Zack Snyder apparently reacted to a post comparing his movie, Man of Steel, to James Gunn‘s Superman. Fans noticed that the director, who earlier worked in the DCEU franchise, liked a post from August that showed why Man of Steel was far more successful than the David Corenswet starrer (via @gunnverse / Instagram).
The Rebel Moon director recently joined Instagram and has been lurking around the app a lot. He was seen interacting with such fan accounts and their content. The filmmaker’s latest action has already sparked a debate between fans supporting their favorite version of the superhero movie.
Snyder’s action doesn’t prove anything about his take on Gunn’s movie. The two filmmakers have no bad blood between them in the past, and even worked together in an episode of Rick and Morty. However, Snyder might have an axe to grind with Warner Bros. after how things ended between them during the DCEU run.
Superman vs Man of Steel Side-by-Side Comparison Shows a Dramatic Difference
The post, which was liked by Zack Snyder, explained how Man of Steel had a dramatically larger audience than Superman. James Gunn’s movie did not live up to the box office predictions, but it managed to cross the $600 million mark in collections. According to Box Office Mojo, the movie’s final numbers stood at $616,684,465.
On the other hand, Man of Steel earned a total of $670,145,518 (via Box Office Mojo). The post claimed that the average ticket price in the U.S. in 2013 was $8.13 as opposed to the current value of $16.08. With these comparisons, the post came with the total number of tickets sold for both movies.
According to the updated box-office numbers, Snyder’s movie sold 82,428,723 tickets, while Gunn’s sold 38,351,023. Man of Steel sold more than double the tickets that Superman sold during its June 2025 release. Moreover, several estimates have put the inflation-adjusted box office numbers of Henry Cavill’s movie to be $798.2 million (via Fortress of Solitude).
Superman opened at $125 million at the domestic box office. According to Variety’s estimates, the film has generated $125 million in profits for WB. The movie saw only a 54% drop in the second week, which was not bad compared to its Marvel counterparts this year (via Forbes).
More importantly, the film came at a time when WB films outperformed other studios like Disney and Universal at the box office. So, the studio saw no reason but to immediately green-light a sequel to Gunn’s movie.
James Gunn’s Superman Sequel Reveals Villain as Fans Debate the First Movie’s Success
James Gunn confirmed a sequel to David Corenswet’s Superman in September 2025. During a phone-in conversation with Howard Stern, Gunn shared that Nicholas Hoult‘s Lex Luthor and Superman would team up against a bigger threat in Superman: Man of Tomorrow.
He shared, “It is a story about Lex Luthor and Superman having to work together to a certain degree against a much, much bigger threat.” According to TheWrap, the “much bigger threat” will be Brainiac in the new sequel.
Superman and Lex have joined forces in the comics multiple times to take down Brainiac. In the Panic in the Sky storyline, when Brainiac attacked Earth with his massive superweapon Warworld, Superman had no option but to turn to Lex for help. The bald-headed villain would go on to offer all his advanced weapons to stop Brainiac’s invasion.
There’s another storyline in which Lex and Superman partner to take down Brainiac and Brainiac Queen in the House of Brainiac storyline. Fans are excited to see how Gunn would execute one of the greatest Superman villains ever.
The progress of Man of Tomorrow indicates that the filmmaker is currently in no major trouble. However, Snyder fans would probably hang this comparison over WB for quite a long time.
What do you think of Zack Snyder’s reaction to Superman‘s stats? Let us know in the comments below!
