Superman Himself
Superman is the most iconic of comic book heroes. After too many lack luster adaptions I’m hoping that the planned reboot will finally nail what, in my mind, is the quintessential comic book hero.
I could write an entire thesis about where “Superman Returns” went wrong, but the most egregious mistake was with the hero himself. I’m not sure what Superman Returns was trying to do with the Man of Steel. The entire time I felt like Superman was a self involved prick who deserved to to be shived with a shard of Kryptonite. Yea that’s right, Returns made me side with Lex Luthor. Superman abandons Earth for five years. The only way this would sit well with me would be if this was to fight for a greater good, or somehow protect the world. He didn’t even bother to say goodbye to the love of his life. Speaking of Lois Lane, Superman knocks her up and abandons her. When he comes home he expects that everything will be just as he left it. He hopes that everyone will fall into line and Lois will come rushing into his his arms. Then Superman tries to muscle away the only father his bastard son has ever known, Richard White. Actually Richard White was more Superman like then Kal El ever was. Through unfortunate implications Superman is made into a deadbeat dad and home-wrecker. This would have been an awesome take if Superman Returns was trying to do a deconstruction of superhero mythology. Such a movie could have stared Richard White as the true hero and prove Lois Lane’s article: “Why the world doesn’t need Superman”. Returns however played this concept strait and despite all of his asinine behavior, the audience is still supposed to root for Superman. If I want to see the Last Son of Krypton act like a jerk I’ll go to SuperDickery.com.
Superman needs to live up to his reputation as the greatest hero. As a comic book rule of thumb I have always maintained its the person not the powers that make the heroes super. Superman isn’t a normal superhero. He’s not a mortal elevated to the level of a guardian. He is a divine entity descended upon Earth to protect the world. The Man of Steel is a god walking walking Earth for humanity’s benefit. Why doesn’t such a godly being simply rule the world? Why doesn’t Superman leave Earth and explore the universe? He can do whatever he wants to do. The answer people often give is that Superman is a boyscout. When he talks, often his dialog sounds like an after school Public Service Announcement. It’s okay for Batman to call him a boyscout, but Superman is something much more. He is an optimist, who is totally uncompromising in his beliefs. He stays with us because he loves us and believes we can be more. The original Superman series touched on this with Marlon Brando’s words “They can be a great people, Kal-El, they wish to be. They only lack the light to show the way.” In this manner Superman is a Christ figure rendered in comic book panels. He’s an action Jesus who’s motivation is to inspire us with his honesty, heroics, and general goodness. When Superman starts talking like a PSA its not because he’s a square with a stick up his ass. Its because he truly believes in what he’s saying. He wants to ultimately be a living symbol of truth justice and the American way. The way Richard White acted in Returns should be the way Superman wants to inspire people. He believes that everyone can be him, if not in power, in heart.
It’s easier to write an ‘edgy’ or ‘dark’ character who rises about their worse natures to become a good guy. Too many heroes in comics and film have devolved into Wolverines, and Punishers, and have muscled out the idealist. Superman is the antithesis of a dark hero. He wants to save everyone. Just like Batman will never use a handgun (even though it would make his mission easier), or Spider-Man’s core belief is that great power mandates great responsibility, Superman must always be good, kind and righteous. If he knocked up Lois Lane, he’d make an honest woman of her. If she was truly in love with someone else, he’d step aside like a gentleman. As a man who lost both his biological parents, and adoptive father, he would never try to get in the way of a loving family.