Superman's Budget Controversy

Written by The Irked Jerk 31/01/2025

Claims of $180M, $363M - but who is telling the truth? Let's find out!

I came across a Tweet from @SupermanLegacyUpdates who referred to @THR, The Hollywood Reporter. The tweet claims that the budget for Superman 2025 was $180 million. That's a very modest budget considering the hero in question! I thought it was a little suspect so I dug as much as I could but wasn't able to find the article. I'm not sure if there was something I missed or if the Tweeter was simply lying.

I did, however, come across an article from THR stating that Captain America: Brave New World worked with a budget of $180 million, the exact number the original post mentioned. [2] "It also cost around $180 million, less than many other Marvel movies."

This may be the source of confusion. Both Superman and Captain America don the Blue and Red tights, I'll give Superman Legacy Updates the benefit of the doubt.

The True Budget Revealed?

In the comments of that tweet, I found someone with supposed evidence claiming Superman's budget was $363 million instead [3]. That's more than Avengers Endgame ($356 million)! [4] See the image here on the right.

The image is supposedly a tax application filled out by Warner Bros. indicating intent to shoot in Ohio.

There are a couple of red flags when I look at this.

🔴 It's basically a default table from Microsoft Word 2010, from the use of Calibri to the blue tones. See source 5, column 2, row 4 [5] Wouldn't this office use branded documents and not something that could be cobbled together in minutes by someone dedicated enough?

🔴 The tables are out of alignment with each other which tells me this was "Frankensteined" together. At best, they are screenshots of the same document stitched together later.

🔴 The government website offering the tax credit returns a 404 error (at least on my system, even with a VPN and WayBackMachine). See website and hit apply. [6]

🔴 The fact that James Gunn himself has come out and apparently debunked this. [7] [8]

🔴 As per the footnote in the image, this document apparently uses SalesForce, a Customer Relationship Management software that utilises AI. [9]

The alleged tax application.

However, there are some green flags that lend this document some credibility.

🟢 Many articles are referring to the same article, though this could be due to them citing one another. [10]

🟢 The production company listed is S&K Pictures, Inc which is in fact a Warner Bros. subsidiary. I mean, out of the hundreds there, why choose that one in particular? [11]

🟢 The address listed is the actual address for Warner Bros. [12]

🟢 The actual working title does seem to be 'Genesis'. [13]

So is it real or not?

I'm not too sure what to make of this. Gunn claims to have asked around internally at Warner Bros. about this and came up with nothing. There are a lot of true details, not as "random" as Gunn said; but there are also a lot of unconfirmed details. Until the budget is released, there's no way to know for sure.

I have to call this matter inconclusive. I will return to this page once the budget is revealed and add an addendum.

Sources