There was a time when Superman was the most famous superhero in the world. He might very well still be, but you wouldn’t know it in America. At Halloween, Batman and Iron Man costumes usually far outnumber the Superman costumes.
Of course, the success of other superheroes has largely been driven by the movies. The Batman movie franchise is by far the highest grossing box office superhero franchise in the U.S. with close to a $1.9 billion total gross. The Avengers franchise is next with a $1.7 billion total gross.
Where is poor Superman on the list? Well, he’s way down below Spider-Man, X-Men, and Iron Man. Superman has only accumulated a paltry $518 million at the U.S. box office. The Dark Knight by itself made more than all the Superman movies combined at the box office.
Now, in fairness, most of the Superman movies were released in the seventies and the eighties before tickets prices reached the inflated levels where they sit today. But the fact that Superman has only had one movie in the last quarter century sort of proves the point of his waning popularity.
READ MORE: http://comicbook.com/blog/2013/03/24/man-of-steel-will-henry-cavill-make-superman-cool-again/
