Spoilers Superman Spoiler Thread

[Justice and Rule]

No, that's missing part of it, IMO. The point is that he has the power and uses it to save people, and sometimes those are in conflict, which is where a lot of the drama surrounding him is. I remember in ZSJL, he was in the fight with Steppenwulf, and left the league to deal with him in deference to saving people, even though it had been shown that he was definitely outclassing Steppenwulf and the league was struggling. These kinds of conflicts show his internal struggles, IMO.

Hm. I mean, that's in this film, but the tone is very different. Like, it is a moment where we think there is going to be a conflict, where he has to choose one or the other. But it's a false conflict; as harrowing as it is, we know that Superman has allies, and his allies are willing now to pick up his slack.

I remember a point in Superman & Lois where Superman's identity is at stake and the scene goes in slow motion, with Clark remembering all that led to this point and what it will mean, and choosing to let his identity go. In that moment, Hoechlin showed what it is to struggle with the types of problems that we couldn't conceive and it had nothing to do with power, though he'd already shown that part of him. Those are the types of conflicts that I like to see.

We might get that later on, but I thoroughly enjoyed Superman struggling with the idea of purpose within this movie. It reminds me of the Batman Telltale games, which did something rather similar: they reveal that the Waynes, being rich and highly-involved in Gotham, were also very involved in organized crime. Bruce has this moment of crisis, where he feels his entire motivation for being Batman is fake: he's doing it for his parents, who turned out to be actually terrible. And he struggles with that but comes to terms with his own fight. And that honestly worked for Superman here: he's humble enough that he can't believe that he's responsible for wanting to help people, that it was always his choice and not just Space Dad proclaiming it. He saw half the message, interpreted the best way possible, and became a hero. Pa Kent talking about how it was his choice was a great alternative way of framing it compared to the more traditional messianic version we've gotten.

 

[doctorbadwolf]

My only quibble: Ma and Pa Kent were made out to be serious rubes, albeit kindly ones. That felt a little mean.

Huh? How? The movie doesn’t make fun of them at all, it just makes them earnest farmers that look and talk like midwestern farmers.

And the accents were weird.

I’ve seen this all over the web, but I don’t get it. I know people with those accents, and they are absolutely rural Kansans.

 

[Staffan]

Exactly. Superman showed off his power constantly during the movie. His power is basic human decency and kindness.

I don't know. I think it's at least at the advanced level.

 

[overgeeked]

I don't know. I think it's at least at the advanced level.

I could give you remarkable or incredible as it's definitely beyond typical and good.

Power doesn't corrupt so much as it reveals. We can only hope if any of us had that kind of power we'd be half as decent a person as Superman is portrayed in his best stories.

 

[chuckdee]

I’ve seen this all over the web, but I don’t get it. I know people with those accents, and they are absolutely rural Kansans.

Reminds me of the talk of Gambit in Deadpool and Wolverine. Everyone was like... but it his accent was atrocious! And actual cajuns were excited and going One.Of.Us!

 

[Justice and Rule]

I could give you remarkable or incredible as it's definitely beyond typical and good.

Power doesn't corrupt so much as it reveals. We can only hope if any of us had that kind of power we'd be half as decent a person as Superman is portrayed in his best stories.

We might be reaching the Shift- levels of decency here.

 

[dbolack]

Huh? How? The movie doesn’t make fun of them at all, it just makes them earnest farmers that look and talk like midwestern farmers.

I’ve seen this all over the web, but I don’t get it. I know people with those accents, and they are absolutely rural Kansans.

Not the parts I've lived in. At least, not that I remember.

 

[Thomas Shey]

I have to agree. He never really got his hero moment —repeatedly beaten by Lex’s goons, the JG were the ones to beat the Godzilla, etc. He felt more like Rocky—outmatched but kept getting up. I could have used a big solo save or something. But I get that they were squeezing a lot in.

I dunno. He did a credible job fighting Ultra Man and the Engineer at the same time for a brief period, and given we're told the former is a physically upgraded version of him, that seemed perfectly credible. In addition Lex's power armor goods barely slow him down.

 

[Thomas Shey]

Supergirl is obviously for the upcoming movie, to give her a character arc, going from super-brat to hero.

I gather its derived from the comic series its based on. If there's a DC character who is handled differently every time she shows up, its Supergirl.

 

[Morrus]

I gather its derived from the comic series its based on.

Yup. When you first meet her in the comic, she is drunk on a planet under a red sun which allows her to become so. And she has Krypto. It’s an episodic space adventure series with an overarching plot.

The upcoming film was originally called Woman of Tomorrow but they renamed it Supergirl.