Dean Cain has heard James Gunn’s vision for the new Superman, and let’s just say he’s ready to hurl a kryptonite brick straight at it.
Cain, who donned the cape in Lois & Clark back in the 90s, has slammed Gunn for saying the new Superman, which is, in part, an allegory about immigration and about kindness.
🍿 Superman review: James Gunn just killed the superhero film
Gunn’s Superman swaps “the American way” for “the human way,” and that’s a “woke” step too far for Dean.
“How woke is Hollywood going to make this character?” Cain asked in a TMZ rant, pointing out that even Fox News right-wing pundit Jesse Watters joked Superman’s cape should now read “MS-13” (a tasteless gag referencing the Salvadoran gang that Trump has alleged most immigrants he’s deported are a part of).
Cain insisted, “We know Superman is an immigrant... he’s a freaking alien.” For Cain, Superman was always about “truth, justice, and the American way.”
And while he claims that America is “tremendously immigrant friendly,” he rolled into a Fox News-style monologue about border rules, Somalia and “limits” ,concluding that Gunn’s new take is, in his words, “not a great idea.”
But here’s the thing, unlike critics who have been lukewarm about the new instalment, Cain hasn’t actually seen the film.
But Gunn, for his part, isn’t losing sleep over it. His Superman, starring David Corenswet, opened today with critics calling it a “crowd-pleasing success,” light on overt politics and heavy on hope.
Gunn told the Times UK that Superman “is the story of America” and “basic human kindness is a value we’ve lost.” He’s not pretending his Superman will fix the world, but “if a few people could be just a bit nicer after this, it would make me happy.”
Gunn’s focus on kindness - delivered by Corenswet’s Kansas-farmboy-next-door — he believes might be the most subversive thing a superhero can do.
He does, however, have at least one critic seemingly in agreement. USA Today tells viewers that “kindness is the superpower we all should be using on the regular..”
Superman is tracking for a $100 million-plus opening, with Gunn and DC hoping the film will finally launch a stable hero universe after the mess left behind by Justice League and The Flash.
With The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel star Rachel Brosnahan as Lois Lane and Nicholas Hoult’s Lex Luthor the film says it blends a new hopefulness with classic superhero stakes.
