Superhope

Superman feels like an idealistic fantasy born out of a simpler time. A space alien with powers beyond belief grows up on Earth a humble man and chooses to use his powers to help and save humanity instead of conquering or ruling us. Adapting that unbridled optimism for a modern audience outside the bounds of comic books feels naive; we know a hundred times over that power corrupt. An all-powerful being who chooses to act with selfless humility and altruism? That’s the stuff of Saturday morning cartoons.

Comparatively, one needs only look at how highly regarded ‘realistic’ adaptations of DC’s other great hero Batmanhave been. A normal (albeit wealthy) man driven by guilt and shame pushes himself to the edge to try and fight crime. The conceit there affords a great deal of latitude, where that mission can be as serious or as silly as needed. Is he a tortured soul? A knight of justice? Somewhere in-between? Superman is a boy scout, he’s a goody-two-shoes. How could he fit in the world of The Dark Knight? Man of Steel and Batman V Superman posit a Superman who was a fickle god, who couldn’t always save everyone. Which, is fine, I guess, but a Superman who can’t always save the day is… a bit of a bummer. He loses something when he becomes cynical. The excellent My Adventures With Superman, on the other hand, leans into that Saturday-morning-cartoon nature. The show is cheesy and utterly delightful, but it’s also a cartoon, with kids as its target audience.

This summer’s Superman, though, finds a way to make Superman work that’s somehow so very familiar and refreshing. Superman in this movie — the first of the new DC movie universe — is a familiar character to anyone who watched the Justice League cartoons or the Richard Donner Superman: He’s that bright-eyed boy from Kansas who wants to help everyone. He’s a good guy who uses minced oaths instead of swearing and doesn’t want to kill the giant monster unless absolutely necessary (and even then, there’s gotta be a better way!). But Superman doesn’t just lean into that cheesiness — it juxtaposes it against a more cynical world. Yes, this is a world with Lex Luthor being a hammy villain and where giant eyeball monsters are par the course, but it’s also one with threats of war and people who doubt Superman could really be that good. Hashtags mocking him go viral even as other superheroes write him off as being foolish. Even Lois Lane has her share of doubts about him and his actions. The world may not be grounded, but it feels realistic. Like ours, this is not a world where it’s particularly easy to be that sort of idealistic Superman.

And yet, he still tries. In this story, Superman is still someone who tries his very best to do the right thing for everyone. He saves the little girl, he saves the squirrel, he saves the world. Despite how easy it would be to give in, Superman remains this beacon of hope and optimism in a cynical world. Superman (and the movie) isn’t half as naive as Green Lantern and the others think he is. He knows that the world can be a rotten place, that there’s a lot of awfulness everywhere, and still he chooses to believe in a better world and believe in the best of everyone. The result is a movie so refreshing, so wonderful, watching it feels like a panacea.