Superman is one of the most argued-about characters in comic book fiction. From “Umm actually, in Injustice…” to “Goku would go Super Saiyan and then…” and also “He is bland. He has too many powers!” which leads to the biggest misconception: “Superman is boring.”
Wrong. That is the simplest way to put it.
To go further, we need to understand why we are getting a new take on Superman this summer with James Gunn's upcoming movie.
Superman has been misrepresented in all the types of media for a few decades now.
It's time to remember who Superman really is
We have had the darker take of Superman's story on the big screen with Man of Steel by Zack Snyder, where Superman snaps Zod's neck to save civilians. Many discussions have happened since then about this take and the DC Extended Universe. The DCEU is no longer around, having suffered numerous box-office failures.
The failure was at the beginning of the universe, and started with that moment with Henry Cavill's Superman's hands were on Zod’s neck. We do not need to debate whether he should have done it or not. Was it right or wrong? He did it, and the universe failed, and it is now being rebooted. That is the reality we live in. Any failures in the next films in the universe can be traced back to this one event.
The video game series Injustice: Gods Among Us by NetherRealm Studios shows a tyrannical Kal-El after he accidentally kills his pregnant wife, Lois Lane, which leads to the destruction of Metropolis. He then kills the Joker, who caused the incident, and starts a regime to fix the world. Superman fights and beats fascists. He does not become them. Some fans may say, “But it is an Elseworld,” which means it is not what would happen or does happen in the main canon. This is not the proper version of Superman.
The Boys - both the TV show and comic - have a psychopathic narcissistic monster named Homelander claim the love and affection of the people who see him as their savior, like Superman. He has now, with the popularity of the show, become a political allegory to current times. Antony Starr plays the maniac well, but Homelander gains more fans and sympathizers among the show's viewers, which is not the point and goes against what the show is trying to do.
There are more. The 2019 horror film Brightburn, ironically produced by James Gunn, shows us a young evil Superboy. The comic series Irredeemable by the legendary Superman writer Mark Waid, shows massacres if Superman snapped. This book, however, does lean into showing us why Superman is so important. Omni-Man from Invincible is debatable. There are still more. The main feature they show is the "what if" factor.
What if Superman was evil? That has become so prominent, that we forgot who he was.
So why are we getting this new optimist take? We are actually not getting a new take at all. This is who Superman is.
To see who Superman is for, we need to examine his slogan. Not “Up, up, and away”. Not Truth, Justice, and the American Way” or the update of the prior that replaces “American Way” and adds “For a Better Tomorrow”. The words that are needed are from Jerry Siegel and Joe Schuster in Action Comics No.1, published on April 18, 1938.
“Superman! Champion of the oppressed, the physical marvel who has sworn to devote his existence to helping those in need!”
Some may ask “How does a fictional character help those in need?”
We live in a chaotic time. A time where every side of every type of discussion can find people who believe in the same truth/lie that you believe in. It does not matter if you are passionate about something if you do not believe in yourself.
That is where Superman comes in. He believes in you. The you that you can be.
This has not been the public consensus for a while, but this summer, the opinion will change, and DC has been trying for a while with the comic reboot/merge in 2016 with DC: Rebirth, the My Adventures with Superman show on Adult Swim showing more emotion, and the critically-acclaimed CW series Superman and Lois. And finally this summer we will see James Gunn’s Superman.
Superman is inspiration. He is hope incarnate. The blueprint to what we should aspire to be. But also, he is a man. He is a person who is trying their best to do what is right. As we see in the current trailers for the film, the United States government is mad because Superman ended a war. Ending the pointless death of others is never wrong. Superman is right and stands for what is right.
You may see other comics and shows with takes like “This is my dark and edgy take on Superman. He kills bad guys”. That is still fine to do. The issue is when hope and inspiration are thrown away from the character from the public view.
Public consensus found Superman boring at the same time films like Fight Club and Office Space came out and popularized the direct and anti-society genre. We were all shown to be bored and tired of the way we lived with each other. We were scared. We are scared. Scared of even saying we are scared. We need hope.
We need something to look up to save us from the apathy we may dwell in. We cannot do that by ourselves.
And that looks like a job for Superman!