The Correct Order To Watch The Man Of Steel Movies

Created in 1938 by writer Jerry Siegel and artist Joe Shuster, Superman may not have been the first costumed crime fighter of the comics world (Lee Falk's "The Phantom" hit the funny pages two years earlier), but he quickly became the exemplar of the American superhero — due in large part to the timing of his arrival.

After the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor compelled the United States to officially enter World War II, kids (and, let's face it, more than a few adults) were desperate to believe the world wasn't on the verge of becoming a fascist hellhole; and people were well aware that, to avoid this outcome, hundreds of thousands of young Americans were going to get blown to pieces on foreign soil. So what was the harm in occasionally escaping to a fantastical alternate reality in which a morally righteous alien (i.e. immigrant) continually thwarted the will of evildoers like Lex Luthor?

One of the most interesting aspects of Superman's popularity during WWII was that he wasn't allowed to kill anyone. This was the doing of DC Comics editor Whitney Ellsworth, who wanted to shield his young readership from the horrors of the world. And so, even when Superman found himself battling Axis-aligned baddies, the Man of Steel never took another person's life. This became one of the character's defining traits, one that, over the last 80-plus years, has generally held fast in every incarnation, be it comics, movies, or TV shows.

Then along came Zack Snyder. When Henry Cavill's Kal-El snapped General Zod's neck at the conclusion of "Man of Steel," the filmmaker put the comic book world on notice that his DC Extended Universe movies were going to play rough. Snyder's portrayal of Superman infuriated many comics fans, but his take was undeniably unique — and if you're looking to dive into these controversial movies for the first time, there is a correct order in which to watch them.

In 2013, I held out hope that the thematic murkiness of Snyder's film intentionally paralleled the character's awkward coming to terms with his intimidating destiny. After Lois Lane's perfect final line to Clark Kent ("Welcome to the Planet"), I thought Snyder finally got what made Richard Donner's 1978 "Superman" a lovably rousing triumph. Unfortunately, this wound up being one of the few light-hearted moments in a Snyder-directed DCEU movie.

"Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice" is an embarrassingly misconceived attempt to rush into the DCEU's answer to the MCU's "The Avengers." It lacks the mythic grandeur and epic visual scope that's been Snyder's trademark since "300," and treats Cavill's Superman as a narrative inconvenience. Snyder's much more at home in the Batman sandbox, but he digs the character for all the wrong, fanboyish reasons (i.e. he's a brooding badass who gets off on bashing bad guys' skulls).

"Zack Snyder's Justice League" is gorgeously composed. I've heard people say that WB should've released a dialogue-free version, one that foregrounds the film's aesthetic splendor while relegating its knuckleheaded narrative to the background. As it stands now, it's Snyder's second most fascinating failure behind the startlingly bizarre "Sucker Punch."

Once you're done with the third movie, my recommendation is to skip the dregs of the DCEU and throw on Fleischman Studios' first nine animated Superman shorts produced between 1941 and 1942. There's yet to be a more visually stunning depiction of the hero, and, given Ellsworth's edict, you don't have to worry about him snapping his adversaries' necks. Then go straight to Donner's "Superman" to remind yourself how this character, at his purest, is supposed to make you feel.