Superman has a problem — and it's not the film's commentary on immigration

Jackson Weaver · CBC News

· Posted: Jul 08, 2025 3:33 PM EDT | Last Updated: 4 hours ago

Superman is successful trouble.

I mean, that is if we are to instrumentality the introductory rubric cards to the caller Superman instalment seriously. Because to spot them, he's facing a raft of problems. 

First of all, it's been 3 decades since an alien babe named Kal-El fell to planet Earth, 3 years since Superman (David Corenswet) revealed himself to the world, and a full clump of different descending 3 metrics that are hard to keep successful your head. 

In short, what you request to cognize is simply a atrocious feline named the Hammer of Boravia — representing, it would seem, a fictional, warmongering and vaguely Eastern-European sounding state — just attacked beloved aged Metropolis. But worst of all, helium conscionable handed Supes his archetypal ever L, knocking him each the mode to his Arctic fortress of solitude with a atrocious lawsuit of breached ribs.

That each stacks up to a atrocious greeting for our hero. But determination are different things putting our caped crusader successful jeopardy, and they don't each instrumentality spot connected the screen.

As numerous reboots over the past mates decades prove, getting this feline close is simply a contentious question. And due to the fact that of that, immoderate framing of one of the astir well-known and divisive characters successful the modern popular civilization pantheon is bound to elicit wildly different opinions connected what truly makes Superman super.

WATCH | Superman trailer: 

For example, there's a spotty (at best) trajectory successful caller years for possibly the astir fashionable superhero quality of each time, which alternates between small-screen Smallville series, cursed and cancelled Nicolas Cage franchises, Brightburn reimaginings of Superman arsenic a villain — and adjacent unluckily gritty Man of Steels that turned the sunny superhuman into a sociopath with nukes successful his eyes. 

Poll an audience, and immoderate 1 of these mightiness beryllium labelled quality assassination or overmuch needed quality rejuvenation. (OK, possibly not the Nicolas Cage one.) 

But it's clear that director James Gunn had these contrasting arguments successful his caput erstwhile deciding what mentation of Superman to bring to screen: either the tortured, eminently quality and fallible antheral of DC's caller efforts, oregon the Jesus-like, campy saviour portrayed by Christopher Reeve in the 1978 classic.

Trying to equilibrium cartoon and realism

His solution is simple: bash both. Make Superman some the huggable, uncomplicated paragon of truth, justness and the American way. But also: complicate the narration betwixt him and his adopted location with a governmental blistery potato — 1 that is now predictably making the rounds successful outrage media.  

If we're conscionable judging by the cape, Gunn evidently trends toward the erstwhile characterization: his Superman is rife with cartoonish (though admittedly wildly costly looking) costumes that wouldn't look retired of spot astatine X Æ A-XII Musk's day party.

Beyond the present reintroduced — and highly arguable — reddish trunks connected Superman himself, determination is the hilariously disfigured vessel chopped connected Nathan Fillion's Green Lantern, the comic-y screeches of Isabela Merced's Hawkgirl, and the somehow-still-cool-looking achromatic "T" emblazoned connected Mr. Terrific's (Edi Gathegi) scowling face. 

But look elsewhere, and Gunn is playing a antithetic crippled — 1 that's putting the franchise itself successful blistery water, if we are to judge Fox News. In an interrogation with the Times of London, Gunn called Superman a definitively governmental story, 1 meant to showcase "the communicative of America": successful his understanding, it is the communicative of an migrant (Superman) accepted by a state that some saves, and is saved by, him. 

That those warring words person proven arsenic provocative arsenic they person is somewhat confusing erstwhile looking astatine the character: helium was created by Jewish children of immigrants, initially depicted arsenic a champion against antisemitism successful wartime America, and — long earlier Gunn — perpetually and consistently interpreted arsenic an migrant and exile by everyone from fans to quality outlets to the Library of Congress to DC Comics itself.

In the prequel bid Smallville, a benignant of very-special-episode has Kent angrily archer his adoptive ma that helium was an amerciable migrant she'd been harbouring for 17 years. Less than 10 years ago, the comics institution utilized him arsenic a promotional representation for World Refugee Day. In a tweet, they implored readers to "#StandWithRefugees" connected the aforesaid time successful 2018 that U.S. President Donald Trump caved to tremendous governmental pressure and signed an enforcement bid ending household separation astatine the border. 

And past there's the authoritative DC Nation bio of Superman's astir caller comics iteration. Their statement is likewise deadpan, and seemingly untroubled by Kent's citizen-status astatine birth. 

"This is the communicative of Kal-El," it reads, "an immigrant, coming of property successful the satellite of today."

But for each the furor extracurricular of the theatre, you'd beryllium hard-pressed to find reasons to beryllium offended successful an existent screening. At least, that is, for the reasons already expressed: portion this Superman does remainder its crippled mostly connected a strategy by Lex Luthor (Nicholas Hoult) to discredit the leader arsenic an undocumented alien, it's muddied by each the different masters Gunn tries to serve. 

Subplots and throwaway gags

More salient is Superman grappling with his humanity, oregon deficiency thereof: tin helium truly beryllium 1 of us, erstwhile his adjacent unlimited cosmic powerfulness positions him arsenic thing much similar a god? There's besides the perennial question confronted by several newer superhero movies: what close bash ungoverned individuals person to enactment arsenic vigilantes, oregon adjacent satellite police? 

Gunn tackles the second question via a drawn retired and analyzable warfare betwixt Boravia and the vaguely Middle Eastern, African oregon South Asian residents of Jarhanpur. 

The onerously saccharine representation of brownish faces holding pitchforks and ratty flags bearing superman's logo besides threatens to descend the full movie into the realm of self-parody; arsenic superheroes swoop successful to the valiantly prevention the day, Superman starts to work much similar the vainglorious movie-within-the-show of superhero satire The Boys: an-in beingness movie expressly intended to mock however insipid and offensively shallow superhero franchises thin to be. 

And that's adjacent before getting to the assorted subplots and throwaway gags meant to fulfill each imaginable whim of each imaginable demographic. There's the uber-modern pouch beingness catastrophe that reeks of the MCU, and an honestly disgustingly stale gag based astir however manchild Jimmy Olsen (Skyler Gisondo) is some bored and disgusted by a beauteous pistillate helium calls "mutant toes."

His womanizing — similar Superman's mildly silly reddish trunks or his mildly infuriating super-powered canine Krypto — is more-or-less comics accurate. And they each mostly relation arsenic olive branches to fans disenchanted with the realism-addicted way Superman has taken successful a post Dark Knight world. 

But seeing them play retired successful modern-day live-action shows however woefully misguided it is to presumption that arsenic the all-encompassing guidepost for success. Things that enactment successful comics bash not ever onshore successful different mediums. Slavishly throwing them successful mightiness fulfill an net argument, but often leads to tone-deaf results.

Far much than immoderate migrant subplot, this is wherever Superman suffers: a frenetic and engaged communicative that tries to preemptively reply truthful galore instrumentality complaints that it satisfies none. And contempt mostly entertaining enactment and awesome acting performances each around, it leads to a code little for 14- oregon 40-year-olds, and alternatively 1 that splits the difference. It's a cleanable shooting strategy — if you privation to deed nothing.