The phrase long associated with Superman is “truth, justice and the American way,” but if the planet really did suddenly encounter a bulletproof warr
The phrase long associated with Superman is “truth, justice and the American way,” but if the planet really did suddenly encounter a bulletproof warrior who could fly through the air like a missile and incinerate things with his heat vision, would his home country embrace him—or react with fear?
The fresh trailer for James Gunn‘s flagship film in the fresh DC Universe suggests he might run afoul of the Logan Act, the centuries-old law that criminalizes American citizens from interfering in international affairs. Time to lawyer up, Man of Steel.
“Today the Secretary of Defense said he’s going to look into your actions,” says Rachel Brosnahan‘s Lois Lane in her sit-down with David Coronswet‘s alien hero, who is still in alter-ego mode as Clark Kent, her fellow reporter at the Daily Planet. (They are likely violating some journalistic ethics here too, if we’re keeping score.)
“I wasn’t representing anybody except for me … and doing good,” Superman says, growing quite frustrated with her line of questions. That indestructible skin seems pretty lean, but like a lot of people with extraordinary power, he clearly doesn’t like to have it doubted or restrained.
Gunn, the filmmaker behind Marvel Studios’ Guardian of the Galaxy movies, is clearly trying to explore fresh territory with the 87-year-old comic book icon. What would the contemporary world make of such a figure, and what hurdles are there to overcome for a character who can literally do anything? Remember, Gunn was also the producer of the 2019 horror film Brightburn, which is based on the notion: What if the alien superboy who landed in that Kansas cornfield had no morality whatsoever?
Coronswet’s Superman is clearly not a sociopath who kills on a whim, but he’s struggling with his own more complicated moral gray areas. Since he can do astounding things like stop wars, why shouldn’t he? And if he does enact his will through sheer force, how is he different from any dictator or political strongman—or Nicholas Hoult‘s billionaire global manipulator Lex Luthor? It’s a compelling philosophical question, and one that might set the tone for the many years of DC storytelling that Gunn hopes will follow. The basic question comes down to the one every aspiring good-guy must ask: What is good?
One answer, a more measured and reasonable one than what he gives Lois, is supplied by Pa Kent, played by Pruitt Taylor Vince. “Your choices. Your actions. That’s what makes you who you are,” he tells his adopted son.
What Gunn is proposing is that to know the right answers, Superman must first ask—or be asked—the right questions.
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