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IT'S A BIRD, IT'S A PLANE, ITS...A WELL-PERFORMING SEQUEL?

July 16, 2025

GOOD AFTERNOON!

This is OUT OF SCOPE, your weekly intel to fuel your water cooler conversations, delivered to your inbox every Wednesday. If someone forwarded you this email, be sure and subscribe here. 

ASK HL-Z

it’s a bird, it’s a plane, it’s… a well-performing reboot?

The new Superman opened in theaters over the weekend to the tune of a $220 million global box office. It’s a win for Hollywood, the DC cinematic universe, and superhero movies in general—even if commentators jumped to critique with super speed. 

For over a decade, Marvel has outshone DC with global blockbusters like Avengers: Endgame and Spider-Man: No Way Home. Superman himself is part of that problem—the character just hasn’t excited audiences since the Christopher Reeve era.

Director James Gunn flipped the script by framing the new movie as an inspirational immigrant story. Superman is, after all, Krypton-born and Kansas-raised. As you might expect, this kicked up a bit of a fuss among some right-wing pundits. Former Trump advisor Kellyanne Conway voiced a growing sentiment across MAGA circles on a Fox News segment: “We don't go to the movie theater to be lectured or have someone’s ideology pushed on us.”

Depending on which corner of the internet you frequent, you’ll find a wide range of takes: from outrage to acclaim for a long-awaited DCU revamp. 

And while the discourse may rage on, hopefully everyone can smile knowing Superman and his little dog Krypto tapped into humanity’s capacity for kindness: interest in dog adoption has surged by 500%.

LUNCH BREAK

five quick consumption recs for the time between meetings

  1. SWAG, SWAG, ON YOU. Did Justin hit us with a surprise release, or were the allegations of “I hate my wife final boss” and his clockable slang snafu a guerilla rollout? 

  2. HEIST IN THE BEYHIVE. Hard drives packed with unreleased music, concert setlists, and secret footage plans were stolen out of a rental SUV during Beyoncé's Cowboy Carter tour. Pray for the perpetrator—Solange is on the case.

  3. KHLOE IN DOLLYWOOD. Dolly adds another entry to her decades-long run of charming interviews.

  4. BILLIONAIRE TENNIS. Pershing Square CEO Bill Ackman played (and lost) a pro doubles tennis match and faced immediate backlash.

  5. AMERICA'S FAVORITE COUPLE. America crowns a new royal couple, Love Island USA season 7 champs Amaya Espinol and Bryan Arenales.

TREND RAPPORT

viral vocab of the week 

BOYMATH (n.) – The calculus performed by Gen-Z Pokemon fans to rationalize their investment in the trading cards. They may be onto something: the cards are currently outperforming the S&P 500.

GROK (n.) –  X/Twitter’s AI model, known for its extremist rogue remarks. Grok has announced both some racy new avatars and a Department of Defense contract in the span of a couple days—@grok, is this true?

BANKSYING: (n.) –  An abrupt, unforeseen breakup. Named for British street artist Banksy, whose satirical street art crops up seemingly out of the blue.

SEE YOU NEXT WEDNESDAY!

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