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Highlights
- Superman’s reputation is struggling due to a perceived lack of relatability and a dark portrayal in the DCEU.
- The core problem lies in the misconception that Superman is overpowered and boring, compared to darker, more complex characters.
- To fix Superman’s image, the new movie Superman: Legacy should refocus on his humanity, relationships, and his struggle to balance his immense power with his responsibility to protect humanity.
It’s no secret that among the other multitude of problems DC Comics is having right now, Superman’s reputation is struggling a bit. Most people seem to think he’s boring, too dark, and too powerful to be interesting. The darker tone set by the DCEU seems to have hurt Superman the most, as his personality and core themes are the most at odds with such a concept.
With a new DC cinematic universe on the way, Superman has a fresh shot at a new public image. It’s an important shot, as he’s already got some ground to make up. Luckily, Superman: Legacy is set to be the very first movie in the reboot, so if James Gunn can manage to turn Superman’s perception around, there’s bound to be plenty of movies down the line for him to show his stuff in.
The Problem With Superman
The DCEU take on Superman changed the character considerably, which is not a problem inherently. With legacy characters who receive adaptation after adaptation, it’s important to keep making changes in between interpretations to keep things from getting stale. Audiences don’t want to see the exact same stories be made and remade over and over again.
There were also a lot of great parts of the most recent attempt at live-action Superman. Fans may still debate over the direction and scripts he was given to work with, but it seems undeniable that Henry Cavill at least had the potential to be a fantastic actor to portray the Man of Steel. He absolutely looks the part, and in the moments where he gets to give a softer performance, particularly as Clark Kent, he really shines. It was also the first time fans got to see some highly anticipated Superman moments in live action, such as a fight with Batman, a team-up with the Justice League, and a large scale CGI battle with other Kryptonians.
The issue is that the specifics of DCEU Superman didn’t really match the heart of the character, and this can be seen through the apathy for the character general audiences seem to have at the moment. There’s a reason most Superman film series’ don’t start off with General Zod or a similarly powerful cosmic threat as the antagonist. They don’t let the character feel very grounded. Lex Luthor is a played out villain for Superman to start off against, that’s undeniable, but there’s a reason he tends to work so well as Superman’s first big bad.
Pitting Superman against an ordinary human who fights him with intelligence and political tactics quickly sets up for audiences who Superman is, or at least who he’s supposed to be. He’s a man of immeasurable power who truly just wants to do what’s best for the people of Earth. Encounters with Lex Luthor tend to showcase this effectively because in these instances, Superman’s main feats of heroism come from preventing disaster rather than battling other superpowered beings. Taking the time to rescue little old ladies’ cats from trees tells audiences a lot more about a character than whether he can punch the villain harder than the villain can punch him. Lex Luthor also gives Superman a chance to display his cleverness and journalistic ability, very important aspects of his character. It’s an inherently interesting dynamic to have such a massively powerful character go up against a regular human who he cannot defeat by simply overpowering and defeating him in battle.
Compare this to the final battle in Man of Steel, where Superman takes on the evil Kryptonians in a large scale battle throughout Metropolis. The action is a fun spectacle, as it’s basically a live-action Dragon Ball Z fight. What it fails at, however, is making Superman feel in any way human. Every moment of human compassion, such as rescuing someone from the wreckage of a collapsed building, is performed by other characters. All understanding for the person beneath the powers is lost as he blitzes around the city, colliding with other beings of incomprehensible might. The sheer volume of damage done to the city only compounds the problem. At a certain point, while watching the literal billions of dollars worth of destruction and the utter devastation the human civilians are under, it becomes impossible to see what Superman is doing as really saving anyone.
This isn’t a fair criticism, perhaps, as without Superman’s presence the entire population of Earth would be wiped out to make room for the new Krypton. Movies are not defined purely by real world logic, however, but by what they represent. And it’s hard to watch this sequence without feeling that it does not depict a Kansas farm boy protecting his planet, but untouchable gods doing battle without a care for the human world they’re stepping on.
How Superman: Legacy Can Fix The Problem
During the reveal of the plans for the new DCU, James Gunn said of Superman (via IGN):
“He’s a big old galoot. He is a farm boy from Kansas who is very idealistic. His greatest weakness is that he’ll never kill anybody, and doesn’t want to hurt a living soul. And I like that sort of innate goodness about Superman as his defining characteristic.”
The core problem with Superman’s reputation right now is that most people seem to view him as being overpowered and therefore boring. The DCEU plays some roll in this perception, but likely another culprit is the “evil Superman” trope that’s been popping up lately. Kicked off by DC themselves with the Injustice storyline, where Superman becomes a world conquering tyrant, this concept has been used most notably with Invincible’s Omni-Man and The Boys‘ Homelander. These are two characters who have powers very similar to Superman, making them extraordinarily powerful by the standards of the worlds they inhabit. Unlike Superman, however, these characters use their powers for selfish purposes. They murder indiscriminately and view themselves as superior to those around them. These characters are immensely popular and come from very successful shows, giving them a massive reach. Many people seem to believe that Superman is a boring Boy Scout in comparison to darker, more interesting characters like these two.
However, Superman’s kindness, humanity, and desire to do good for others is in fact what makes him interesting. Believing that a good Superman is boring compared to an evil one misunderstands the core of Superman. A being with godlike abilities choosing to use their powers to cause harm is the easy choice. What makes Superman so beloved is that he could choose to cause harm, but he doesn’t. He chooses to protect the people of Earth, who he loves so dearly. Some people also seem to believe that Superman is boring because his fights have no stakes. He is so powerful that nothing poses a threat to him. But Superman’s main conflict is different from the majority of superheroes. It isn’t about gaining power, but about holding himself back. Superman lives in a world made of cardboard, constantly keeping himself in check so he doesn’t accidentally destroy everything. There’s no problem he has that couldn’t be solved by exerting his power. If he really wanted to end crime overnight, he could kill every criminal on Earth and enact a worldwide dictatorship under his name. He doesn’t do that, however, because he is a good person. And that’s what makes him interesting. How does a man of immeasurable power solve his problems without using it?
James Gunn’s Superman: Legacy has the perfect opportunity to right some of these wrongs and get the public onboard with Superman again. The way to do this is by refocusing on the things that define Superman. Keep otherworldy threats away from him for a while, letting audiences grow attached to Clark Kent. Show off his loving relationship with his parents and how much being raised on a farm influenced him. There needs to be a heavy focus on his relationships with friends and coworkers at the Daily Planet. Seeing Superman be awkward and struggle to connect to other people just like everyone else goes a long way towards reminding audiences that in spite of all his power, he’s a person. Make it clear that his powers do not elevate him above humanity, far from it. They give him a responsibility and another life to worry about, but they do not solve his problems for him. And ideally, make the main antagonist Lex Luthor. If Superman: Legacy does even some of these things, it could be the beginning of a beautiful second chance for Superman.
