adult, Jason Marsden as a teenager, and Jesse Batten as an infant. His reputation becomes jeopardized in the two-part finale "Legacy", where he attacks Earth under Darkseid's mind control, losing the trust of many, including Professor Hamilton who begins working against him from then on by joining Project Cadmus.
Superman next appears in the Batman Beyond two-parter "The Call", voiced by Christopher McDonald. He is first shown disguised as a bystander that is taken hostage by Inque, but he quickly reveals himself and takes her out. He then shows up at the Batcave to recruit Terry McGinnis, Bruce's successor, into the Justice League, apparently to help him find a traitor within the League. Bruce and Terry both discover the traitor to be Superman himself, and Bruce gives Terry a piece of kryptonite to stop him, having kept it in his possession ever since the events of "Legacy". However, it is then discovered that Superman had been under the control of a starfish-like alien (Starro), whom he had previously taken from the Preserver's captivity alongside many other endling aliens as depicted in the Superman: The Animated Series two-part episode "The Main Man". Terry frees Superman, and the two help the rest of the league send Starro back to its homeworld. He then offers Terry membership in the League only for him to turn it down.
Superman next appears in Justice League. Due to being under contract to star in The Fugitive, Tim Daly was replaced by George Newbern, who would go on to voice the character in Justice League Unlimited and Static Shock. In the series, Superman, having regained some of the trust he lost after the events of "Legacy", forms a superhero team to protect the Earth from threats too big for one hero to handle. Superman is portrayed as physically older and somewhat weaker than his previous appearances during the first season of the show; these changes are reverted during the second season.
Superman guest stars in the Static Shock episode "Toys in the Hood", where he visits Dakota and helps Static battle against Toyman, whom he had been tracking down. In this series, Superman is given full eyes with blue irises, compared to his other appearances within the DCAU.
In Justice League Unlimited, Superman struggles with his fear of becoming a threat to humanity, but ultimately prevails and reestablishes the Justice League as the world's premier superhero team.
Superman appears in My Adventures with Superman, voiced by Jack Quaid, with Kari Wahlgren voicing him as a child.[18] The series follows him alongside a fearless, whip smart Lois Lane who are navigating the small tasks of both becoming adults and trying to save the world.[19][20] The series premiered on July 6, 2023 on Adult Swim, with an encore run following on its Toonami programming block.[21][22][23] Additionally, the versions of Superman from the Fleischer cartoons, DC Animated Universe, and Justice Lords universe make non-speaking cameo appearances in the episode "Kiss Kiss Fall in Portal".
Canceled Superman animated series
In June 2006, during an interview about Superman: Brainiac Attacks, writer Duane Capizzi mentioned a Superman series set in the same universe of The Batman, a possibility supported by Superman's revealed existence during the show's fifth season.[24] Despite this, the expansion was never realized, and Capizzi never again mentioned the spin-off.
At one point, an untitled Superman animated project was in conceptual stage, with designs by James Tucker.[25]
There were plans to make an animated series featuring Superman and Batman. It would have been an origin story.[26]
Animator Genndy Tartakovsky was developing a Superman short for DC Nation back in 2013, but the block's cancellation in the following year resulted in this animated project getting cut. Early design work on the short was completed.[25]
2014: Lego Batman 3: Beyond Gotham by Traveller's Tales for the PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360
2015: Lego Dimensions by Traveller's Tales for the PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Wii U, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360
2017: Injustice 2 by NetherRealm Studios for the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One
2018: DC Unchained by FourThirtyThree for Android
2018: Lego DC Super-Villains by Traveller's Tales for the PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and Microsoft Windows.
2022: MultiVersus by Player First Games for the Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One; Superman is a playable character, and is reprised by George Newbern from various DC media.
2023: Justice League: Cosmic Chaos by Outright Games for the Microsoft Windows, Playstation 4, Playstation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S and Nintendo Switch; Superman is a playable character, and is reprised by Nolan North from various DC media.
Theatre and live performances
1940: New York World's Fair – Broadway actor Ray Middleton played the Man of Steel in his first public appearance on July 3 for "Superman Day"[28]
Superman was a daily newspaper comic strip which began on January 16, 1939, and a separate Sunday strip was added on November 5, 1939. These strips ran continuously until May 1966. In 1941, the McClure Syndicate had placed the strip in hundreds of newspapers. At its peak, the strip, featuring Superman, was in over 300 daily newspapers and 90 Sunday papers, with a readership of over 20 million.
Superman depicted as stricken by AIDS, in an awareness campaign
The cartoon Underdog in which Shoeshine Boy becomes "Underdog" with the help of an energy pill.
The cartoon series Groovy Goolies featured dimwitted Frankie as "Super Ghoul".
Walt Disney's Goofy did a parody of Superman with the help of "super goobers" {Peanuts} in which Goofy became "Super Goof" clothed in red underwear with "SG" and a blue cape and endowed with super ears, super sight, super strength, super voice and super flying. Goofy's crime fighting always interrupted his date with Clarabelle Cow.[32]
The 2019 superhero horror film Brightburn is a dark deconstruction of the Superman character.
Superman's image was used in an AIDS awareness campaign by French organization AIDES. Superman was depicted as emaciated and breathing from an oxygen tank, demonstrating that no-one is beyond the reach of the disease, and it can destroy the lives of everyone.[33]
Merchandising
Sunnyland Refining Co., in 1981, marketed jars of creamy and crunchy peanut butter using the familiar image of Superman. In the 50th anniversary publication Fifty Who Made DC Great, it was noted that this was DC's first licensing deal for a brand of food. Soon he had his own hot cocoa mix in 1983.[34]
A Superman pinball machine was produced by Atari in 1979.[35]
This article is missing information about recurring actors in the Superman franchise. Please expand the article to include this information. Further details may exist on the talk page. (March 2023)
Many live-action actors have made appearances across multiple works in the franchise. V indicates a voice-only role.
^The actor’s likeness was digitally recreated for a cameo appearance in The Flash using CGI. Cavill filmed additional scenes as the character for the film, but they were removed during post-production.
^Marx, Barry, Cavalieri, Joey and Hill, Thomas (w), Petruccio, Steven (a), Marx, Barry (ed). "Superman Peanut Butter Brand Licensing Pioneered" Fifty Who Made DC Great, p. 52 (1985). DC Comics.
