The first cinematic version of Superman was technically a cartoon. From 1941 to 1943, moviegoers were treated to unforgettable, full-color animated shorts featuring the Man of Steel, originally produced by Fleischer Studios, and then later, Famous Studios. And, oddly enough, when Superman was first played by a human actor, Kirk Alyn, Superman’s flying sequences were also done in animation. So, the one thing that the earliest live-action Superman movies have in common with the 21st century versions is that when Superman flies, its very rarely an actor on wires, but more often, visual trickery, either hand-drawn in 1950 or CGI in 2025.
Seventy-five years ago, on July 20, 1950, the second serial starring the first cinematic Superman, Kirk Alyn, debuted in theaters. It was titled Atom Man vs. Superman, and represented not only a time when the franchise was about to undergo a big change, but also introduced one concept into the canon of Superman that had a much bigger impact than people might realize, and is echoed, in a way, in the new James Gunn 2025 epic.
