A former Superman is throwing some culture war kryptonite on James Gunn’s new film.
Dean Cain — who played the iconic superhero in the 1990s TV series Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman — took issue with Gunn’s recent comments (below) suggesting that his new Superman film is an allegory for immigration and “about politics.” The film has also reportedly used the phrase “truth, justice and the human way” in product marketing instead of the Superman’s best-known motto of fighting for “truth, justice and the American way.”
Speaking to TMZ, Cain pointed out Fox News host Jesse Watters’ joke that Superman’s cape should now have on it “MS-13” — the name of a Salvadoran gang that’s designated as a foreign terrorist organization — and notes the host makes “great political points.”
“How woke is Hollywood going to make this character?” Cain asked incredulously. “How much is Disney going to change their Snow White? Why are they going to change these characters to exist for the times?”
Continued Cain: “For Superman, it was ‘truth, justice in the American way.’ Well, they dropped that … I don’t think is a great idea. I think if you want to create a new character, go ahead and do that. But for me, Superman has always stood for ‘truth, justice, and the American way’ — and the American way is tremendously immigrant friendly. But there are rules. You can’t come in saying, ‘I want to get rid of all the rules in America because I wanted to be more like Somalia.’ Well, that doesn’t work, because you had to leave Somalia to come here — so it doesn’t make any sense. If people are coming for economic opportunity, let’s take a look at your government and why you don’t have that economic opportunity … And there have to be limits, because we can’t have everybody here in the United States … our society will will fail.”
Cain reportedly added that Gunn’s comments weren’t necessary because, “We know Superman is an immigrant — he’s a freaking alien.”
It’s important to note here that Cain hasn’t actually seen the new film, which critics have largely described as a crowd-pleasing success that is not hugely political. As USA Today points out, “While Gunn doesn’t overdo it with political stakes, themes and personalities, he certainly drives home the point that kindness is the superpower we all should be using on the regular.”
Cain was reacting to Gunn’s viral comments to the Times UK over the weekend which talked about his film’s message. “I mean, Superman is the story of America,” Gunn explained. “An immigrant that came from other places and populated the country, but for me it is mostly a story that says basic human kindness is a value and is something we have lost.”
He also acknowledged that Superman may be interpreted differently among various political groups and doesn’t mind if some people take offense. “Yes, it plays differently,” Gunn said. “But it’s about human kindness and obviously there will be jerks out there who are just not kind and will take it as offensive just because it is about kindness. But screw them … This Superman does seem to come at a particular time when people are feeling a loss of hope in other people’s goodness. I’m telling a story about a guy who is uniquely good, and that feels needed now because there is a meanness that has emerged due to cultural figures being mean online.”
Gunn added, “And, no, I don’t make films to change the world, but if a few people could be just a bit nicer after this it would make me happy.”
Superman opens in theaters today and is targeting a $100 million-plus box office opening as DC seeks to kick off a new hero universe. Superman stars David Corenswet (Twisters, Pearl) as the title character. Rachel Brosnahan (The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, House of Cards) plays his love interest and journalist, Lois Lane; and Nicholas Hoult (Nosferatu, Juror #2) portrays the villain, Lex Luthor.