Superman HBO Max Takeover

Role
Associate Creative Director

Additional Credits

Design
Art Director - Heather M
Art Director - Justin G
Design - Rachel M.

Leadership
Sr.Creative Director - Matt S.P

About HBO Max

HBO Max is a premium streaming service from Warner Bros. Discovery that combines HBO series with movies and shows from Warner Bros., DC, the Wizarding World of Harry Potter, Discovery brands, Cartoon Network, HGTV, and more. It offers a large catalog of originals, blockbuster films, documentaries, family and kids’ programming, plus reality, lifestyle, and live content in a single, comprehensive entertainment hub.

Our team was brought in to design the experience for the streaming premiere of Superman, turning the launch into a flagship product moment rather than just another title going live. The premiere also created a key opportunity for the product team to introduce and test new features in a high‑engagement context, using a major franchise to showcase what the platform can do.

Grounded in our commitment to building immersive experiences for subscribers, the design leaned into fandom and cinematic storytelling rather than a purely functional UI. Previous large‑scale takeovers had already shown that viewers respond strongly when the interface feels tailored to their interests and fandoms, so this premiere became a way to deepen that approach and validate it at scale.

1/

Premiere experience

  • Deliver a cinematic, platform‑defining streaming premiere for Superman that feels special, immersive, and worthy of a major franchise moment.

  • Turn the premiere from a standard title launch into a destination experience that deepens fan engagement and excitement.

2/

Product and feature innovation

  • Use the premiere as a strategic opportunity to introduce and test new product features in a real, high‑engagement environment.

  • Validate which new interactions and UI patterns enhance the viewing journey and should be scaled across future launches.

Goals

3/

Immersive, fandom‑led design

  • Create an experience that reflects a strong commitment to immersive storytelling and feels tailored to Superman fandom while remaining accessible to all subscribers.

  • Build on learnings from previous takeovers, reinforcing the insight that subscribers respond positively to interfaces personalized to their passions.

4/

System and future impact

  • Establish reusable patterns and best practices for future franchise takeovers and premieres across the service.

  • Strengthen the partnership between design, product, and marketing by proving the impact of integrated, fandom‑focused experiences on engagement and brand perception

Impact.

Delivered a high-impact event that drove 10 million views, boosted subscriber engagement, provided actionable data on UI patterns, and solidified cross-team processes for scalable, franchise-led premieres.

Feature and experience integration

  • Balancing the need to showcase new product features with the goal of delivering a seamless, cinematic premiere experience, without overwhelming subscribers.

  • Ensuring experimental features felt additive to the storytelling and fandom, rather than like disconnected product tests.

Fandom‑driven personalization

  • Designing a UI that meaningfully reflects Superman fandom while still working for subscribers who may be casual viewers or new to the franchise.

  • Translating fandom‑specific visuals, tone, and interactions into a scalable pattern that could be reused for future premieres and takeovers.

Takeaways

Technical and cross‑team complexity

  • Coordinating timing and implementation across design, product, engineering, and marketing to align the premiere launch, new feature rollout, and campaign beats.

  • Managing technical constraints and edge cases (platform differences, performance, states where users don’t see or engage with the takeover) while maintaining a polished, immersive experience.

Measuring impact

  • Defining the right success metrics for both the premiere experience and the new features, beyond simple engagement or click‑through rates.

  • Isolating the impact of the personalized UI from the inherent draw of a major IP like Superman when interpreting results and learnings.