Stream The First Superhero Blockbuster On Max And Prime Video

Superman (1978) begins with alien parents on the doomed planet Krypton sending their only child to the safety of Planet Earth. There, the yellow sun gives this intergalactic refugee fantastic powers which he uses to save his adopted home from one peril after another.

But between balancing life as a superhero and life as a mild-mannered reporter, Superman discovers both his ultimate foe and the love of his life.

The cast of Superman (1978) is absolutely perfect, starting with Christopher Reeve: from his physical acting to his line deliveries, he perfectly distinguishes Superman and Clark Kent in a way that eclipses all his successors (sorry, Cavill). Margot Kidder is similarly great as Lois Lane, imbuing our favorite comic book reporter with beauty and brilliance enough to convincingly captivate a godlike alien.

And Gene Hackman effortlessly transforms his Lex Luthor into the ultimate supervillain archetype, someone whose malevolent intelligence is matched only by his boundless ambition.

Those may be the chief performers in Superman (1978), but it’s important to highlight the awesome supporting cast. Marlon Brando adds majestic gravitas to Krypton as Superman’s biological father Jor-El, and Glenn Ford has rustic charm to spare as the alien’s adoptive human father.

Jackie Cooper is remarkably natural at portraying the beleaguered, bombastic boss of The Daily Planet, and Mark McClure has the perfect mix of friendly enthusiasm to play Superman’s pal, Jimmy Olsen.

Aside from the fact that Superman came out in 1978 (a full 11 years before Tim Burton’s Batman), one of the reasons it is considered the first superhero blockbuster is its box office. Against a budget of $55 million, the film went on to earn $300.5 million.

To Warner Bros. and other major studios, this served as a clear sign that superhero films could be big business, and if not for Superman’s success, we might not have ever gotten an MCU.

Critically, Superman (1978) managed to leap critical expectations in a single bound. On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has a critical score of 94 percent. Critics generally praised the film for how it “blends humor and gravitas” and lavishly praised “the perfectly cast Christopher Reeve” who helped “craft a loving, nostalgic tribute to an American pop culture icon.”

I most certainly agree: growing up, I was never all that keen on Superman, preferring to read back issues of Batman instead. But I always found this movie captivating for how it brought the high-flying adventures of Superman to life, and Reeve made this character both perfectly tangible and perfectly relatable.

Superman is ultimately a different kind of power fantasy where someone with absolute power becomes an incorruptible savior, and both Reeve and legendary director Richard Donner understood.

I’ve also always loved how Superman (1978) feels epic in scale and execution, as befits the tale of a god who fell to Earth. The fight between Lex Luthor and our titular hero is a clash of comic titans in which good is always destined to triumph over evil. Some would say both that kind of storytelling and Superman himself are old-fashioned, but those hardly seem like bad qualities in a film that is so heartfelt and genuinely inspiring.

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Will you believe a man can fly, or will you want to chain Superman (1978) in a room with some Kryptonite? You won’t know until you stream it on Max or Prime Video today. Remember: it’s not just the origin of the Man of Steel…it’s the origin of the superhero blockbuster, making this a timeless bit of pop culture history.