From a reader:
"As' ad, I'm someone who's somewhat a part of the comic book industry, knows a lot of people in the industry, and has done scholarly research on comics, blah blah blah.
"As' ad, I'm someone who's somewhat a part of the comic book industry, knows a lot of people in the industry, and has done scholarly research on comics, blah blah blah.
Regarding Man of Steel, there was a huge push at the studio to make the
film 'darker' and edgier in order for Warner Brother's DC Comics/Entertainment
to form a successful springboard for a multifranchise film universe to compete
with Disney's Marvel. They tried to go lighter first, with the Green Lantern
film, but because that was so poorly done, they went the opposite direction,
hence the broodier Superman. There was a pitch for a less broody, more hopeful
Superman film made by Grant Morrison (who is widely acknowledged as having
written the greatest Superman story ever - All-Star Superman), but the execs
just 'didn't get it.' There's always been an aspect of melancholy to the
character, especially in the '50s and '60s comics, but he's never been this
broody.
Regarding the military in the film - well a few things about that.
One is that Zack Snyder wanted to reidentify Superman with America again,
as he's often been seen as a part of Americana, the ultimate immigrant story,
etc. He said in an interview (that I can't find) that he didn't like the change
in the classic line 'truth, justice, and the American way' in the 2006 'Superman
Returns' film to 'truth, justice - all that stuff.' (The American Way line
isn't even originally from the comics but was tacked on to the Superman radio
show, and has been often changed in comics to simply 'truth and justice', to
make Superman more universal.)
As Snyder said in an interview:
I
wanted to pay homage to the superhero as coming from the heartland of America,
and the “Why?” of that. I was really interested in just how American he was, and
I think in the best possible way, the Kevin Costner cornfield kind of
way....Like a Norman Rockwell documentary… handheld Norman
Rockwell.
A way to do that, and to bring in the 'realism' that many feel are
necessary for modern superhero movies, was to involve the military, and have
Superman team up with them to defeat a threat. This (I believe) led to
conversations with the National Guard, which used the film to promote
themselves. However, it goes much further than that - there was a LOT of
promotion in the film, from big companies, Wal-Mart, Denny's, car companies,
etc. The National Guard was one of many. The film had over 100 promotional
partners, adding up to $160 million (What would have Superman have done with
that money? Given it to charity.).
There is a twist however. Expect Superman not to be so 'American' in the
sequel. The scriptwriter, David Goyer, is the same writer who in 2011 wrote the
comic book story where Superman rejects his American citizenship and states,
"I'm tired of having my actions construed as instruments of U.S. policy. "Truth,
Justice, and the American Way" - it's not enough anymore."
From the same interview linked above, Snyder states that Superman "has no
choice but to become global," even though he comes from the American
heartland.
Goyer has some pull, having written or co-written the extraordinarily
successful recent Batman trilogy and this new film (which wasn't as good as the
Batman ones because Snyder isn't as good a director as Christopher Nolan). WB/DC
execs really trust Snyder and Goyer to make them major players in the superhero
franchise business (AKA makes tons of $$$), which right now is dominated by
Disney/Marvel. I don't know how much they'll let them run with it, but I'm
certain (though I have no proof) that right now Goyer and Snyder are thinking -
'sequel - Superman finds himself and his values conflicting with American
government/military.'
As for precedent for Superman joining forces with the military, well there
is precedent in comic books, but he's more often been in conflict with the US
military before. The origins of Superman teaming up with the military are
actually far less nefarious than one might suspect. Basically, Superman was
socialist figure at first, in the 30s and early 40s, fighting wife-beaters,
industrialization, corrupt politicians - a product of his creators Siegel and
Shuster's Progressive Era childhoods and Depression Era teenage years. The
creators, whose families were Jewish immigrants, were extremely concerned with
the rise of Hitler, and began to use their Superman comic book to promote the
US's involvement in WWII. Thus Superman began fighting saboteurs, spies, and
metaphoric dictators.
When America did join the war, the covers of comics would often show
Superman sometimes with the US Army fighting against the German or Japanese
militaries, with notes on the cover saying things like 'Buy War Bonds" - though
the stories inside almost never had Superman teaming up with the military or
fighting directly in the war, because if he actually did he could instantly end
it. A real famous story is the 1940 'How Superman Would End the War," where
Superman flies to Germany and kidnaps Hitler, then flies to Russia and kidnaps
Stalin, and delivers them to Geneva where they are tried for and found guilty of
war crimes.
His first meeting with the US military was pretty contentious -
"His
first meeting with the military comes in the 1939, in the pages of Action
Comics #8.
The story, “Superman in the Slums,” depicts the Man of Steel leveling a slum in
order to force the government to rebuild affordable housing. The National Guard
tries to stop him, and after deflecting their bullets and bombs, he flees the
scene. The slums are rubble now, but emergency services respond and affordable
apartment projects are erected."
Superman did almost the exact same thing last year in a comic, and often
will fly around and try and improve people's standard of living.
After WWII, Superman remained sometimes vaguely associated with the
military, sometimes helping them out, more often in conflict with them.
Basically, whenever Superman helps them out it's always on his terms. Also, in
many stories parts of US military or US government plot against Superman and
other superheroes, and there's conflict, but Superman usually turns the other
cheek. Lex Luthor was even voted US president, and Superman had to contend with
him as president of the US, always looking for proof of his wrongdoing. Lois
Lane's dad is a general, and she's usually in conflict with him over everything,
etc. The military plotting against superheroes is a stock plot in comics. Right
now in comics he's fighting against a sort of evil military-backed Superman
involved in the US atomic bombings of Japan.
It comes down to the fact that there have been hundreds of Superman
writers, BY FAR most of them progressive liberals, but all of them running the
political gamut from anarchist (the brilliant Alan Moore) to socialist (Grant
Morrison) to progressive liberal (Mark Waid, Democrat Elliot Maggin, many
others), to libertarian (the visionary talent but extraordinarily Islamophobic
Frank Miller), to moderates, to conservatives - though there's never been a
prominent conservative Superman writer. In fact, anti-gay advocate and sci-fi
writer Orson Scott Card was supposed to write a Superman story, but there was a
protest amongst comic book fans, and DC decided not to print his story.
Anyway, for excellent Superman stories, check out:
Alan Moore's For the Man Who Has Everything; Whatever Happened to the Man
of Tomorrow? - sort of the final Superman story of your era of Superman
Grant Morrison's All-Star Superman - the extraordinary 'last' Superman
story, a little bit of Nietzsche in there
Kurt Busiek's Secret Identity - about a kid who slowly finds out he's
Superman
Mark Waid's Birthright - origin of Superman - turns out the character's a
vegetarian!
Mark Millar's Red Son - what if Superman was raised in Communist
Russia?
I'd like to be anonymous for this one.
PS -
Superman has famously fought against KKK in his radio show in the 1940s and
has fought anti-Arab racism today."
