A Brief History of Superman

For many historians, the U.S. officially entered WWII in 1942, after the attack on Pearl Harbor, but Superman got there much earlier. In the February 1940 issue of Look magazine, the Man of Steel nabbed Hitler and Stalin, dropping them into the League of Nations to face justice, and ending the war faster than a speeding bullet.

From the moment he was created by two Jewish immigrants in 1938, Superman has embodied a moral imperative at the root of what many would consider the American way: Empathy for all people and justice for those who don’t respect basic human rights. Such idealism was ubiquitous in America in the midst of Nazi Germany, as Superman even beat Charlie Chplin to the punch, with his own Hitler takedown The Great Dictator hitting theaters a few months later.

Since then, every generation has clamored for its own Superman, an invulnerable being committed to goodness at all costs. In writer-director James Gunn’s latest iteration of the character, Superman embodies the conflict between moral imperatives and personal gain. He looks like a lot of other Supermen, but lives squarely within modern conundrums.

In contrast to the stoic figure brought to life by Christopher Reeve in the 1977 film, the Superman played by David Corenswet is an overly self-assured celebrity who lurks on social media and broods over his relationship with fellow reporter Lois Lane (Rachel Brosnahan), whose dual interest in caring for her boyfriend Clark Kent and landing a great story is the ultimate conflict of interest.

Gunn has been humanizing superheroes for a while now. His zany 2010 satire Super starred Rainn Wilson as a wannabe caped crusader whose attempts at crimefighting largely amounted to reckless violence. His messy journey proved to be a dry run for Guardians of the Galaxy, which brought a unique blend of silliness and soul to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. With Superman, Gunn – who now serves as co-CEO of DC Studios – injects the same flawed, believable characteristics in a character who has generally been regarded as infallible and beyond the abilities of any normal human. In the movie’s opening scene, Superman literally comes crashing down to Earth, which plays like Gunn’s mission statement.