Superman is a classic superhero. He has been around for almost a century and provided inspiration to children and adults alike. He has a certain righteousness that is unparalleled by any other superhero I have ever read about. He isn’t the best or most interesting superhero, but Superman carries himself in a status that isn’t built as easily as other people think. In this essay I will iterate why I think Superman is the morally best superhero and why being him is difficult. (And some thoughts on the 2025 movie)
The most memorable thing about superheroes will always be their origin stories. Spiderman had uncle ben, Batman has his parents, and the Flash has his mom. Superman has no real tragedies that motivate him against evil. He has two healthy parents who just raised him to be a good person. Sure, he lost his entire civilization of Krypton, but he was a baby when it happened and maybe he may feel alienated (pun intended), but he cannot feel traumatized enough to do good because of that. Having an offense carried out against you is not the same as being thrust with greatness and then using it for good. This premise and thought process isn’t new either. It has been very well adapted into The Boys and Invincible tv shows with superheroes that cannot be damaged and how they are more threat than saint to the world. Not to get distracted though, especially because the movie keeps the tone light and that’s just how Superman should be. Nearly invulnerable and full of hope and good vibes.
The 2025 Superman movie was generally entertaining, James Gunn does a good job of making a lighthearted superhero movie that is purely a superhero movie at its core with silly gags and low stakes. It is logic devoid but that doesn’t take anything away from the quality of acting and dialogues presented by the actors. Everyone is doing their best to keep themselves together in a world run by ‘the new gods’.
This classic form of entertainment comes with a few classic tropes that might not run in today’s economy. A big example is this girl in the Daily Planet who wears overly sexualized clothing and her chest wobbles in any scene she is in. There is also a gratuitous scene which goes in unnecessary slo mo just to emphasize her chest. James Gunn had this issue last time in Suicide Squad with the weird cat lady who I absolutely hated. He can be out of touch in a lot of content he includes in his movies, but it looks like he is learning because Superman has lesser of the appalling kind of content, and more of the silliness instead. There’s a very long segment of Superman holding a baby with one hand and fighting off soldiers. It is ridiculous, but it’s fun and not disgusting to look at.
Lois Lane is one of the best played characters in the movie. She is this unsurprised reporter who cannot be phased how much ever her boyfriend is running around almost dying and fighting off evil. I guess Superman can have that impact on people, this reliability that while he is in charge nothing bad can happen to the people around him. The presence of Lois really reminded me of my fiancé. She gives off this vibe that as long as Superman is alive and kicking, she is going to be fine, which is essentially my aim as a prospective husband. In fact, despite not having superpowers Lois plays a big role in helping Superman win in the movie, which I guess, will be my fiancée’s role someday.
Actually, I don’t know how accurate that is, every girl I see on the big screen anywhere reminds me of my fiancée. Lois in every scene with Superman reminded me of my fiancé. Towards the end of the movie Lois and Superman ominously sneak away in a building, and she lunges at Superman in the exact same way my fiancé lunges at me when we find a private space. Even the kissing scenes felt so familiar. Either James Gunn did a good job of representing relatable couples or I just miss my bae. Even when the whole world sees him as a villain, Lois comes back to reassure him that she believes in him. When Lex Luthor’s girlfriend is obsessed with Jimmy Olsen and Jimmy feels this apprehension I related quite a bit. Jimmy and everyone knows Eve is a hottie, but for Jimmy there are so many reasons Jimmy would be scared. I was scared and I am still kind of scared. I know all the reasons I was scared when my hottie fiancée showed feelings towards me. The girl who showed a lot of chest also reminded me of my fiancée… for reasons that should be self-explanatory.
I don’t know if I am Superman, or can be anything like Superman, but I know my fiancée makes me feel like I am Superman. There is a video game called Injustice: Gods Among Us, which was later adapted into a comic series. According to that, me and my fiancée being Superman and Lois has significant weight in what it would do to me. In that game, the Joker poisons Superman and makes him hallucinate thinking that Lois is Superman’s villain Doomsday. Superman goes into overprotective mode and unintentionally kills Lois. What happens next is Superman loses his mind and goes on a rampage across universes to kill anyone who threatens his idea of a safe home world. He becomes a cruel dictator and kills without mercy. If anything were to happen to my fiancée… something similar might happen to the world.
In conclusion, no… I am not Superman, but I could be. And that could be very good for the world, or very bad. Superman is Superman because of Lois Lane. And without Lois, he could morally become any of the other knockoff Amazon Prime replicas. My bae makes me original.
She makes me a Super-man!
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