It’s not a bird or a plane that soared into cinemas Thursday night — it was Warner Bros.’ “Superman.”

The first film in the new era of DC films under James Gunn and Peter Safran snared $22.5 million from preview showings.

It’s the third-best Thursday performance for a superhero flick under the DC banner ever, just behind “The Dark Knight Rises,” which secured $30.6 million in 2012, and “Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice,” which tallied $27.7 million on its first Thursday in 2016, according to data from Comscore.

It’s also the best preview numbers for a Superman film ever. “Superman: Man of Steel” secured just $9 million in Thursday night preview tickets in 2013.

“‘With great power comes great responsibility’ may be the mantra of Spider-Man, but Peter Safran and James Gunn have a similar charge and therefore the stakes are incredibly high for the new ‘Superman’ movie to deliver superhero style box office numbers over what will be a highly scrutinized summer movie weekend,” said Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst at Comscore.

“Superman” is expected to tally between $130 million and $140 million at the box office during its full three-day opening weekend. “Man of Steel” generated $116 million during its opening weekend more than a decade ago.

That range is also on par with the 2022 release of Matt Reeves’ “The Batman,” which took in $134 million. Only three DC films have performed better during their first three days in theaters — “Batman v. Superman” opened to $166 million, “The Dark Knight Rises” captured $160 million and “The Dark Knight” brought in $158.4 million.

“Premium screens will undoubtedly be a major draw for James Gunn’s hopeful superhero spectacle, and if families turn out to introduce today’s younger generation of kids to Superman, we’ll be looking up to box office staying power through the rest of summer,” said Shawn Robbins, director of analytics at Fandango and founder of Box Office Theory.

That would be a good sign for the new era of DC under Gunn and Safran.

The pair took over as co-heads of Warner Bros. Discovery’s DC Comics film and TV unit in late 2022. Since taking the reins for DC Studios they have developed a 10-year plan to reinvigorate its franchises across TV and film, including fresh spins on Superman and Batman.

Both executives have experience with the superhero genre and have brought heroes from Disney’s Marvel Cinematic Universe and DC Universe to the big and small screens, including “Guardians of the Galaxy,” “The Suicide Squad” and “Peacemaker.”

While several television projects have already debuted on WBD’s streaming service HBO Max, “Superman” is the first theatrical project to come to fruition from Gunn and Safran.

Critics seem on board with the reboot, as the film currently holds an 83% “Fresh” rating from more than 300 reviews on Rotten Tomatoes.

“It’s the start of a new era for DC characters and the return of thematically hopeful stories within that canvas,” said Robbins. “Superman is the perfect archetype to usher in this reboot despite the fact that every iteration of the character has faced headwinds in meeting fan demand while simultaneously courting broader audiences. This film is no different in that regard, but it certainly represents a tonal shift from the brooding era of DC films over the previous decade-plus.”

Disclosure: Comcast is the parent company of NBCUniversal and CNBC. NBCUniversal owns Fandango and Rotten Tomatoes.