How old is Superman? Man of Steel’s age in movies & DC Comics explained

Superman is a strange visitor from another planet, but he sure looks human. He also ages like one, though it appears to be much, much slower. As a result, it can be hard to pin down how old he is.

Age is one of the hardest things to pin down with a comic book character. Multiple reboots and shifting iterations of a character means their age can change from story to story. 

There’s also the issue of the shifting timeline, where most characters are said to have perpetually started their stories a certain number of years ago, regularly moving their origins to more modern events. 

For Superman, these factors, coupled with his alien physiology, mean his age is even harder to pin down. Fortunately, there are enough breadcrumbs to get an approximate age for the character. 

How old is Superman in DC Comics?

It’s most likely that the Superman of the current DC Universe is in his mid-to-late-30s, though some stories potentially push this to early-40s. However, Superman’s exact age is a little hard to pin down due to a number of extenuating circumstances. 

First and foremost, there’s the fact that his alien physiology changes how he ages. While he matured at around the same rate as others, he appears to age slower as he gets older due to his body’s accumulation of solar energy over the years.

There are also numerous reboots to take into consideration. The New 52 intended for him to be much younger, in his mid-to-late 20s. When the original Superman returned, he was positioned to be older as he had settled down with a family. The merger of the two seems to have split the difference, but an exact age is rarely if ever, confirmed. 

How old is Superman in movies? 

Superman in films tends to be presented as in his 30s, with the actors who play him coming close to that age. The most recent example of this, Henry Cavill, was 30 when Man of Steel hit theaters in 2013 and 34 in 2017’s Justice League. Similarly, David Corenswet, whose debut outing Superman: Legacy, is slated for a 2025 release, is currently 30. 

Brandon Routh was also 30 in 2006’s Superman Returns, but he also played an older take on the character during The CW’s Crisis on Infinite Earths event when he was 41.

Routh still is not the oldest actor to take on the role, though. That honor goes to George Reeves, who took on the role at the age of 37 starting in 1951’s Superman & the Mole-Men before starring in The Adventures of Superman.

The youngest, to no one’s surprise, would be the one who started it all. Christopher Reeve, whose portrayal of the Man of Steel in 1976’s Superman: The Movie would be considered the template for future portrayals, was only 26 when he took on the star-making role. He last played the character at the age of 35 in 1987’s dismally received Superman IV: The Quest for Peace.

That’s all we have for now on Superman’s age, but for more Superman and DC Comics news, be sure to stick with Dexerto.