Superman’s Success Is No Longer Up for Debate | Forbes Confirms What WB Already Told Us
For months, a loud corner of the internet insisted Superman (2025) was a financial disaster. A flop. A failure. A reboot “dead on arrival.” And yet… reality keeps walking into the room like Clark Kent pulling open the shirt.
Forbes has now published a detailed piece confirming exactly what Warner Bros. Discovery told shareholders.
Superman is a bonafide hit.
Not “maybe,” not “spin,” not “corporate fluff.” A hit. Period.
Let’s break down what this actually means, why some people are furious about it, and why the data keeps proving them wrong.
Forbes Finally Shuts Down the “Superman Flopped” Narrative
The original article everyone was screaming about back in October was speculative. It literally said the final outcome was “yet to be determined.” That didn’t stop certain corners of the fandom from waving it around like kryptonite.
But this new Forbes piece?
Different author. Different analysis. Different context.
And this writer, Mark Hughes, is someone who actually covers film economics for Forbes on a regular basis. Not a one off contributor. Not a freelancer dropping a hot take. A seasoned analyst.
Hughes lays it out clearly:
Superman has already generated over $100 million in profit, on its way to around $150 million.
It earned strong reviews and high audience scores.
It did big numbers theatrically AND at home.
It reset the momentum for the DC brand.
The Clickbait Machine Is Working Overtime
Hughes also calls out the chaos merchants directly!
Not just bad websites. Not just rumor mills. The YouTubers, the X threads, the “industry analysts” who magically only appear when a DC project can be attacked.
Their goal isn’t accuracy.
Their goal is attention.
They want to push the narrative that Superman failed so they can argue the DCU needs to be torn down and replaced with their personal head canon. They want a sale, a reboot, and Gunn fired because they want their version of DC restored.
And yes… a large portion of this noise comes from the same Snyder obsessed circles who have been trying to declare the DCU dead since before Superman even released.
Every week it’s a different fantasy.
“Sell to Netflix! They’ll restore it!”
“Sell to Paramount! They’ll restore it!”
“Oh… Paramount would keep Gunn? Never mind. Forget I said anything.”
It’s been whiplash inducing.
Studio Buyers Aren’t Falling for Fan Invented Narratives
One of the funniest beliefs floating around right now is the idea that…
“If fans shout loud enough online claiming Superman flopped, studio executives will believe it.”
As if billion dollar corporations acquire other billion dollar corporations based on TikTok comments and rage-click thumbnails.
Executives aren’t stupid.
They see the real revenue.
They see internal profit sheets.
They see the streaming performance.
They see the back end accounting that public websites don’t show.
The reality? Superman outperformed every DCEU film of the last eight years by at least 40 percent.
It beat all three Marvel releases this year.
It sparked a DCU turnaround that’s now visible in public earnings.
These aren’t opinions.
These are the receipts.
The DCU Has Momentum | Real Momentum
Superman is
The most popular superhero film of 2025
An audience score hit
A streaming hit
A home media hit
A major boost to WB’s Q3 earnings
The first pillar of a DCU that now has real wind in its cape
You can try to spin that into a negative, but you’ll snap your wrist doing it.
Hollywood Reporter said it.
Variety said it.
Now Forbes said it.
And WBD itself said it during its shareholder call.
This isn’t a conspiracy.
This is a win.
The Road Ahead | Supergirl, Lanterns, Clayface, and the Big Test in 2027
Here’s where the DCU goes next:
Supergirl now benefits directly from Superman’s success.
Lanterns is shaping up to be a prestige anchor series.
The Brave and the Bold and Clayface are generating real curiosity.
And Man of Tomorrow in 2027 will be the true stress test of the DCU’s staying power.
But for now?
The foundation is solid.
The brand is healthy.
The audience is back.
And, yes… the DCU is here to stay.
Profit debates will always get messy because the real numbers sit behind closed studio doors. It took years for the truth about The Last Jedi and Rise of Skywalker to come out… and that’s normal. That’s Hollywood accounting.
But when
Forbes
Variety
The Hollywood Reporter
And WBD leadership itself
all say the same thing?
The debate is over.
Superman was a success.
A real one. And that success is the spark that just reignited DC.
