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James Gunn Reveals Spotify Playlists for SUPERMAN’s Main Characters

Originally posted on Nerdist | By Eric Diaz | Last updated Jul 7, 2025 4:24 PM ET

If you hadn’t already figured it out thanks to his Guardians of the Galaxy trilogy, director James Gunn really loves pop music. While his new Superman film won’t overflow with pop songs like his Guardians movies did, that doesn’t mean there won’t be any. And Gunn always gives serious consideration to what kind of music his characters listen to. For Superman, he’s created Spotify playlists for each of the main characters from the film, starting with the big man himself, Clark Kent. Also in this initial wave of playlists are Superman’s foes like Lex Luthor, Eve, the Engineer, and Metamorpho, the Element Man.

Clark’s playlist comes chock-full of upbeat songs. So it probably comes as no surprise that Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believing” is on there. That really feels like it could be Clark Kent’s anthem. As for Lex Luthor, yes, he may be a megalomaniacal evil genius. But with both David Bowie and Prince on his personal playlist, he can’t be all bad, right? His girlfriend Eve has a lot of girly pop, so tons of Taylor Swift, Sabrina Carpenter, and classic Britney Spears. The Engineer likes the industrial sounds of NIN and Aphex Twin, which also seems fitting. And Metamorpho loves a lot of ’80s New Wave and synth pop, which means he has excellent taste if you ask us.

Gunn gushed about how much fun he had making these playlists in an Instagram post, which you can view above. You can tell that in Gunn’s eyes, what a person listens to on the regular is a window into their soul. As for the rest of the main characters’ playlists for Superman, The Daily Planet’s Lois Lane and Jimmy Olsen’s playlists arrive on July 8. After that, Justice Gang members Mister Terrific, Hawkgirl, and Green Lantern show off their musical preferences on July 11. Which, of course, is the same day Superman opens in theaters everywhere.

This article first appeared on Nerdist and was syndicated with permission.

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