The Batman vs Superman '25

[AndrewGilkison]

I think the only way Pattinson's Batman being in the DCU would work is if Matt Reeves moved away from the Chris Nolan "grounded realism" take he seems to want to stick with. Start introducing sci fi and fantasy elements as part of the world, and the threats his Batman deals with. Having metahuman villains like Mr. Freeze or Poison Ivy would go a long way to set that up. But does Reeves want to do that? I don't think he does.

 

[Deck Rickard]

Yeah I do wonder about the people who just go and see a new Superman or Batman movie and don’t even think of it as all being connected. Or maybe they do but they just assume that the current Batman exists in the Superman universe. Would they just roll with it if Pattinson showed up in the DCU? Or would they care that a different actor was fitting alongside Superman? Would any of it matter?

 

[chintai80]

i would not have a problem if pattinson showed up in the dcu.

i'd welcome it and think he'll be great in it.

i like him that much as batman.

 

[SwordOfMorning]

I’d have been down for Battinson in A DCU but tbh I just think it’d be a bad fit for Gunn’s. I feel like if you’re super into the DCU you’d want Gunn’s specific vision and if you’re super into what Reeves is doing you don’t want him beholden to anything but his own story.

Plus, for me the dream is always for these characters on film to get full stories that END - I want to see the Battinson story have a beginning, middle and end. If he’s DCU Batman you can’t destroy the status quo or do anything too radical, I’d imagine.

 

[AndyTrevino]

I’d have been down for Battinson in A DCU but tbh I just think it’d be a bad fit for Gunn’s. I feel like if you’re super into the DCU you’d want Gunn’s specific vision and if you’re super into what Reeves is doing you don’t want him beholden to anything but his own story.

Plus, for me the dream is always for these characters on film to get full stories that END - I want to see the Battinson story have a beginning, middle and end. If he’s DCU Batman you can’t destroy the status quo or do anything too radical, I’d imagine.

I've been saying this for a year and a half. I never really had much confidence in Reeves straying from his own plans just so Battinson could be in the DCU, which is FINE. Just gives Reeves more leeway to do more of his own thing the way he did in the first movie.

 

[AheadOfTheCurve]

I’m gonna go with The Batman, but I absolutely friggin loved Superman 2025

 

[Peyton Westlake]

I believe Superman (2025) is the stronger film overall—and it has nothing to do with Batman’s runtime in 2022. James Gunn faced the tougher challenge: making a hero who seems unbeatable feel engaging to skeptics. While many view Superman as all-powerful and predictable, Gunn cleverly introduced vulnerability, proving he isn’t infallible. He also tackled the problem of Superman’s purity by emphasizing his alien nature—showing that even when humanity rejects him, he still chooses to protect us. And by skipping a retread of his origin story and presenting him already established in the DCU, Gunn made one of the smartest choices in the film.

 

[Detective Conan]

The Batman easily; Superman was good but I just felt it was too messy and unfocused didn’t flow as well as it could have, imo. Superman may have been more fun to watch but overall in terms direction, cinematography, editing and score - you know the little things The Batman is the better film.

 

[Lantern Venom]

I'm going to be incredibly myopic in my assessment. Forget acting, directing, tone, and messaging. Superman 2025 had a Green Lantern in it, so it wins. There, I said it.

 

[B]

Superman for me quite comfortably.

I liked The Batman overall, but Superman was more enjoyable, didn't feel like there was as many points of the film that dragged & there was less creative choices I disagreed with.

 

[psylockolussus]

Superman, simply because I was kinda bored watching The Batman.

 

[Gothamsknight]

The Batman. I very very much enjoyed Superman, but The Batman takes the cake imo.

 

[BatLobster]

I believe Superman (2025) is the stronger film overall—and it has nothing to do with Batman’s runtime in 2022. James Gunn faced the tougher challenge: making a hero who seems unbeatable feel engaging to skeptics. While many view Superman as all-powerful and predictable, Gunn cleverly introduced vulnerability, proving he isn’t infallible. He also tackled the problem of Superman’s purity by emphasizing his alien nature—showing that even when humanity rejects him, he still chooses to protect us. And by skipping a retread of his origin story and presenting him already established in the DCU, Gunn made one of the smartest choices in the film.

I actually think this is a fair point. Making Superman relevant in 2025 was possibly a more challenging thing to sell audiences on than yet another dark(er) and serious take on Batman.

I also thing Superman found something new and fresh to say about the character whereas I feel The Batman, with its considerable runtime ultimately boils down to a theme and message we've seen multiple times before in the franchise. Delivered a bit differently, sure. But that's a fairly major shortcoming for me. Hoping the sequel will break more new ground.

That said, The Batman is full of elements that are clearly more refined- score, overall creative direction, cinematography etc. It's more a feast of a film. But that's also what I've come to expect of a quality Batman movie, and it's overall more to my tastes.

After seeing Superman, yeah, it's very hard to see how a crossover could work tonally. But for the first time in history, WB has successfully launched a Batman and Superman series at the same time, so I can't blame people for dreaming.

 

[Awest66]

I really liked Superman 25, It really did scratch the itch I've had for how I prefer the character and his world should be portrayed in Cinema.

But I still have to give it to The Batman.

 

[Flint Marko]

This is a really tough one.

My mind is saying Batman but my heart says Superman.

 

[Deck Rickard]

Welp, cast my vote for Superman in the poll.

In the end, I do feel The Batman is the stronger movie of the two but Superman just had so many more obstacles to overcome. The main thing being, it was the first GOOD Superman movie in my lifetime. We’ve had an embarrassment of riches when it comes to good Batman movies, especially in the 2000s with the Nolan films and now TB. And of course in the last century we had Batman 1989. I don’t like Batman Returns but it’s still widely considered a good movie.

But as a guy born in the early 1980s, I’ve gotten Superman III (bad) Superman IV (awful), Superman Returns (lousy and dull), and the Snyder Trilogy (mostly terrible and just fundamentally misunderstands the character). It had gotten to the point where I thought I would never see a Superman movie I loved like l loved Superman 1978 (and to a lesser extent, Superman II).

But Superman 2025 was that movie. Fun, whimsical, action packed, colorful, bright, hopeful, and full of heart and emotion. Perfectly cast, brilliantly acted, beautifully written, and pulling from some of my favorite influences… everything from Birthright (my all time favorite Superman comic) to Super Friends (which was the thing that got me into Superman when I was like 3 years old). So yeah, pretty much the Superman movie of my dreams. As big of a superhero movie fan as I am, I rarely go see a movie more than once in theaters but this one got me back three times, not only because I wanted to watch it again myself but also because I wanted to share it with friends who also ended up loving it. So yeah. Superman is back baby!


Now give me my Brainiac sequel, James Gunn!

 

[Thome216]

Voted for The Batman.
Overall a far better movie than the mishmash of Gunn's Superman. I do like funny/whimsical moments, but I do prefer a movie to take itself seriously, which I think Gunn failed at. Just my opinion. Pattinson nailed the brooding dark knight, whereas this Supes just came off as too immature and emotional. Which I am not placing entirely on Corenswet, as when watching the test footage you could see he had a better handle on the character than the director did. Superman '25 just feels like Guardians of the Galaxy 4. Good for GotG but not for Superman.

I'd rank the Batman movies as
Batman 89
Batman Returns
The Batman
Nolan's Batman

For Superman movies
Superman '79
Superman 2
Superman Returns
...
Superman '25

 

[TienSwitch]

For me, it’s Superman. Even though I loved both films and thought they really acted as good critiques of a lot of societal norms and beliefs (heavy focus on law enforcement to solve our problems reactively, glorification of cynicism), there are three things that make me like Superman 2025 just a tad more than The Batman.

1) Timing.

Superman just came out at the right time. I won’t start a political debate here, but I feel that it said things that needed to be said, at a time they needed to be said, and it was good to see those things said be said by someone other than BlueSky accounts and political streamers who use words like “poggers”.

2) Success in handling their messages.

The Batman’s main point is that social investment in communities to prevent the conditions that lead to criminality is more effective at stopping crime than law enforcement reacting after the fact. Batman had made no headway in Gotham’s crime epidemic two years in, but had he simply checked the Restoration Fund his father left behind instead of letting crime bosses and corrupt officials raid it, he would have prevented the rise of the Riddler and his legions of followers.

But at the end, the takeaway is that Batman has to work in broad daylight, giving hope to the people by kneeling beside injured people and giving thumbs ups to first responders while still wearing his bat suit created to strike fear into the hearts that see it. What SHOULD have happened was that Bruce Wayne should have declared that he would take more of an active interest in the city and commit his fortune to restoring Gotham through social investment.

Superman 2025, on the other hand, succeeded at the end of the day of refuting the cynical, “facts over feelings” culture that spread during the past decade with Internet trolling and feminist takedown videos. Clark put forward early in the movie that maybe kindness and compassion were the new punk rock. By the end of the movie, he made those very traits cool again. While right now, many people are divided over the assassination of a figure that had once said that empathy is not a real emotion and should be rejected, this film successfully made empathy and caring and generosity cool again.

As it should be!

3) Run time.

As much as I loved The Batman, I did feel like it ran a little too long. I didn’t feel that way with Superman 2025.

No deeper commentary there. Just my feeling watching both films.


For transparency sake, I only saw each film once and that was in theaters.

 

[Mandon Knight]

The Batman is the better, technically made film, in almost every department, but the Superman film was a fun, summer blockbuster with a fair bit of heart.

I enjoyed The Batman, whilst it being far from my favourite Batman film, but I enjoyed Superman more.

 

[Babillygunn]

The Batman is the better, technically made film, in almost every department, but the Superman film was a fun, summer blockbuster with a fair bit of heart.

I enjoyed The Batman, whilst it being far from my favourite Batman film, but I enjoyed Superman more.

This means a lot coming from you, because I know that you hold the Snyderverse so close to your heart.

It’s very cool that you approached this film willing to give it a chance.

In the divisive and tribal world that we live in, you my friend, are a rarity, and I greatly admire you for it.