The Taste by Vir Sanghvi: Why James Gunn’s Superman is the best since Christopher Reeve

The latest Superman film features David Corenswet as the best Superman since Christopher Reeve, but presents a weaker version of the character.

Before we get into the successes and failures of the new Superman film, here are some things that I should say upfront. First of all, this is easily the best Superman movie since the two films that Richard Donner made with Christopher Reeve in the 1970s.

The latest Superman movie, directed by James Gunn, presents a relatable superhero facing modern challenges.

Secondly, anyone who has been a fan of the Superman comics will recognise this version of Superman who at least wears the right costume unlike the Henry Cavill movies, where Superman looked like he had escaped from a zombie convention in the British Midlands where everyone attending had to adopt an American accent to seem cool.

Three, it helps that David Corenswet is the best Superman since Christopher Reeve. Of the movie Supermen, Brandon Routh brought a certain enthusiasm to the role but he always seemed like a college kid auditioning for the role in an amateur university production of Superman.

Henry Cavill, who has turned ruining famous fictional heroes into his specialty (he has been a disastrous Sherlock Holmes and a terrible Napoleon Solo in other movies and was, apparently in the running to play James Bond, though fortunately, he did not get the role) was so wooden that his Superman was less Man of Steel and more Man of Wood. Corenswet does not make the mistake of trying to imitate Reeve (as Routh did) but brings his own interpretation of the character to the movie.

And fourthly despite the rave reviews the film is good, not great, so lower your expectations before you go to see it.

The basic problem with any Superman story is that when a man is this powerful it is hard to invent a plot where anyone can threaten him. In the comics, they eventually created kryptonite which could kill Superman or made him fight powerful aliens or midget magicians with such names as Mister Mxyzptlk .(Superman is susceptible to magic we are told.)

In the Reeve movies they used most of the same devices: Superman battled aliens from his own planet or fell victim to kryptonite and in one memorable plot twist voluntarily gave up his powers out of his love for Lois Lane.

All of these stratagems advanced the plots but eventually even in the comics they fell back on making him less powerful. Whereas once, Superman could move planets with one hand, in later years he did not have the strength to fight such bizarre villains as Doomsday, who ‘killed’ Superman in one bestselling edition of the comic. (Nah of course , he didn’t really die.)

The interesting thing about the new Superman movie is that James Gunn who wrote and directed it, makes Superman a bit of a wuss. The film starts with Superman being beaten up and throughout the picture he is routinely thrashed by passing strangers. In fact the most powerful character in the film, you may well think, is not Superman. It is Krypto, his dog ( making his movie debut though he was created decades ago in the comics) who routinely turns up to save Superman.

Even in the redemption sequences in the final act of the movie where Superman finally exhibits his mighty powers (and the famous John Williams theme is resurrected) he is still beaten up by the bad guys. I am guessing that this is intentional because Gunn’s Superman is not the God-like figure of the Cavill movies but a slightly goofy guy who is trying to do his best for the world but doesn’t always get it right.

As most reviewers have pointed out, this is the only kind of Superman who makes sense in today’s complicated world. Though Gunn sets his movie in a parallel universe full of meta humans and super heroes (some sponsored by private corporations) his concerns are with today’s world.

This has led to criticism of his ‘woke’ Superman from Fox News and other Right wing US outlets who are agitated that Gunn has called Superman an immigrant at a time when the Right is busy painting all immigrants as unAmerican.

It’s a foolish criticism made mostly by people who haven’t even seen the movie. Superman has always been an outsider trying to fit in. He was created by the children of two Jewish immigrants to the US and his success in becoming a part of American society was an embodiment of the triumph of a country that had been built by immigrants. The message was: It doesn’t matter where you come from, you can always become a true American.

In the 1950s, the Superman radio and TV shows introduced Superman as a person from another planet who stood for ‘truth, justice and the American way.’ Even in the second Reeve movie, after Superman had defeated General Zod the alien who was trying to take over the world, there was a shot of him triumphantly placing the American flag atop the White House.

Nor has Superman always been removed from contemporary politics. As far back as the 1940s, he was fighting the Nazis in World War II and political themes have continued to turn up from time to time in the comics.

And the immigrant stuff: That’s always been around.In the Cavill movies Superman was often treated with suspicion as an illegal alien and even the US government had it in for him. It’s not the Superman legend that has changed; it is American politics.

However, Gunn does deal with issues that seem relevant to today’s world. Superman’s arch enemy Lex Luthor has always been a bald billionaire tycoon. In this version he becomes a tech tycoon who uses social media to spread fake news: In one scene his troll farm is full of monkeys on computers. (Though the common perception that he is modelled on Jeff Bezos seems fanciful just as the idea that the Luthor of the Cavill movies was based on Mark Zuckerberg was based on no more than the fact that Jesse Eisenberg who played Luthor had previously played Zuckerberg.)

Two other issues seem relevant to today’s headlines. One of the movie’s themes has Superman intervening to stop a corrupt dictator from taking over a neighbouring country. The dictator is in league with an oligarch (Luthor) and his motives are commercial. People have tried to link this to Israel-Palestine but given the Eastern European setting, Ukraine may well have inspired this plot line.

Superman intervenes to protect the country that is to be invaded leading to an important question: Who is he to intervene in world affairs? What gives him the right to do so? And does he even understand enough about international politics to make the right decisions?

The second issue is ethical. Clark Kent keeps interviewing Superman for The Daily Planet. Given that Kent is Superman’s secret identity, isn’t this an abuse of his position and an insult to the trust of readers?

The most extraordinary thing about the movie is that not only are these issues raised but that, somewhere in the middle of all the fights and the spectacle of the skies filled with guys flying through the air in funny costumes, Gunn manages to include a ten minute conversation between Lois Lane and Superman about ethics—and it doesn’t drag the picture down or slow its pace.

Long time Superman fans may be interested in two plot twists. Superman’s birth parents Jor-el and Lara may not have been the wonderful people of legend. (I say ‘may’ because there is room for doubt.) And we finally have an explanation for why nobody recognises Superman when he wears glasses and pretends to be Clark Kent. Apparently, his glasses hypnotise people to prevent them from recognising him. (Ha! As excuses go, this one is pretty silly.)

Because Superman is a hit, Gunn has probably saved the DC universe. That is something to cheer about even as the tiresome and overlong Marvel universe is starting to crash and burn. There will be more outings for the DC characters from this movie. Green Lantern will return in the TV show Lanterns. And Supergirl who has a cameo in the movie has her own picture out soon though, judging by her appearance here, Milly Alcock is hideously miscast. And Corenswet has been signed up for two more Superman movies.

So look up in the sky! Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No. It’s billions of dollars flying across the DC universe.