2025 was undoubtedly a big year for superhero movies, with the likes of Superman, Thunderbolts*, The Fantastic Four: First Steps, and Captain America: Brave New World all arriving in movie theaters. We knew the summer in particular was going to be a big one for the genre, and it certainly was. However, there won't be any more from the genre until next year. The good news is that there is plenty to look forward to - both next year and in the years ahead.
Within the continuously changing film and television landscape, comic book movies have a significant share of contemporary must-see theatrical events. Even though many factors have led to a recently declining box office, superhero movies are relentlessly fighting to leave their cinematic mark and many of our favorite heroes have had a positive impact at movie theaters in recent years.
The Marvel Cinematic Universe is evolving their strategy while moving forward to develop content for many years to come. Sony Marvel movies have also been supplementing the genre with Spider-Man adjacent protagonists all the way up until 2024, however Sony is now solely focused on definitive Spider-Man content. On the contrary, DC has successfully relaunched their Justice League-based franchise, with big promises ahead from studio overseers James Gunn and Peter Safran.
We are here to help you keep track of superhero movie mania. What is the next big release? Will it be a part of a shared movie universe that you know and love? What cast members are set to return in the sequel?
The live-action movies that follow have confirmed theatrical opening dates. Here are the latest updates to the release date schedule.
Updated as of October 20, 2025
Supergirl
Release Date: June 26, 2026
Director: Craig Gillespie
Writer: Ana Nogueira
Cast:
• Milly Alcock – Supergirl/Kara Zor-El
• Matthias Schoenaerts – Krem
• David Krumholtz – Zor-El
• Emily Beecham – Alura In-Ze
• Jason Momoa – Lobo
James Gunn’s Superman is looking more and more like a launching pad for the DCU projects that will follow. After Nathan Fillion portrayed Guy Gardner in the inaugural event film, other Green Lanterns will glow in the HBO Max series Lanterns. Superman supporting heroes like Mister Terrific and Metamorpho will certainly resurface in future content. But a primary focus after Superman will be the Supergirl spinoff.
Just like the original title for the Superman movie dropped its subtitle before coming to theaters (it was first announced as Superman: Legacy), James Gunn and Craig Gillespie have decided to ditch Woman of Tomorrow from Supergirl. The purpose of the secondary titles seemed to be to differentiate from Richard Donner’s groundbreaking 1978 Superman and the 1984 version of Supergirl – even the recent Arrowverse series starring Melissa Benoist was named Supergirl. Clearly, DC has quashed their concern for unique titles and is allowing Gunn to pump all the originality into the content.
House of the Dragon standout, Milly Alcock, cameoed as Kara toward the end of James Gunn’s Superman and revealed that she is the actual owner of Krypto. And even though Gunn is not directing Supergirl, Craig Gillespie has pretty good track record. His recent filmography is well-rounded, with the most pertinent connection worth formulating for Supergirl is his commendable work directing phenomenal female performances, such as Margot Robbie in I Tonya and Emma Stone in Cruella.