Superman 75th Anniversary short was produced by director Zack Snyder and Bruce Timm in 2013. It was shown to audiences at the 2013 Comic-Con, before being shown on DC Nation and released on the internet. The short is two minutes long and references key moments in Superman's 75 year history up to the release of the film Man of Steel.
Summary[]
The short showcases various versions of Superman, beginning with the one from Action Comics #1 and going up to Snyder's Man of Steel incarnation. Some things depicted by the film, in chronological order:
- Superman smashing a car, from Action Comics #1;
- He becomes the Superman from comics from the 1940s, his S-shield morphing into a more familiar version, running past friends and onlookers, including Lois Lane;
- Superman leaps over the Daily Planet in a Single Bound;
- On his way down, he becomes the Superman of the Fleischer cartoons and smashes through a flying Mechanical Monster;
- Punches a super-powered Lex Luthor through a wall, as seen in Action Comics #47;
- He soon becomes the black-and-white Superman as seen in The Adventures of Superman, with George Reeves, and poses with his hands on his hips against a starry background, like in that show's intro;
- He battles the Giant Turtle Man, who is one of Jimmy Olsen's forms seen in Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen;
- He is then shot by the 1960s version of Brainiac, who seems to be standing on a floating chunk of rock next to the Bottle City of Kandor;
- He battles the 1960s version of Bizarro, in front of the Fortress of Solitude; Htrae (aka Bizarro World) is visible in the sky;
- He flies through Smallville alongside his cousin Supergirl, her pet Streaky the Supercat, his pet Krypto, the Superdog, and Beppo the Supermonkey;
- Mr. Mxyzptlk appears but disappears before Superman can grab him.
- Clark Kent, real-life artist Andy Worhol, and Wonder Woman admire some pop-art paintings of Superman (The left painting is Lois as a black woman from Superman’s Girlfriend Lois Lane #106; the middle painting is by Andy Worhol; the painting on the right is "Superman and Superdog in Jail, 1963" by Peter Saul);
- Superman appears with the rest of the cast of Super Friends, in a scene from that show's title sequence;
- Superman boxes against Muhammad Ali, as seen in Superman vs. Muhammad Ali;
- He flies above the Earth as seen in Superman: The Movie and subsequent films;
- He flies above Metropolis as seen in the video game for Atari 2600;
- He battles Doomsday as seen in The Death of Superman;
- The four replacement Supermen, Steel, Superboy, the Eradicator, and Cyborg Superman, appear, as seen in The Reign of the Supermen;
- Superman appears in his black costume, shortly after having returned to life, as seen in The Return of Superman;
- Superman Red and Superman Blue appear, from when Superman had become an electrical being and then separated into two separate beings, as seen in Superman Red/Superman Blue;
- Superman, as seen in Superman: The Animated Series, flies onto a building;
- A crowd of onlookers, as seen in Superman: The Animated series, watch Superman. Among them is Lois Lane, Jimmy Olsen, Bibbo Bibbowski, Professor Emil Hamilton, Perry White, Maggie Sawyer, Martha and Jonathan Kent;
- The old Superman, as seen in Kingdom Come, descends past a water tower from the TV series Smallville carrying two villains;
- Superman, as seen in the New 52, battles Darkseid, as seen in Justice League #1;
- He is blasted against a vault door, and becomes the Superman of Man of Steel, before flying into the sky and landing atop the words "75 years".
Additionally, in the first part of the short, the John Williams Superman theme is heard, which then transitions to Hans Zimmer's score for Man of Steel after the scene depicting the Reeve films.