CNS
Hey, let’s make Superman dark, brooding, and politically correct
The creators also portray the new Superman as politically correct — refusing to become “an instrument of politics or policy” of the United States, saying things like: “I was raised in this country. I believe in this country. Does it have its flaws? Yes. Does it have its moments of greatness? Yes. Bottom line is, it’s my home and I’ll always carry those values around with me. But if I do what I can do just for the U.S., it’s going to destabilize the whole world. It could even lead to war.”
Culture-watchers say the Superman re-design is disappointing, but comes as no real surprise.
Blowback
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…and watch it tank at the box office, just like Superman Returns.
Batman broods, Superman shines, get it straight.
thebrokenrattle on October 30, 2010 at 11:35 AM
Kal-El the metrosexual.
mizflame98 on October 30, 2010 at 11:36 AM
I`m looking forward to the special issue: “Superman: Standing tall for the people of Gaza.”
ThePrez on October 30, 2010 at 11:36 AM
Why don’t they just take the “S” off his chest, replace it with a hammer and sickle, and get it over with?
This incremental change from hero who champions American exceptionalism to brooding, angry communist is tiring.
darwin on October 30, 2010 at 11:37 AM
Anti-American Progressives stink on ice.
kingsjester on October 30, 2010 at 11:38 AM
He’d fit right in drinking coffee all night at Denny’s smoking and complaining to his friends about how dead he is inside. YOWZA! That sounds exciting.
GET ME A SUBSCRIPTION!
rihar on October 30, 2010 at 11:39 AM
What? You mean Straczynski didn’t have Superman use his heat vision to destroy the Fox News building while Glenn Back was on-air, and didn’t round up all the other conservative talk show hosts and politicians and drop them in a volcano? What kind of wimp writer is this guy? (Of course, the last Superman movie tried out a variation on this story and it totally bombed, which is why for the next attempt, Warner Bros. appears to be going back to a template where they might actually make some money).
jon1979 on October 30, 2010 at 11:39 AM
So Batman now has super powers, great.
petunia on October 30, 2010 at 11:40 AM
The new Superman.
Will that be like the new Coke?
countrybumpkin on October 30, 2010 at 11:40 AM
I`m surprised they didn`t go ahead and make him black with huge ears…… You know they want to.
ThePrez on October 30, 2010 at 11:41 AM
Ummm…I hate to break it to you…
Been done.
catmman on October 30, 2010 at 11:42 AM
Emo-man?
catmman on October 30, 2010 at 11:43 AM
Gee, thanks, Bill, for giving the comic book nerds a soundbyte they can use to rally against religion as though it were the enemy of their hobby. Was Jack Chick not available?
The reason this is stupid is because it’s been done a million times. Disaffected youth is the new anti-hero. Comic book companies used to make nothing but clones of Wolverine, now they’re making everybody emo. Gag.
Caiwyn on October 30, 2010 at 11:43 AM
Special collector’s edition: “Superman Joins Tree Screamer Group”.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ElJFYwRtrH4
Bishop on October 30, 2010 at 11:45 AM
Bawney Fwank, call your agent.
viking01 on October 30, 2010 at 11:48 AM
It’s a bird! It’s a plane! No, it’s a navel gazing douchebag!
RadClown on October 30, 2010 at 11:48 AM
The new Muslim “youth” superman.
I wonder when he grows a beard and blows up some buildings.
Gabe on October 30, 2010 at 11:50 AM
From Wikipedia on Superman: Red Son
So it could be, and in fact has been, worse…
catmman on October 30, 2010 at 11:51 AM
To say this is the “new” Superman is untrue. Comics often have ‘alternate universe’ stories in which they can try to retell events differently or tell stories that would otherwise have long term continuity implications without being burdened by such implications.
That is what this is.
This Superman has not and will not appear in the mainstream DC Universe. It’s a story specifically designed to target some of the younger people who might become interested if the character were to become more ‘hip’.
I don’t deny that most of the comic industry is left wing, but I think it’s wrong to say they’re ruining the character. I’m not into this emo Superman crap, and I hope it bombs like other “new” Supermans have. That said, there is plenty of content that is not far left in the realm of comics. The trick is that when they pull this crap, stop buying. They’ll get the message.
They tried some crap like this with Green Lantern some years back. Turned the traditional military vet Green Lantern into a bad guy and gave us some emo metrosexual new guy that bombed. Needless to say, they went back to the original and their sales quadrupled.
Vegi on October 30, 2010 at 11:52 AM
Meh. The politically correct Superman has been an issue since The Dark Knight Returns. Simply put, Superman is the liberal ideal, and Batman is the conservative ideal.
Superman is invulnerable, and therefore impossible in real life. He has almost no weaknesses(kryptonite and lead aren’t huge concerns), is impervious to bullets, can crush weapons with his bare hands, can fly, can breathe in outer space, etc. Therefore, he can use as little force as possible in doing whatever he wants, because he has no vulnerabilities to deal with. Liberals love him, because he’s completely unrealistic.
Batman is human. He can be shot. He can be stabbed. He can be crushed. He can be killed, like any human. That’s reality, and he copes with it through intelligence, strength, and will. He uses brutal force because he has to in order to protect the innocent. He instills fear in his enemies because that deters them. People vilify him for this, but he doesn’t care because he’s doing what he has to in order to defend those who can’t defend themselves. Conservatives love him, because he’s very realistic.
MadisonConservative on October 30, 2010 at 11:54 AM
Just castrate him and give him a pink S, that’ll fix it.
John the Libertarian on October 30, 2010 at 11:55 AM
That’s why Batman has always been my favorite. He doesn’t have any super powers. He’s just a crazy vigilante.
John the Libertarian on October 30, 2010 at 11:57 AM
Don’t cry emo superman.
Ars Moriendi on October 30, 2010 at 11:57 AM
That’s the problem with modern liberalism: It’s a parody of itself right out of the box.
Rational Thought on October 30, 2010 at 11:57 AM
I would argue that all the superhero movies convey conservative values. All the blockbusters do. They teach individual exceptionalism, individual responsibility, and heroic altruism and sacrifice. In other words, you’ll never see a superhero crying victimhood and demanding a handout. Just doesn’t play.
John the Libertarian on October 30, 2010 at 12:01 PM
What Vegi said. This is a non-story. This is an alternate universe story like Red Son. This isn’t anywhere near as horrible as Captain America(Bucky, not Rodgers, I believe) calling tea partiers racist terrorists.
oddjob1138 on October 30, 2010 at 12:02 PM
I would so pay to see that movie.
Count to 10 on October 30, 2010 at 12:02 PM
I was just thinking when they`re going to have Wonder Woman parading around in a Code Pink t-shirt.
ThePrez on October 30, 2010 at 12:03 PM
You are missing one very important thing: collateral damage.
Count to 10 on October 30, 2010 at 12:04 PM
Liberal Superman versus The Painful Hangnail
“Yoo hoo! I think I’m getting a blister.”
and CUT !!! That’s a wrap. Print it.
viking01 on October 30, 2010 at 12:05 PM
They do, but this new paradigm of Superman’s isn’t far off the mark. Imagine if you tried getting Batman to start thinking this way. It would splinter the character far more.
Hell, ever read Red Sun? Superman instead landed in the Soviet Union as a baby, and became a hero of the Communists. Batman was there too, and was loathed. There was no debate about a guy working against the state, he was just considered scum.
MadisonConservative on October 30, 2010 at 12:06 PM
I have a super hero gaming friend that created “Uberman” for one of his gaming books, answering the question “what if Superman’s space ship had landed in Nazi Germany?”
(I always thought the mixing of German and English was a bit weird).
Count to 10 on October 30, 2010 at 12:11 PM
I’d say that’s a pretty clear theme in The Dark Knight. I don’t think anyone is directly killed by something batman does, but it’s implied very often that his war on crime has provoked the mob to bring in the Joker to start killing people. At at certain times, a lot of citizens agree.
Which is of course totally unrealistic – people would never be so foolish in real life as to blame terrorism on the person fighting the terrorist.
RINO in Name Only on October 30, 2010 at 12:19 PM
Lucky that Superman didn’t land in Wisconsin, he’d now be sitting around the house in his underwear, munching on Cheetos and trying to get to the next level of WoW.
Bishop on October 30, 2010 at 12:20 PM
I hope Chris Nolan and Zack Snyder don’t screw the new movie up like Singer did. Even Richard Donner who is an ultralib not afraid of shoving his politics into his films(just watch any of the Legal Wreckin sequels) had Superman proudly state he was here to fight for truth, justice, and the American Way. And that was in the late 70′s which was not exactly a happy or particularly proud time for this nation.
Doughboy on October 30, 2010 at 12:22 PM
Sure.
I was responding to MC’s comment that Superman generally doesn’t have to worry about anything.
I think the original point of Superman was someone who tries to take all the punishment dished out to other people — which would be something of a short story if he couldn’t take it and keep on kicking.
Count to 10 on October 30, 2010 at 12:23 PM
Here you go, MadCon!
While that is true, Superman need not be Leftist by default, super powers or not. The original, long-long-ago Superman was brutally efficient in his methods. Many long years have eroded him a little, I grant, but it isn’t all bad.
This new interpretation will bomb, as it ought to. Would that someone would scribble up a solid conservative Superman; but a pro-life, fiscally conservative, defense hawk Superman would explode Leftist brains from coast to coast.
>.> …I would love just such a series.
KinleyArdal on October 30, 2010 at 12:25 PM
I see what you did there.
BadgerHawk on October 30, 2010 at 12:27 PM
Sigh… If only that were true.
I concur with this interpretation!
KinleyArdal on October 30, 2010 at 12:27 PM
Hooded yout.
Europe is full of Muslim supermen.
BL@KBIRD on October 30, 2010 at 12:29 PM
FTFY!
KinleyArdal on October 30, 2010 at 12:30 PM
Ugh, meant to use strike tag. >.<; I think I need coffee…
KinleyArdal on October 30, 2010 at 12:31 PM
If I remember correctly, Superman was created in the hay-day of prohibition gangsters, protection rackets, extortion, and police either too helpless or too corrupt to protect people.
Count to 10 on October 30, 2010 at 12:31 PM
Oh, and lets not forget, military disarmament after WWI.
Count to 10 on October 30, 2010 at 12:34 PM
Superman’s becoming weak … almost to the point where Sarah Palin can kill him with a Facebook post.
darwin on October 30, 2010 at 12:37 PM
*cough*ISRAEL*cough*
MadisonConservative on October 30, 2010 at 12:44 PM
Then there’s the new Pothead Superman featuring glassy-eyed x-ray vision and slow motion speech patterns. The speeding bullet more powerful than a microwave oven who ricochets everywhere trying to remember his name before raiding the refrigerator.
viking01 on October 30, 2010 at 12:45 PM
To be clear, I wasn’t stating that Superman, or even the idea of Superman was leftist. I was merely pointing out that the idealistic embodiment of Superman is the most palatable to the left, since their approach to issues, particularly foreign affairs, requires invulnerability to bullets and the ability to destroy weapons without visiting violence upon enemies.
MadisonConservative on October 30, 2010 at 12:46 PM
What is it about these people? Can’t they dream up their own stuff, and just make it perverse from the beginning?
Of course not. That would require creating something original that people enjoy. Much easier to pimp and defile the creative work of others, and pretend it is something newer and better.
Or they PC the original idea into oblivion. I still gag when I see Yosemite Sam with NO GUNS.
novaculus on October 30, 2010 at 12:46 PM
Good point.
MadisonConservative on October 30, 2010 at 12:47 PM
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