Superman (1978): Cast, Plot, Box Office and Ending Explained

Superman (1978) opens on the dying planet Krypton, where the scientist Jor-El sentences General Zod and two followers to the Phantom Zone. Jor-El then warns the planetary council that Krypton's red sun will destroy the world, but the council ignores him.

So, with time running out, Jor-El and his wife Lara send their infant son Kal-El to Earth in a small ship. The baby lands near Smallville, Kansas, where Jonathan and Martha Kent find him and raise him as Clark.

That opening covers two very different places, a cold, crystalline Krypton built on sets at Pinewood and Shepperton Studios in England, and the farmland of Kansas, which was shot in Alberta, Canada. If you are new to the saga, this is the right place to start, and the movies in order guide shows where the sequels follow.

The full plot of Superman (1978) follows Kal-El from Krypton to Metropolis, and ends with Superman turning back time to save Lois Lane. Krypton's leading scientist Jor-El is ignored when he predicts the planet's end, so he sends his baby son to Earth. The Kents of Smallville, Kansas adopt the boy and name him Clark, and he learns to hide his powers.

After Jonathan Kent dies of a heart attack, a green crystal from the baby's ship calls Clark to the Arctic. There the Fortress of Solitude forms, and a hologram of Jor-El trains him for twelve years. Clark emerges in a blue and red suit and takes a reporter's job at the Daily Planet in Metropolis, where he meets Lois Lane.

He rescues her from a helicopter accident and soon becomes a famous hero, and Lois's article gives him the name Superman. Meanwhile, the criminal genius Lex Luthor plans to sink the western United States by hitting the San Andreas Fault with a missile. His henchman Otis accidentally sends a second missile toward New Jersey.

Luthor traps Superman with a piece of Kryptonite and explains the scheme. Luthor's partner Eve Teschmacher frees Superman, and he diverts the missile headed east into space. He cannot stop the western missile in time, and its blast causes earthquakes in California.

Lois is killed in an aftershock, and Superman ignores Jor-El's warning not to interfere with human history. He flies around the Earth to turn back time, saves Lois and stops the missile. He leaves Luthor and Otis in prison and flies off into the sunrise.

Superman (1978) premiered on December 10, 1978 at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., and opened in US theaters on December 15, 1978. The UK date is reported as December 14, 1978 and the Australian date as December 21, 1978, both from TMDB.

Superman (1978) grossed more than $300 million worldwide on a $55 million budget, according to Box Office Mojo. Of that, about $134 million came from the domestic market and $166 million from international territories.

For the full comparison across the saga, the saga box office page lists every figure, and the later reboot is covered at Superman (2025). If you want to see how the series continued, the next film is Superman II.

Superman reverses time at the end of Superman (1978) because he cannot accept losing Lois, and he breaks Jor-El's rule against changing human history to do it. The earthquake damage is undone, Lois lives, and Luthor and Otis end up in prison.

The ending shows the son of Jor-El overruling his father. For twelve years in the Fortress of Solitude, the hologram of Jor-El trained him to watch and not interfere. Then Lois is killed in an aftershock after the western missile hits the San Andreas Fault, and the lesson gives way. In my reading, that is the moment the Kent upbringing in Smallville outweighs the Kryptonian training, since Jonathan Kent's death is what first sent Clark north to the crystal.

The sequence is also a chain of cause and effect. Luthor's trap with the Kryptonite keeps Superman out of the way, and Otis's mistake sends a second missile toward New Jersey. Eve Teschmacher frees Superman, and he diverts the eastern missile into space. That choice costs him the minutes he needed for California, because he cannot stop the western missile in time. Luthor's plan fails in the end only because Superman breaks the rule. That is an opinion, but the film gives the rule no cost beyond the one it leaves unanswered: the hero is never shown facing a consequence for rewriting history.

Compared with the rest of the saga, this is the film that sets the pattern for the sequel. Filming on Superman II was stopped when it was about 75 percent complete so the first film could be finished, and the message at the end of the credits announces Superman II. Superman (1978) has no post credit scene, so that message is all that follows. The sunrise flight signals the story continues, and the saga timeline shows how the later films follow.

Superman (1978) was filmed mainly in England, with additional shooting in New York City, Alberta and the American Southwest. Principal photography began on March 28, 1977 at Pinewood Studios.

The locations break down as follows:

• Pinewood Studios, England: the Krypton and Fortress of Solitude sets.
• Shepperton Studios, England: the Krypton and Fortress of Solitude sets.
• New York City: stood in for Metropolis.
• Alberta, Canada: the Smallville scenes.
• New Mexico and Lake Mead, USA: additional location work.

Marlon Brando was paid $3.7 million for Superman (1978) and later sued the producers and Warner Bros. for $50 million over box office profits.

• Christopher Reeve was chosen from more than 200 actors who auditioned.
• Principal photography began on March 28, 1977 at Pinewood Studios in England.
• The film is credited to seven writers, including the characters' creators Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster.
• Terence Stamp as General Zod and Jack O'Halloran as Non are sentenced to the Phantom Zone in the opening scenes.

For more on the actors who have worn the cape, see the Superman actors page.