The Man of Steel has helped to lift a 19-year-old rock song to the top of the charts on Spotify. Given James Gunn’s track record of using music in his comic book movies and TV shows – particularly in the Guardians of the Galaxy trilogy – it shouldn’t have been a surprise how well Following Superman‘s soundtrack turned out. As usual, Gunn combined deep cuts with pop songs like Noah & The Whale’s “5 Years Time”, and even included a song by fictional band The Mighty Crabjoys. But one song in particular seems to have been the stand-out.
Following Superman‘s heroic box office opening, the film has notched another victory after helping to take an older punk rock song to the top of the charts. According to Spotify’s Daily Viral Song Global chart, the Teddybears song, “Punkrocker,” featuring the iconic Iggy Pop, debuted in the number two spot on the chart. The song came in second to the song “Golden” from Netflix’s hit animated movie K-Pop Demon Hunters. “Punkrocker” is featured at the end of Superman, leading into the credits.
Following the film’s release, Iggy Pop responded to the use of the song in the film, noting that he felt the song always had a bit of soul to it. He also called Superman the best kind of friend. “Superman is the best friend you could have.” The song had skyrocketed in popularity following the release of Superman, with reports stating the song’s streams had jumped from just 1,572 a day to nearly 190,500 a day because of the film. This was the case with one of the songs used on Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, “Brandy (You’re a Fine Girl)”, which also saw an increase of streams following its inclusion.
Superman is expected to continue to dominate the box office in its second outing, with estimates suggesting the superhero movie could pull in an additional $62.5 million this weekend. As the film continues to retain its popularity, it’s more than likely audiences will continue to seek out the movie’s soundtrack, including “Punkrocker.” It could also result in an increase of interest to Gunn’s curated Spotify playlists for the film, which includes Against Me’s “I Was a Teenage Anarchist” and Jimmy Eat World’s “The Middle.”
Although Superman has proven to be a success for DC Studios, it doesn’t appear the film is set to receive a direct sequel like many superhero titles before it. Gunn and company instead seem to be more focused on the overall story being crafted for the DC Universe, rather than simply knocking out sequels to every movie. For those eager to see more of the characters that featured in Superman, including Guy Gardner and Hawkgirl, they’ll be able to catch them in the upcoming second season of Peacemaker on HBO Max. Like Superman, the HBO Max series is known for using some of Gunn’s personal music picks, including “Pumped Up Kicks” by Foster the People and “Do Ya Wanna Taste It” by Wig Wam.
Written and directed by James Gunn, Superman stars Corenswet as the title hero, Nicholas Hoult as Lex Luthor, Rachel Brosnahan as Lois Lane, Edi Gathegi as Mr. Terrific, Nathan Fillion as Guy Gardner, Isabela Merced as Hawkgirl, and Skyler Gisondo as Jimmy Olsen. The movie is now playing exclusively in movie theaters. The film’s soundtrack is available now to stream and purchase through iTunes, Amazon, and anywhere else soundtracks are sold.
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