It says something about the current sociopolitical climate when it is more striking that a superhero is kind than that he can fly and has laser vision. Audiences wearied by news cycles seemingly crafted by Lex Luther’s rage baiting monkey bots will find relief in director James Gunn’s reboot of the Superman franchise that champions the importance of common decency in the face of dehumanizing forces.
Suffering from the same malaise as the youth-group ‘good’ kid, Superman isn’t edgy enough to have an interesting testimony. Despite the tragic destruction of his home planet, Superman enjoyed an idyllic childhood in the cornfields of Kansas with his wholesome adoptive parents, the Kents. For individuals accustomed to a steady diet of insincerity, his earnestness is off-putting. Superman is accused of not comprehending the complexity of conflicts because his worldview is too rigid. Even his girlfriend, Lois Lane, complains that he is too respectable to be ‘punk rock’. Superman just doesn’t seem to need saving. Gunn understands this tension at the heart of the character and rather than erase it, he makes it the center of his narrative.
What is striking about Gunn’s version of the man of steel is that he is vulnerable without being morally compromised. This is a Superman who loses battles when faced with unscrupulous foes. False accusations in the press and crude hashtag variations of his name circulated online wound him. When Superman is confronted with damning evidence that challenges his long-held assumptions about his earthly mission, he experiences genuine grief and uncertainty. Gunn allows Superman to suffer, and it is in these moments of suffering that we see what makes him truly human and by extension, heroic – his stubborn desire to serve others and be a good man.
Gunn argues that Superman’s goodness exists in complement to that of the humans around him. There is nothing alien about it. His strong moral compass didn’t emerge in isolation; it is a direct product of his human upbringing. By watching the faithful witness of his adoptive parents, Superman learned that everyday acts of moral courage are not glamorous, but they carry weight. Ordinary men and women can answer the call for justice if they have the will to do so. This is perhaps best evidenced in the way the film depicts of the self-sacrifice of a falafel salesman named Mali as being comparable to Superman’s efforts to stop a time rift from destroying Metropolis.
As it turns out, we don’t necessarily need our heroes to leap tall buildings in a single bound or be faster than speeding bullets. We need them to believe in the beauty of the human condition and recognize that everyday acts of compassion and bravery carry equal weight to explosive showdowns.
Kindness is the new punk rock.
— Prisca Bird (2025)
Arts & Faith Lists:
2025 Arts & Faith Ecumenical Jury — #10