Superman: Red Son

The cold war is heating up.

RELEASED 24 Feb 20201h 24m★ 7.1 TMDB

Set in the thick of the Cold War, Red Son introduces us to a Superman who landed in the USSR during the 1950s and grows up to become a Soviet symbol that fights for the preservation of Stalin’s brand of communism.

Why it matters in DC

A Superman raised in the Soviet Union turns his upbringing into the central variable of an alternative history. The film offers a direct comparison with versions shaped by life in Kansas, asking how the same extraordinary power might serve very different political expectations.

Watch these first

4 titles to watch before Superman: Red Son — 5h 59m in total.

Batman: HushOptional background1h 22m★ 7.2
A separate adaptation of Batman and Superman and Lex Luthor and Lois Lane; useful for comparison, but unrelated to Superman: Red Son’s story continuity.
LEGO DC Batman: Family MattersOptional background1h 12m★ 6.7
A separate adaptation of Batman; useful for comparison, but unrelated to Superman: Red Son’s story continuity.
JokerOptional background2h 2m★ 8.1
A separate adaptation of Batman; useful for comparison, but unrelated to Superman: Red Son’s story continuity.
Wonder Woman: BloodlinesOptional background1h 23m★ 6.9
A separate adaptation of Wonder Woman; useful for comparison, but unrelated to Superman: Red Son’s story continuity.

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How these titles are selected

Story prerequisites are curated. Likely prerequisites are inferred from sequel numbering or explicit synopsis references. Recommendations are earlier stories in the same continuity; background picks are separate adaptations. Series lists cover whole shows, not an episode-by-episode watch order.

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Where it fits in the DC universe

Superman: Red Son is title 25 of 40 in our Animated Elseworlds viewing sequence. Red Son starts from a different upbringing for Superman and develops an alternative history around it. That premise makes it separate from the Kansas-raised Supermen elsewhere in the catalogue. The conventional origin films are useful points of comparison, but should not be watched as preceding events in this version's life.

Explore this viewing sequence