The Human in the Icon

We all know the story. A planet is about to be destroyed, only a single baby is allowed to escape his doomed world, and the baby's ship lands on Earth. On our planet, this baby grows up to be the Earth's champion for a society of truth, justice, and a better tomorrow.

Superman is the icon of superheroes. Arguably the most recognizable of them, he represents a beacon of hope and positivity in the world of superheroes through his deeds and even in ours through the media that tell his stories. He has become a template of heroism and goodness throughout the many movies, shows, and comic books that narrate his adventures.

Icons are immortalized through the continuous retelling of their stories. Mythologies, public figures, and even relatively recent fictional characters manage to remain alive in popular culture because their stories are retold in many ways and their deeds affect the people that engage with them. While this may be just another one of the hundreds of variations of Superman's story, it is one that not only brings him to a new generation of audiences but also tells a new side of him often unseen from his usual narratives.

Over and over his stories tell us of his unwavering hope throughout anything and everything, sometimes to the point of his alienation from some people. Zack Snyder’s take on Superman and his world is not the traditional sense of a simple good versus bad. It shows much more depth in his character and his antagonists while putting into spotlight the flaws he may have and reminds the audiences of his humanity and vulnerability. It also shows how the world will react to such imperfections in a celebrated figure, a perfectly predicted assumption judging from both the criticisms within the story's characters and events and the criticisms of these movies as a whole.

As his imperfections and humanity take the center stage, he unknowingly inspires those around him without having to speak a single word or deliver a single speech after he saves someone. This empowerment through imperfection is at the core of his story within this trilogy. Superman serves different themes within his movies but what remains constant is his ability to massively affect and influence the people around him to see the best of themselves, even if his character diverges from the traditional and clichéd version.

I. Man of Steel: A Bringer of Change

Man of Steel (2013) brings to life the world of Superman (Henry Cavill) with a symbolic sound. His thumping heartbeat is the first to be heard through a black screen followed by his mother's screams as she gives birth to him. The scene takes place in an empty room with only his father, Jor-El (Russel Crowe), some robots, and his mother, Lara-El (Ayelet Zurer). It is framed in a way that assumes the viewer knows that the baby that was born was worthy of being the beacon of hope.

This was immediately followed by Jor-El's confrontation with the planet Krypton's leaders to announce one thing. Krypton is dying. It has exhausted all its natural resources along with the very core of the planet.

It is here that the very first and the strongest of the themes the trilogy is trying to relay is first laid out. Kal-El was born in a hopeless world, a product of a failed civilization. This superimposing of Superman in a world of darkness, negativity, and hopelessness is a recurring phenomenon throughout his life. Over and over, he is placed in situations where he is the only possible source of hope.

The movie continues through its very plot-driven story. Its antagonist, General Zod (Michael Shannon) is introduced after staging a coup that removed Krypton's leaders. Jor-El opposes him after finding out Zod's plans to save Krypton only include the bloodlines he deemed worthy of being saved. At this point, the faults of Krypton's civilization are slowly coming to surface.

Baby Kal finally lifted off his planet, leaving his father dead after a confrontation with Zod and his mother awaiting the death of Krypton alone. Zod's forces are defeated and he and his soldiers are sentenced to an eternity inside a black hole. Krypton ends in a beautifully haunting scene of destruction as flames erupt from the ground and Lara-El's final words are spoken. "Make a better world than ours, Kal," she says as Hans Zimmer's score swells and the planet Krypton is destroyed forever.

The movie shows Kal's ship crashing to Earth and immediately cuts off to him being grown up. Now named Clark Kent, he travels America aimlessly, as if looking for something that eludes him. He bounces from place to place, quickly leaving when he uses his powers. This is all challenged, however, when he finally finds out his heritage and unwittingly calls a freed Zod, who comes to Earth and threatens the world.

The movie reveals more of the reasons why Krypton failed. The Kryptonians lost the element of choice. After Krypton slowly realized their incoming demise, they established an artificial population control and artificial birthing through genesis chambers. The babies of Krypton have a predetermined role in their society based on genetic templates encoded in a codex, something Jor-El stole earlier in the movie and embedded on Kal’s body.

This reveal made the first scene much more prominent as it is the first natural birth of Krypton in centuries. Within Clark’s body are all the possibilities of the Kryptonian society along with his parents’ gift of choice.

Choice, then, became the most prominent theme of the movie. Jor-El, wanting desperately for a better society than Krypton, gave Kal this gift so that he may build a world where anything is possible and where the people’s control of their lives matters. His vision for a new Krypton includes the peaceful coexistence of humans and Kryptonians and Clark being the bridge that connects both.

However, Zod, a person born for the sole purpose of protecting Krypton and the established society, wants to bring it back by building it under humanity’s foundation. This philosophical conflict is at the center of the movie, though it can, admittedly, be overpowered at times by the bombastic and destructive action scenes that ensue when Clark, the force of choice, and Zod, its taker, are clashing.

Another noteworthy theme is change. In traditional Superman stories, Superman is sent to Earth and grows up to be its protector and champion. This movie diverges from that while still remaining in his roots. Superman does become Earth’s protector and champion but he becomes so much more.

When he was sent to Earth, Kal wasn’t solely meant to be a protector, but a herald of change. He was sent to build a better world than Krypton, as his biological mother’s last words said. In this case, the movie made a subtle but incredibly bold move by having Superman be a harbinger of progress rather than a stout protector of the status quo, as he usually is in his stories.

This is highlighted by the movie’s end when Superman made a choice to stand with humanity and forever erase the last products of the broken society by trapping Zod’s forces in the black hole and killing Zod. This controversial killing of the traditionally almost-perfect, never-does-anything-wrong hero marks not only his choosing humanity over his people but also a choice of progress and acceptance of the heavy burden and gift his parents had given him when they sent him to Earth.

II. Dawn of Justice: Tales of Redemption

A shower of blood and pearls. Like many Batman stories before it, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2013) begins with the murder of the Waynes. Told under Bruce Wayne’s (Ben Affleck) monologue of his fall and emphasized by autumn leaves floating across the title screen, we see his parents get shot in front of him when he was a child, alternating with him running away from their funeral and falling to a cave full of bats that symbolically lift him out of the darkness.

Immediately, the movie establishes Wayne’s character and motives. He was in Metropolis during the invasion of Zod in Man of Steel. In a brilliant display of point-of-view switching, the movie showed the damages the city incurred from the climactic fight of the previous movie in a much more grounded way. Bruce wades through the chaos of rubble and death, helping everyone he can. This is until he sees the aliens fighting and his hatred begins.

This movie’s Batman is revealed to be 20 years into his mission. In that time, he’s lost a Robin, more than a few friends (as implied), and watched good men become evil. The movie then tries its best to convey that this Batman is far from the traditional one we always see. This one has lost his way, his hope, and his care for the lives of those he is fighting. He cared little for his code.

Bolstered by a newfound hatred for the alien who he sees as the cause of thousands of deaths and whose trail seems to leave more corpses than survivors, he grows paranoid and hateful.

“There’s a new kind of mean in him,” a Gotham citizen warned. “He is angry and he is hunting.”

Meanwhile, Superman has been trying his hardest to balance the weight that fell on his shoulders with the public’s perception of him. He denies caring about what the public thinks at first but the movie clearly shows he is concerned about how the world sees him. And it affects him.

Told through the media reports (interestingly treating the media like a character of its own), the opinion of the public is divided on whether Superman should act or not. It seems as though Earth is having a hard time adjusting to, with some outright rejecting, the change Superman had brought with him when he revealed himself to the world.

After a series of events where his involvement brought death and destruction around him, Superman slowly loses his faith in himself and in humanity. The unwavering icon of hope began to show cracks and flaws. In a world once again shadowed by hopelessness, the only source of light begins to flicker and fade.

Lex Luthor (Jesse Eisenberg), the main antagonist of the film, wants power. Like Bruce, he finds himself powerless after Superman’s arrival. He then sought to expose the hero as a fraud and a false god to the world. He could not understand Superman as the paradox Lex thought he was. Lex desperately wants power and control; he knows he can’t achieve this through brute force so he resorts to his only source of power: his knowledge. Self-aware, he knows his mind is not enough, hence his go-to line of the oldest lie in America being, “knowledge is power.”

Still, with his influence and manipulation, he carefully constructed a sophisticated and, at times, hard-to-follow plan to set up the events that led to Superman’s loss of faith.

“Everywhere Superman goes, Luthor wants death,” Lois Lane (Amy Adams) realizes after following a trail that led to Luthor’s revelation of plans.

In addition to this, he also showed Clark the actions of Bruce Wayne becoming more violent, acting above the law. Lex also fed Bruce’s rage by using the people around him and luring him to a weapon that can kill Superman, something Bruce overlooked and fell for as he succumbs to his hate for the alien. Later, Bruce realizes what his lasting legacy would be: saving the world from a future tyrant in Superman.

It is through Lex’s manipulation that the titular heroes crossed paths and fought. Ultimately, it is also through his plans that the fight would end.

The core of the movie is an examination of power. It affects the motivation of almost all the characters involved in the main plot. Bruce feels powerless after Superman’s arrival and feels that it is his duty to kill Superman before he gets drunk with his power, like so many before him had. Clark is feeling that the power he wields causes more damage than good. Lex is desperate for real power, doing everything he could to have it. Even Wonder Woman/Diana Prince (Gal Gadot) has problems with the power that the men in the movie are fighting over.

“Men made a world where standing together is impossible,” she says at the movie’s end.

Information and lies are also a big theme in the movie. It is through manipulation that Superman and Batman began to fight, fueled by Lex’s twisting of information to suit his narratives.

The media is portrayed as the voice of the people. They are the discourse of the people asking themselves if Superman is needed or is a threat. It echoes mostly Bruce and Lex’s sentiments on Superman with the other side of the debate viewing the hero as “just a guy trying to do the right thing.”

Through parallel imagery with similar framing of cameras with guns and spears, the media is even portrayed as a weapon. Something that saves and kills.

The movie takes most of its runtime setting the conflict up (which can be argued as its most interesting part). But subverts it all and instead delivers a different, more action-packed climax than the one they meticulously crafted. What kept the movie from falling into an endless pool of misery and sadness, especially with Superman’s death ending the film, are the very powerful redemption arcs by its end.

Batman, touched by Superman’s sacrifice for a world that despised him, finds new hope in the world. This new hope even seems stronger than what he originally had. This comes with the acceptance of all sides of humanity, the good, the bad, and the capability to do better.

Wonder Woman, too, is empowered by Superman’s sacrifice. Though having only a little role in the movie, she began finding herself getting more involved in the modern world and reemerging as a hero. This comes after finding out there are more people like them, a league of heroes waiting to form.

The world finally realizes Superman’s worth. The change he brought is embraced now more than ever.

The extreme darkness and cynicism in its view of the world is a usual criticism. But it is arguably pretty hopeful for a movie that ended with a fallen Batman (something always viewed as a point of no return) finding and redeeming himself and a world accepting a change presented to them, albeit late and with dire consequences.

In this stage, Superman is solidified as the symbol of hope for the world. Like most of the elements that made up this universe, it is a new take on the display of hope. His hope isn't explicitly mentioned but is experienced. Instead of letting Superman say it through his usual speeches and winks at the camera, the hope is embodied through the characters he crosses paths with and the acceptance of change in the homeworld he chose.

III. A United Justice League

The ripples of Superman’s sacrifice begin the next chapter of his story. Zack Snyder’s Justice League (2021) is a 4-hour character-driven movie that explores the vacuum left behind by Superman’s death and shows a world trying to pick up the change and hope he had brought.

As the world reels from his death, Batman forms the Justice League in order to prevent the threat of intergalactic conquerors from taking over the will of all life in all the universes.

The movie, despite its gargantuan runtime, has the simplest plot out of the three movies. It becomes mostly a tribute to Superman through the characters that he empowered and a celebration of heroism, hope, and redemption for viewers.

It sees the continuation and conclusion of Batman’s redemption arc that began at the end of Batman v Superman. Sensing a coming danger, he races to form the Justice League in order to protect the planet and uphold a promise he made on Superman’s grave.

“I spent a lot of time trying to divide us,” he says to Alfred Pennyworth (Jeremy Irons), his butler. “It’s time I make this right.”

His mission also shifted in its motivation. In most Batman stories, he is the most logical person in a group, staying way ahead of his emotions. Refreshingly, he admits that Superman shifted his perspective and that he now operates on faith.

Wonder Woman continues to be a more open hero to the world. She starts taking a more active role in protecting a somber world as it struggles through its mourning of a lost hero in Superman.

The movie introduces three new heroes briefly teased in the previous movies. Aquaman/Arthur Curry (Jason Momoa), The Flash/Barry Allen (Ezra Miller), and the movie’s heart, Cyborg/Victor Stone (Ray Fisher).

Aquaman’s character is a self-reluctant, secretive hero, helping impoverished people from the outskirts of civilization. He is the rightful king of Atlantis, a role he does not want to be a part of. As the movie’s conflict begins, he takes the first steps towards becoming his own self, closer to his heritage and closer to his birthright.

The Flash, fitting his character’s skill set, runs all over the place with various jobs in order to achieve his dream of freeing his father from prison after being wrongfully sentenced for murder. Like Aquaman, he keeps to his own until he is recruited by Batman to join the League. He wastes no time in agreeing and soon finds his limits tested in order to save the world and find his purpose along with his dreams.

Cyborg’s story is central to the movie. He is born out of tragedy, like Superman. The death of his world comes after a car crash leaves his mother dead and his body barely alive, effectively ruining his future in sports. His father, feeling guilt and desperation for being absent in his life, uses an unknown alien technology to keep his son alive, turning his body into a machine. The very same technology soon threatens the world and he has to embrace his role in saving it.

Superman, completing the group after they return him to life, finds peace and balance between the role the world wants for him and the mission his father sent him to Earth for back in Man of Steel. His character was built, deconstructed, and rebuilt anew in much sturdier foundations. This is the conclusion of his outing as he begins his new journey of becoming the more well-known traditional Superman from the comic books.

The movie’s length allowed for a lot of themes to be conveyed without feeling too crowded, unlike Batman v Superman can be at times. In fact, it is surprisingly paced well so much so that watching in one sitting barely feels like 3 hours. All this while the messages told through its characters still feel natural. Perhaps it’s the basic plot that harkens to classic mythology, but the characters, action, and visuals elevate what is essentially a simple story.

The first of these themes is redemption. Aside from Batman, the movie’s main villain Steppenwolf (Ciaran Hinds), seeks redemption from his master Darkseid (Ray Porter) by taking over the planet. However, unlike Batman, his redemption doesn’t quite go as well as he planned as he battles Earth’s defenders.

The movie itself is also a story of redemption. After a botched theatrical cut caused by studio mismanagement and a last-minute replacement of director Zack Snyder was released in theaters back in 2017, fans rallied and asked for the original cut for more than 3 years until the director was given the chance to release the original version of the movie. Hence, his name being attached to the movie’s title.

An embrace of heritage is another theme present in the movie. Aquaman slowly begins to accept he is a son of a queen and he takes an active role in being a protector of the world both on land and at sea. This comes especially after a conversation with Vulko (Willem Dafoe), a citizen of Atlantis and a friend of Aquaman’s mother.

Superman also fully embraces his Kryptonian heritage alongside his humanity. Upon his resurrection, he takes to heart the words of both his fathers from Krypton and Earth. He also chooses to wear a black and silver suit akin to the colors worn by Kryptonians in Man of Steel.

Opening up to the rest of the world is a journey most of the League members went through in the movie. Wonder Woman explicitly acknowledges this as she convinces Cyborg to do the same. Cyborg follows her and begins to accept that his accident and everything that happened to him is a part of him now. Aquaman and Flash share an introversion from the rest of society but learn to find friendship and companionship within the League. One of the most interesting parts of the movie is the character dynamics of the members of the League who formed out of necessity but slowly found family within each other.

The characters also learn to embrace the differences they have and begin to look at them as gifts. This is Cyborg’s main journey. Through the belongingness he found with the League, he realizes what he gained from the accident was not a curse.

“I’m not broken,” he says, fully embracing himself. “And I’m not alone.”

Flash, Aquaman, and Superman all undergo similar developments within the story. Flash embraces his powers and his friendship with the League, Aquaman steps up to be a representative of the people he despises, and Superman reaccepts being humanity’s protector with all his imperfections.

Related to this is the film’s main theme. The conflict that threatens the world is a synchronization of three super-computers into one called the Unity. It will then turn the whole population of the world into mindless servants of Darkseid. History within the movie reveals it was defeated once by Earth’s own unity of people who came and fought together despite their differences and histories of fighting each other. The challenge was to replicate that feat in the modern divided world. The Justice League, mirroring history, steps into this role and forms the unity that is needed to defeat the threat.

The movie presents a battle of two unities: the unity that cleanses everyone of their differences and uniqueness in order to serve only the will of one being against a unity that has to set aside differences and even accept and embrace them in order to work together to fight a strong, solid, singular threat. As it advocates against an easy way of unity that erases and forgets histories and principles, it also shows how hard it is for people so vastly different to cooperate and work together, as shown in the conflicts of the two previous movies. The movie makes a point that the unity that follows only one being is a unity only by name and is ultimately superficial. The type of unity with diverse principles is one with a much stronger foundation.

In the end, Superman, through the change he brought to the world, empowers a unity of heroes who made the world stronger than it ever had been. None of this would be possible without Superman and his huge influence over the world and his challenging of the power dynamics that rule it.

IV. Of Heroes, Humans, and Icons

These stories and characters may be fictional but they do reflect a lot of things from the power climate of societies around the world today, problems that we face, and our struggle to find a solution. Ranging from the macro scale of how people see power, the influence of media, and our resistance to change, to the more grounded problems of owning our uniqueness, finding strength in our differences, and searching for our purpose.

The story of Superman and his becoming of an icon is one perceived in the mainstream to be one without much struggle. He crashes on Earth, grows up, and becomes a hero by fighting bad guys. From this, a routine of stories emerged. He saves a cat out of a tree, he gives a speech, and he flies away, hope and rainbows trailing his cape. It is then a breath of fresh air to see Superman grounded to the same problems we face and battle the same vulnerabilities and insecurities that make us human. All this without minimizing the role his character is meant to take place in his world and his universe. The center of hope and power is as human as us.

Perhaps these movies tried to do so much in so little time and a lot of people do not like their icons getting their hands tainted by mistakes. Heroes, after all, are supposed to be the best parts of humanity come together. These are valid sentiments but ones as valid as the acceptance that heroes, imagined or not, can never be the best of humanity without being human in the first place.