Superman launches on HBO Max on September 19, Warner Bros. has announced. The DC Universe kickstarter arrives on the streamer just over two months after it hit theaters in July and with $615 million at the global box office under its belt.
Superman will debut on HBO linear on Saturday, September 20 at 8pm ET. A version of Superman with American Sign Language (ASL) will also stream exclusively on HBO Max, interpreted by Deaf ASL Interpreter Giovanni Maucere and directed by Leila Hanaumi (Barbie with ASL, The Last of Us with ASL).
Expect to see an in-app Superman takeover on HBO Max, which transforms the homepage and adds features you can interact with. These include a Daily Planet Homepage takeover with refreshed art, style, and specially designed content rails, and a The Fortress of Solitude page with themed curations. There are even hidden portals throughout the homepage that transport users to Lex Luthor’s Pocket Prison.
Superman hits HBO Max after what appears to have been a successful run in theaters. It made just over $615 million theatrically, making it the first and likely only superhero movie of 2025 to pass $600 million. Most of that money was made in North American theaters (Gunn has offered his thoughts on why Superman is doing better domestically than internationally).
Last month, DC Studios co-chief James Gunn made the surprise announcement that Superman would see its digital release on Friday, August 15 — just over a month after the film launched in theaters. Gunn blamed this relatively early home release on HBO Max TV series Peacemaker Season 2, which follows on directly from the events of Superman and serves as a prequel to Gunn’s Superman follow-up, Man of Tomorrow.
Last week, Gunn revealed the first details on Man of Tomorrow. In previous interviews, Gunn had teased his next writer / director movie wasn’t going to be a straight up Superman sequel. Man of Tomorrow will instead see Superman and Lex Luthor team up to face a greater threat, with Gunn revealing: “it’s as much a Lex movie as it is a Superman movie.”
Shooting begins in April 2026 ahead of the film’s planned July 9, 2027 release date — just two years after Superman came out. “It’s gonna be out in two years, July 9, 2027, which is a relatively short time between sequels, because we knew immediately where we were going,” Gunn explained.
“And it is a story about Lex Luthor and Superman having to work together, to a certain degree, against a much, much bigger threat. And it’s more complicated than that. It’s as much a Lex movie as it is a Superman movie. I relate to the character of Lex Luthor, sadly.”
You can check out IGN’s own speculation in our feature, Man of Tomorrow: What Do We Know About the Plot and Villain of James Gunn’s Superman Sequel?
2026 will see Supergirl, Lanterns, and Clayface all come out as part of the continuing DCU, well before Man of Tomorrow a year later.
Wesley is Director, News at IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.
