The new Superman movie has finally hit cinemas and fans of the iconic DC Comics character have been flocking in their droves to see director James Gunn’s rebooted vision of the hero.
Starring David Corenswet as Superman/Clark Kent, Rachel Brosnahan as Lois Lane and Nicholas Hoult as Lex Luthor, the new movie has so far received mostly mixed reviews from critics.
Fans have been slightly more receptive, with the film currently holding an audience score of 95 per cent on Rotten Tomatoes, but one scene in particular has got many fans talking.
Warning: Spoilers ahead for Superman. You have been warned!
Throughout the film, Superman is comforted by several hologram messages sent by his biological parents, Jor-El and Lara, played by Bradley Cooper and Angela Sarafyan, respectively. However, the final part of the message is distorted but is later decrypted by Lex Luthor when the villain steals the recording.
Luthor then reveals to the world that Superman’s parents actually sent him to Earth with bad intentions and want him to conquer humanity, not protect it, which has been his intention so far.
“It's happened before in the comics. It’s few and far between, but it's happened,” Gunn recently explained to Inverse.
Gunn is correct - there have been several iterations of Superman’s parents as villains, such as in the TV series Krypton and the 2022 comic Flashpoint Beyond. However, it's not the wholesome and inspirational figures that many fans have come to know and love, especially in previous performances from the likes of Russell Crowe (Man of Steel, 2013) and Marlon Brando (Superman, 1978).
This has caused some division among fans who just couldn’t get to grips with this evil version of Superman’s parents. “I love the movie but that plot twist was just... it's not it. I'm really not a big fan of making the dead parents bad people,” said one conflicted fan.
“I liked it a lot overall. But I really HATE the character assassination of Jor-El and Lara. Completely unnecessary for that to be the ‘real’ message instead of a ploy by Lex,” bemoaned another fan on Reddit.
“I’m still trying to comprehend why Jor El wanted Clark to take control of Earth and kill anyone who gets in his way??? I’m really not sure what James Gunn was thinking during that stuff,” noted another disgruntled fan.
Another viewer related the twist to the recent comments by Gunn on the film being about immigration. “It is funny how Superman is being labelled woke/pro immigrant because there is a plot twist that is incredibly reactionary and very much plays into anti-immigrant rhetoric,” they wrote.
In a four-star review, The Independent’s film critic Clarisse Loughrey writes: “Superman is a manifesto for a franchise. It had no other choice but to be. The weight of expectation is so heavy at this point that even the audience might feel a little tension in their shoulders as they shuffle in to take their seats.
“Superman needs to save the comic book genre from itself; from box office flop after box office flop. Superman needs to do right by one of pop culture’s greatest heroes.”
