est. 1938
Superman
began as a comic
$8.2Bestimated lifetime revenue
Screen EmpireCinema, home video and streaming make up 51% of the revenue we could break down. We use this label at 50% or more.
- Retail & merch49%
- Box office47%
- Home video & streaming4.3%
No. 49 of 99, ranked by estimated lifetime revenue
What we know
Sources checked to
- Estimated lifetime revenue
- $8.2BMoney taken in before costs. This is not profit or company value.
- Biggest source of revenue
- Retail & merch 49%of the revenue we can break down
- Verified rights holder
- DC ComicsParent group: Warner Bros. Discovery
- Where it began
- 1938 · a comic
- How sure is this estimate?
- Reasonable estimateUseful, but some sources or details are limited.
Reasonable estimatefive checks; the lowest score sets the rating
- Where the number comes from
- scored 2 out of 4
- What the number measures
- scored 3 out of 4
- How recent the estimate is
- scored 4 out of 4
- How much of the total is itemised
- scored 4 out of 4
- Double-counting risk
- scored 1 out of 4
Rights and ownership
Verified current rights holder: DC Comics · parent group: Warner Bros. Discovery
Holds documented current rights (copyright).
See all verified rights (1)
| Right | Holder | Territory | Since |
|---|---|---|---|
| Copyrightcharacter and publications | DC Comics | Worldwide | 1938 |
How the money mix changed
began as a comic, 1938
Publishing
biggest revenue source in this data
Retail & merch
100% of the revenue we can break down now comes from outside publishing
Overlapping totals
- Overlaps DC Extended Universe — amount not knownDCEU Superman films (Man of Steel onward) are counted in both the Superman franchise total and the DCEU total; no sourced split.
More ways to compare it
We calculate these numbers from the records above. The formulas are on the Receipts page. If the data is not strong enough, we leave a number out.
- Share from merchandise
- 49%
- How varied the revenue is
- 40 / 100
- Revenue beyond where it started
- 100%
- Average revenue per year
- $93.2M per year
- lifetime average, not the current yearly rate
- Online interest compared with revenue
- not shown: search-interest data was unavailable at snapshot time
Sources and calculationsshow detailshide details
| Channel | Value | Share | Confidence | Source | Checked on |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Retail & merch | $4.03B | 49% | reasonable estimate | List of highest-grossing media franchises — Wikipedia | 2026-09-03 |
| Box office | $3.83B | 47% | reasonable estimate | List of highest-grossing media franchises — Wikipedia | 2026-09-03 |
| Home video & streaming | $356M | 4.3% | reasonable estimate | List of highest-grossing media franchises — Wikipedia | 2026-09-03 |
| Total | $8.2B | 100% |
estimated lifetime revenue · checked 2026-09-03