Superman Goes Punkrock

Every so often, a film comes along that doesn’t just entertain viewers—it breathes new life into them.

It rewires the cultural frequency.

James Gunn’s Superman has done just that, and not just through cape-and-flight spectacle alone (though this movie is extraordinarily action-packed). It did so with music—specifically, a 25-year-old alt-radio hit that had no business being the anthem of 2025 until Gunn wove it into the film’s beating heart.

Being an alien lifeform from the planet Krypton, there’s an antagonistic argument in Superman about belonging and what it means to be human, but Gunn’s Superman had a depth and complexity that could only be described as purely human. And “Punkrocker,” in the end, embodied that notion completely.

The track—Iggypop’s and Teddybear’s “Punkrocker”—has been reborn as the song of the summer. The 1998 cult track now provides the kind of scrappy joy only Gunn’s utterly human storytelling could uncover. He’s pulled similar tricks before (take “Hooked on a Feeling” in Guardians of the Galaxy, for instance), but here the effect feels different, sharper, and more relevant than ever. Superman, a character weighed down by reverence in the past several years (think Zach Snyder’s Superman, whose gloom and brooding knows no bounds) suddenly feels fresh, human—alive.

When James Gunn’s Superman landed in theaters this past July, the surprise wasn’t just that DC’s most recognizable hero finally felt relatable again. It was that a single, edgy song—not a pop ballad written for the film by some megastar—became the anthem of the year.

The song was familiar to a certain generation but never cemented in a younger one. Throughout his career, Gunn has enjoyed digging into halfway-forgotten songs that we have to blow dust off of, stitching together soundtracks that give his films some extra bite. But with Superman, he went further. Instead of stacking a playlist with dozens of needle drops, the movie bursts at the seams with life on the strength of a single song outside of its sweeping orchestral score.

That choice has turned “Punkrocker” into something bigger than nostalgia. Suddenly, it’s not just on playlists again; it’s the song you hear wafting in the air at rooftop bars, across TikTok in various fan edits (I know you’ve seen them and saved them), in athletes’ motivational playlists, and backseat singalongs. The anthem has become a movement encouraging rebellion rooted in kindness and individualism.

Because what Gunn’s Superman argues—and what “Punkrocker” cleverly underscores—is that kindness is perhaps the most ‘punk-rock’ thing of all. In a genre often tainted with cynicism, brooding antiheroes, and dystopian grit, Gunn’s Superman makes optimism feel more radical—and dangerous—than flight or super-strength. This Man of Steel is rebelling against the status quo by being kind in a world that dares him not to be (your incessant baiting is a futile effort, Lex Luthor).

That’s a stance proving to be as defiant as an alt-rock hit.

It’s why, in truth, this movie feels so alive. Gunn could have tapped a more recent artist for a song solely for this film or layered on a dozen ironic needle drops that we could all live without. Instead, he trusted an ‘outsider’ track to carry the weight. A single truculent chord has evolved into shorthand for everything the movie stands for: resilience, joy, laughter, and a refusal to let darkness extinguish hope.

Now, 25 years after its release, “Punkrocker” is the soundtrack of 2025’s summer—and it’s still going strong well into Autumn. How ironic it is that a song about alienation became the single thing uniting so many audiences in theaters and beyond. But underneath the irony is a stroke of genius. Gunn’s rendition of Superman doesn’t just punch villains; he punches through the idea that kindness and authenticity aren’t cool. And Iggy Pop’s gravelly voice stretching across a generation gives Superman the theme song he deserves.

A superhero movie often changes the box office, and if we’re lucky, sometimes it changes the culture. But if the moment is right, it changes the way we hear a song forever.

Because Gunn didn’t score a movie—he scored a movement. And he trusted a 25 year old alt-radio hit to bear the weight of DC’s oldest, most recognizable hero’s rebirth.

So let “Punkrocker” leak from your headphones on the train, and belt it off-key with your friends as your windows are down, but focus on the message that in an often unkind and unforgiving world, channel your inner Clark Kent.

Be kind. Be genuine. Be punk rock.

Let that stitch itself into your ribs.