A Collection of Controversial Opinions, Part IV
43 positions on Superman.
Superman is the greatest superhero bar none.
There is no comparable character in the Marvel universe.
Superman is an American hero who should always stand for truth, justice, and the AMERICAN way.
Superman is a wise and happy character, as such he should never be dark.
Superman is happy in spite of losing his parents.
Superman’s Kryptonian parents are wonderful role models by sacrificing themselves to save their child.
Superman’s human parents are wonderful role models as their first instinct was always to protect their adopted child, not exploit him.
Superman is great because he is meek and humble; he does not think of himself as a god.
Superman is great because he sacrifices himself to save others.
Superman’s greatness is also in that he is not even tempted to be detached from human concerns (like Dr. Manhattan from Watchman).
Any portrayal of Superman not caring about humans is not authentically Superman.
The greatest television Superman was George Reeves.
Christopher Reeve was the best movie Superman.
There is nothing oddly coincidental that Christopher and George’s last names were different by only one letter.
Christopher Reeve had the best Superman costume.
Gene Hackman was the greatest Lex Luther bar none.
The original Superman II is just as good as the “Donner” cut.
General Zod, as portrayed by Terence Stamp, is one of the greatest villains of all time.
Ursa, as portrayed by Sarah Douglas, is one of the greatest female villains of all time.
Superman III is better than you remember it.
Superman IV should be viewed only if you simply must see Christopher Reeve and Gene Hackman reprise their roles one last time.
We should be very happy that the Nicholas Cage/Kevin Smith version of Superman never became reality.
Dean Cain is the second greatest television Superman.
Teri Hatcher is the best-looking Lois Lane of them all.
The 1990s The Animated Adventures of Superman is incredibly good and well worth watching with your kids.
The related animated film, The Batman Superman Movie: World's Finest, is better than the recent Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice movie.
Superman Returns has a great Superman in Brandon Routh.
This movie is not helped by Kate Bosworth (Lois Lane) and Kevin Spacey (Lex Luther).
Kate Bosworth plays an insufferable, ungrateful, and self-centered Lois Lane.
Kevin Spacey’s Lex Luther is just uncomfortably creepy.
Man of Steel is a good movie in spite of attempts to add dark angst to Superman.
Henry Cavill does a great job with the material given him.
This movie has the best Superman cast, second only to Superman: The Movie.
Having Cavill playing his younger self works better than having another actor playing a young Clark in Superman: The Movie.
Jonathan Kent (Kevin Costner) makes the wrong moral choice to sacrifice himself to avoid Clark being seen saving him.
This is because the circumstances did not warrant ending his life in order to keep his belief system.
Superman’s emotional cry-out in reaction to his killing Zod is oddly inappropriate and does not work, given that Zod was actively trying to kill individual people around him.
A quiet but profound mourning for what Zod could have been would have been far better.
Killing Superman was featured in a comic book series, but so were lots of other ridiculous story lines.
It was good that they corrected that quickly in the next movie.
The Justice League members’ reactions to Superman’s incredible power (after he’s revived) almost made the death worth it.
Jerry Seinfeld was quite correct that with Superman around you really don’t need the Justice League.
After all Superman is Superman; he can handle it all!
See the previous installments in this series:
Alec, excellent list of Superman reality. I agree with them all.
I am in the camp that Superman is kind of inherently boring and later additions to the character made him better, but still a little boring. It's understandable since he was the first real touchstone Superhero in comic history.
Pretty much all Superheros before the 1960s were fairly rudimentary and boring.
Positive aspects of Superman are his origin story and relationship with his adopted family, as well as the Kansas setting of his early life.
Another great addition is the Fortress of Solitude. While I agree its probably not the best idea to go full dark/gritty/grim with Superman but injecting some introspection and sadness into his lonely existence and bearing the weight of being humanity's most powerful protector is good character building.
Henry Cavil is a great Superman stuck in mediocre to bad movies. Henry Cavil in fact finds himself in this position in the Witcher as well where he plays the role to a tee within a mediocre adaptation. Hopefully Warhammer 40k will allow him to finally play a character in a good adaptation of some nerdy thing.
I am a marvel/independent comic type person. Maybe I will write my own controversial article about why Marvel is better than DC. However Marvel itself has its own flaws, serious flaws.
Superman is fine when done well. I think for Superman to be done well there should be some level of examination into his psyche. Into his inner life and relationships.
Superman exists as this all powerful being in a world that is constantly going off the rails, of constant problems. He can't save everyone, and the fact that there continues to be malevolent actions purposefully inflicted upon the world and he HAS to be there and has to show up has to wear on someone, even if they are at their core a great person. Examining that reality, superman's reality is the right thing to do for a Superman story.