James Gunn’s Superman Film Makes A Controversial Change (However It is Not The First Time)

This text incorporates main spoilers for “Superman.”

Superheroes have existed as a style unto themselves for almost a century, so naturally, they’ve undergone storytelling permutations. There is a huge distinction between the open-hearted sincerity of the Golden Age of comics and the postmodern deconstructionist likes of “Watchmen,” the “Darkish Knight” trilogy, and “Man of Metal.” For the primary few many years, the character of Superman was a reliably stalwart bellwether of Good. If he occurred to waver from that path quickly, it was normally some type of Kryptonite that was accountable, and never any character flaw. In Richard Donner’s 1978 “Superman,” not solely was Kal-El (performed by Christopher Reeve) portrayed as a real blue man who by no means lies in a post-Watergate and Vietnam America, however his mother and father Jor-El (Marlon Brando) and Lara (Suzannah York) are depicted as pseudo-religious figures, the literal final individuals on their total planet to each converse the reality and be wholly selfless. It makes for an simply comprehensible rationalization for why Kal-El seems the best way he does (to not point out his being raised by one other set of equally good-hearted mother and father in Smallville, Kansas), permitting the movie to get on with the enterprise of introducing different parts, reminiscent of making Superman appear like he is really flying.

James Gunn’s “Superman” does not have the burden that Donner’s movie did. With almost 50 years of superhero cinema behind it, “Superman” 2025 is in a uncommon spot to cherry-pick from many years of each cinematic and comedian guide lore in its model of the character, and decide it does. The film throws collectively oodles of bits and items of previous “Superman” ventures, from John Williams’ theme from the ’78 movie to the rom-com vibe of TV’s “Lois & Clark.” But Gunn makes a collection of recent, daring decisions within the film, essentially the most controversial of which is that Jor-El (Bradley Cooper) and Lara (Angela Sarafyan) are revealed to have lower than idealistic causes for sending Kal-El (David Corenswet) to Earth. It is a stunning revelation, although not for the plot twist itself, as a model of it has appeared in prior Superman media. It is all in how Gunn makes use of the twist and commits to it that makes its look in “Superman” so controversial and compelling.

Superman’s Kryptonian delivery mother and father are sometimes depicted as benevolent figures, however that modified due to author John Byrne’s 1986 comedian guide miniseries “The Man of Metal,” revamping Superman’s origin to contain a extra eerily alien and coldly distant Jor-El and Lara. That collection ended with Superman selecting to embrace his human upbringing over his Kryptonian heritage, leaving him carrying the data of the extinct Kryptonian race. In Mark Waid’s 2003 restricted collection “Superman: Birthright,” Superman will get to share a short second together with his delivery mother and father earlier than Krypton explodes. Whereas Superman’s normal lack of understanding of his previous helps him favor Earth over Krypton, the query of embracing his heritage is handled metaphorically by the collection’ tackle Lex. He is revealed to have come from Smallville, Kansas, together with Clark, however he refuses to acknowledge it, selecting as a substitute to try to idiot humanity into believing that Krypton is an evil alien conquering race, a plot which Superman foils, in fact.

The revelation about Superman’s mother and father in Gunn’s movie basically combines parts of Byrne and Waid, together with the Donner film and a plotline from TV’s “Smallville” collection. Within the latter, a teenage Clark (Tom Welling) should take care of decoding the character and intentions of Jor-El, as a result of the person was solely capable of switch his brainwaves to an AI that was despatched with Kal-El to Earth. At one level, it was thought by Clark and different characters that Jor-El had despatched his baby to Earth to beat it, solely to find that it was extra the needs of this AI model of Jor-El fairly than these of the long-dead man himself. 

This idea is referenced in Gunn’s movie by the plot level of Superman having a brief video message saved within the Fortress of Solitude as his solely connection to Jor-El and Lara. Throughout his upbringing on Earth, Kal-El/Clark used the video as a totem, soothed by the notion that his delivery mother and father saved his life out of affection, as seen within the clip. Later, Lex and his posse invade the Fortress, and The Engineer (María Gabriela de Faría) finds a approach to unlock the remainder of the message. Lex releases the message to the media, whereby Jor-El and Lara state within the footage that they despatched Kal to beat Earth because the Final Son of Krypton, Superman assumes it is Luthor’s trick, one thing the viewers assumes, too. However the message is official, forcing Superman to face some exhausting truths about his parentage in addition to what sort of man — not to mention metahuman — he needs to be.

Kal-El’s delivery mother and father having contemptible intentions for Earth appears deconstructionist and even controversially out of character on paper, however Gunn shouldn’t be merely seeking to shock or stir issues up. As an alternative, the twist acts as an ideal encapsulation of the movie’s themes of being your personal individual and selecting to do the proper factor, even when it is unpopular. Gunn’s tackle Kal-El is a continuation of themes from all through his profession, however notably these seen in his “Guardians of the Galaxy” trilogy. In these movies, a number of characters who make up the titular crew of area heroes have extreme points with their households. The notion of characters with advanced, mercurial morality has turned up in Gunn’s movies earlier than as nicely, not simply with Nebula (Karen Gillan) in “Guardians,” but in addition with the titular Peacemaker (John Cena), and, sure, even “Superman.”

Gunn is willfully taking part in with style tropes and subsequent viewers expectations, however the movie does not boil down the battle inside Superman to Good mother and father vs. Evil mother and father. As an alternative, the whole film revolves round Kal-El/Clark/Superman’s evolving concepts about who he’s, who he desires to be, and what he needs to contribute to the world. His Earth mother and father, Pa and Ma Kent (Pruitt Taylor Vince and Neva Howell), aren’t depicted as saints; they’re simply sincere, salt-of-the-Earth varieties whose recommendation for Clark is to not comply with of their footsteps, however to take the instruments they’ve given him as mother and father and forge his personal path. This concept is simply as radical (or “punk rock,” because the movie would have it) for Superman because the Kryptonian message is. Most variations of Superman see him actively trying to honor the needs of his mother and father, normally each units of them. This model of Superman is all about giving the character the liberty of alternative, one thing way more American at its core than any preconceived “values.”

This helps make this Superman a multi-dimensional character with out having to resort to something as histrionic as his snapping the neck of a foe. Individuals who have a great relationship with their households can take satisfaction in Clark’s love of his Kansas mother and father, whereas those that discover power of their discovered households or just themselves can relate to how Kal-El goes his personal manner, unburdened by his problematic previous. If the 1978 movie was declaring the worth of integrity in a nation that had misplaced it, and 2013’s “Man of Metal” questioned authority and accountability, then 2025’s “Superman” is for our present isolationist age. 

We do not have to mindlessly obey the needs of our elders; we’ve got the liberty to assume for ourselves, and the selection to assist others is on the market to all of us.