A new Superman trailer dropped today, and after watching it, I have a few thoughts.
As a fan of comic books, something stuck with me. In some of his continuity, Superman is only an honorary US citizen. Clark Kent isn’t actually a US citizen. He’s a citizen of Earth, not one country.
Now, in the comics, depending on the continuity, the story takes place:
- The Kents said Clark was born at home to circumvent the need for adoption papers
- People assumed that Clark was a US citizen because his Earth parents, the Kents, were US citizens
- The Kents may have gotten help from powerful people like Lionel Luthor to gain fake adoption papers
Now, if the writers of this forthcoming movie are having this Superman be from a new continuity that has nothing to do with the comics, then in that continuity, Clark Kent/Superman could be a US citizen. Why they would do that, I don’t know, because it would hamstring Superman’s freedom to save people, stop wars, etc., around the world, and honestly, as a writer, that makes no sense to stifle basically a demigod down in the mire of cyclical politics and human fickleness.
In the trailer, Lois Lane interviews Superman. I didn’t really like her style of questioning, because it was less questioning and more berating him with questions, not allowing him to answer those questions. Frankly, if it were me, I would have gotten up and walked out after stating that if she’s not going to allow me to answer, there’s no point in the interview, but I digress.
In the interview, Lois asked Superman, “…well, did you consult the President of the United States…”
If this movie takes place in a continuity from the comics, why would Superman have to consult the US President? He’s not a citizen of the US–neither is Clark Kent. Clark is a citizen of Earth, not any country, thus making Superman a citizen of Earth. Superman isn’t a government official. Honestly, Superman could live anywhere on the planet. Hell, canonically his home isn’t even in the US–it’s in the North Pole. He wouldn’t have to ask anyone for permission to do anything.
When Lois says, “…as a representative of the United States…”
He’s not representing the US. He used to represent the “American Way”, but the American Way hasn’t been a thing for decades. It’s been replaced by Social division, fearmongering, and mediocrity, and that’s not something that Superman represents. It’s so bad that in this iteration of the Superman story, he’s getting cancelled online by haters who are most likely (as always) jealous that they don’t have what he has. Who wants to represent that besides haters?
Superman said that he only cared about doing good and stopping the war, because people were going to die. To that, Lois responds, “I would question myself in the same situation and consider the consequences.” So, by the time she thought about it and made a decision, people would be dead. So what are you going to say to the families of those dead people–well, I had to think about the consequences of saving your family member first, before making a final decision. I know that for her, it’s a bit of 20/20 vision and recliner quarterbacking, but she’s (and the majority of the world at large) never actually had to make those types of decisions, so she doesn’t know how she’d respond.
I applauded this scene for pissing me off. I just hope that this scene makes others think about the way they treat people online. I’m being optimistic.
