My first exposure to superheroes other than in comic books was on television, and I’ll always remember George Reeves as Superman and, of course, Adam West as Batman. Oh, I was a young man when Christopher Reeve took up the red cape and blue tights of the Man of Steel, and while that franchise floundered after the first film despite John Williams’ wonderful theme, that initial effort wasn’t at all bad; it lived up to its tagline, “You will believe a man can fly.”
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I did see the Henry Cavill efforts. I was distinctly underwhelmed. And here’s the thing: Superman isn’t really a hero, is he?
A hero is someone who faces enormous personal risk and carries on regardless. A hero may be worried or frightened, but they suck it up and carry on — they get the job done regardless of personal risk or loss. But Superman rarely faces any personal risk, does he? I remember one Superman flick — I misremember which one, so it obviously didn’t make much of an impression — where a robber literally put a pistol barrel to Superman’s eye and pulled the trigger, whence the bullet bounced off the Man of Steel’s Kryptonian cornea. And that was after Superman walked up the line of fire of a minigun, with bullets bouncing off his manly chest.
Yeah, Superman was never in the tiniest iota of danger in those events. Oh, yes, I know, kryptonite; read that as “Plot Device.” He has to have one vulnerability besides his perennial hots for a human lady reporter, and so someone cooked this one up — as though one can just find chunks of an alien planet that exploded light-years away just lying around.
So, no, Supes isn’t really what we think of as a hero. He’s more like a Greek or Roman god — a being of mythical power, almost untouchable by human efforts.
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And now, someone is releasing another Superman movie.
Faster than a speeding bullet, the first trailer for Superman will be here on Thursday. The news was released in a new piece of key art Monday morning of Clark Kent taking to the skies.
Set for release July 11, 2025, Superman is the official kick-off of the new DC Universe, run by James Gunn and Peter Safran. Gunn, who also made Marvel’s three Guardians of the Galaxy movies, wrote and directed Superman. It stars David Corenswet as the Man of Steel, Rachel Brosnahan as Lois Lane, Nicholas Hoult as Lex Luthor, and many more. Check out the new poster below (set to an ethereal rendition of John Williams’ classic Superman theme), below:
Honestly, isn’t this whole thing just a little played out?
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Granted, Superman was the original superhero. Originally, he was more relatable, less god-like; he couldn’t fly but jumped great distances, and he was strong but not strong enough to play billiards with planets. Supes set the tone for superhero comics, including my childhood favorite, Captain America.
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How about spending some Hollywood time and budgets on real heroes? People like Joshua Chamberlain, who stood off the Confederate Army at Little Round Top? People like Audie Murphy, the most decorated soldier in World War 2? People like Daniel Daly, the first U.S. Marine to win two Medals of Honor?
There are plenty of real-life heroes around that would make for a great, inspiring film.
As for Superman — sometimes, you know, it’s just hard to beat the original.