Is Superman's message still relevant in today's world?

By Mack Perry

September 15, 2008 | The summer movie season of 2008 saw unparalleled success for the superhero film genre, with nearly every film featuring Spandex-clad fisticuffs emerging with some measure of critical acclaim or box office prestige.

The first Marvel Studio-produced entries like Iron Man and the Incredible Hulk reboot proved that origin stories are still viable and a shared film universe is entirely possible, while films like Hancock and Hellboy 2 proved that films about less traditional heroes can still turn a profit.

And then, well, there's The Dark Knight. A colossal achievement that transcended the trappings of the genre as an epic crime drama, The Dark Knight's artistic merit was matched only by its staggering box office returns. Despite the renewed popularity of the genre however, the original superhero himself, Superman, has been stuck in a celluloid limbo not unlike the Phantom Zone.

The success of recent films, however, has now prompted Warner Brothers to reevaluate their DC film properties and controversial remarks from Warner Brothers Pictures Group President Jeff Robinov have suggested that the general plan is to attempt to shoehorn the darkness that made Batman's latest entries successful into films featuring other DC heroes. Part of this plan includes a complete Hulk-esque reboot of the Superman franchise due to the lackluster performance of Bryan Singer's Donner-influenced Superman Returns.

But, in an age where movie-goers prefer heroes with flaws and fighting for "Truth, Justice, and the American Way" doesn't exactly have the most positive connotations, is the Man of Tomorrow yesterday's news?

Released in the summer of 1978, Richard Donner's Superman film was instrumental in establishing that a big-budget superhero epic was capable of being critically lauded and commercially successful without sacrificing the spirit of its comic book source material. The film and, arguably, its sequel would go on to inform the current crop of big-screen superheroics, with everyone from Dark Knight director Christopher Nolan and Spider-Man helmer Sam Raimi citing Donner's Superman as an influence. Donner's template for the modern superhero origin story revitalized interest in the Man of Steel at a time when the public's perception of superhero stories was still defined by the campy Adam West Batman television series. And, just as importantly, the film managed to captivate audiences during the tumultuous political climate of the time period, an age defined by a general distrust of authority figures due to the controversy of the Vietnam War and the Watergate Scandal. Even though many had come to identify Superman as a representation of authority, the impact of Donner's film proved that the appeal of the character as a symbol of hope and moral certainty was strong enough to survive the changing times.

But, as the mixed reception and underwhelming box office total of Superman Returns can attest, sticking painstakingly close to what Donner established doesn't exactly prove that the Last Son of Krypton is a character that can resonate with today's audiences, despite the prominence of a similar political climate.

It's no secret that Superman is considered a difficult character to write for. With all of his godlike abilities, how do you make him relatable and give him a credible threat? Many writers have struggled with these questions and they even formed the basis for Steven T. Seagle's Eisner Award-winning graphic novel, It's A Bird! The answers lay in some of the most recent portrayals of the character and the emphasis these portrayals place on his motivation, his dual identity, and the use of the character as a metaphor for alienation.

Birthright, comic scribe Mark Waid's modern exploration of Superman's origin, and the brilliant work of Geoff Johns' current run on "Action Comics" both address why, when born with powers and abilities that would allow him to conquer, control, and basically get whatever he wants, he would choose to help people: as the last survivor of a dead world, the big blue Boy Scout is just lonely. This alienation and every-man quality is most embodied by Clark Kent.

And if the fact that the usually mediocre Smallville is entering its eighth season this year can prove anything, it's that Clark Kent does resonate and that people do have an interest in the tight-less, mild-mannered underdog that makes up Superman's other half. Unlike Spider-Man, the facade that disguises Peter Parker, or Batman, the man who uses Bruce Wayne as a mask, The Man of Steel is actually equal parts farm-bred reporter and costume-clad Kryptonian. Both identities are part of who Superman is and it's this duality that makes him relatable.

As a far as credible threats go, Johns' recent reinventions of classic villains like Zod and Brainiac and the outlandish situations of Grant Morrison's visionary All-Star Superman have established that large-scale conflicts that push Superman to his physical limit, and that comment on an aspect of the character in the same way that Batman's villains illuminate certain facets of the Dark Knight can make for a visceral, compelling story.

After all, a hero is only as good as his villains, something that the late Heath Ledger's now legendary performance as the Joker certainly proved.

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